Have you been over-dressing for your winter rides and suffering from performance drops? In this video, Si explores the science of core body temperature and skin temperature to find the optimal way to layer up in the cold. Using advanced sensors and a series of counter-intuitive experiments, we discover why keeping your extremities warm and your torso cool might be the key to better winter performance.
Chapters: ⏱️
00:00 – Have We Been Dressing All Wrong?
00:54 – The Core Temperature Experiment
02:16 – How Different Climates Approach Winter
03:36 – Test 1: Standard Winter Kit
05:00 – The Science of Skin Temperature
08:21 – Results: The Over-Dressing Problem
09:50 – Test 2: Warm Core, Cold Legs
11:10 – Learning from Cross-Country Skiers
14:11 – Test 3: The “Reverse” Strategy
17:07 – Final Conclusion and Findings
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What’s your go-to ‘hack’ for staying comfortable on winter rides? Would you ever try Simon’s ‘reverse’ dressing strategy—warm legs and arms but a cool core—or does that sound too brave for your climate? Let us know in the comments! 👇
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21 Comments
What’s your go-to 'hack' for staying comfortable on winter rides? Would you ever try Simon’s 'reverse' dressing strategy—warm legs and arms but a cool core—or does that sound too brave for your climate? Let us know in the comments! 👇
When I go bicycling here in Medford Oregon in the USA, I like to dress in layers. Dress8ng in layers allows me to strip down or layer up depending on the weather and temperatures.
-2° C ?????? Thats a warm day my friend 😅
The key is to use clothing not as an insulator but as a climate control system. Trap heat from the body, channel it to the face, hands and feet, and vent the excess as needed.
Oh hmmm. I was going to buy a very thin down vest to tuck under layers for the coldest days but maybe not now!
Well here in Australia where it is reasonably warm most of the time. Sydney winters can be single digit in a morning rising to say 15c on a sunny day. Wind chill is a totally different thing though. I would never dream of no base layer under a jersey on a 5c wind chill day. I would usually have at 3 base layers, a Long sleeve jersey, and a jacket plus gloves. So yes individuals react differently to conditions. As a maladjusted ex Yorkshireman been here since 1971 give me a 30c day anytime.
Canadian rider here and seriously come and do do a ride here in Montreal… I'm not even there, just a smaller town out in the province. Riding in the outer regions is proper sports and fun whilst anything urban becomes serious grind! Just this weekend my car doors were frozen shut and I went to the grocery in -24* weather. I dressed for it and felt neither cold or too warm either.. The bike though, was NOT happy!! Frozen derailleur, wouldn't shift up to faster gears, I was left milling like crazy just to get along..
What I want to say here is while we like to poke fun at you guys UK winters not being real Canadian winters, I'm sure we'd be equally miserable in your conditions whislt someone with proper equipment and bracing for the worst, might end up fighting different battles than expected here! I think it would be worthwhile just to add another perspective and also to get more people out there! It's not that bad… Like I keep saying… When I hear the neighbors scraping ice off their windshields and shoveling the snowbank off the driveway to get to work, I'm almost half the way there!!
hmmm, 5 degrees isn't that cold. I'm in NL and that's a good temp. I'm more curious for temps below 0 to -5 for good winter gear.
Just wondering Si…I cycle with a rucksack on to work. Does this mean my back should be naked? Do I need some sort of hospital gown?
Great video!
But what about the brown fat?
Brown adipose tissue (BAT) generates heat by burning calories, a process called thermogenesis. Unlike white fat, it contains many mitochondria and small lipid droplets to provide immediate energy for staying warm.
Really interesting, but is it possibly over thinking things? Good video, though.
Coming from a running background, in a similar climate in NZ, this conclusion makes absolute sense to me. Winter time I would swap the shorts for tights and singlet for a t shirt, and maybe a windbreaker vest on those really cold days.
I'm surprised you didn't incorporate head-ware during the experiment because of the supposed loss of body heat via the head.
So I too have done some experimenting with my core sensor to see what effect it has in different exercises. For reference, the way the core sensor works is that it gives you a heat stress score for a workout. 0-1 is basically just getting warm, 1-3 is moderate, anything over 3 is when you actually do heat training. When I am trying to do heat training on the turbo I will try and get my core temp. to 38.5-39 degrees for about 45 minutes. To do this I wear bib shorts and short sleeves. I then add ski socks, thick trousers, 2 jumpers, thermal hat and thermal gloves. The room is about 19 degrees and I don't use a fan. A typical 45 minute workout will give me a heat stress score of about 5. For these workouts my skin temp at my chest will be about 36.5-37 degrees.
I have then used the core sensor for other workouts to see the effects. A 45 minute high intensity turbo workout with bib shorts, short sleeves and no fan is a score of about 2-2.5. My core will get to about 38-38.5 degrees, but that is only by the end of the workout.
For a gym workout, it's basically nothing, a heat score of 1 at the most.
I have done a few winter rides with it. Wearing a long sleeve thermal jersey, thermal bib tights and a rain coat. The heat score will be 1 at the most with an outside temp of 8 degrees. Core temp will be about 37.5-37.7 peak. I did do one ride where the temp was 2 degrees at the start and got up to 6 degrees. My heat score for that was zero! Skin temp was 32-33.6 degrees throughout the ride.
As a runner, in Canada, I have always started my runs feeling quite cold as I know I'll be generating a lot of heat. Gloves to keep the hands warm and ear muffs to keep my ears warm, but a lightweight jacket and a long sleeved shirt underneath are all the core needs and a good pair of winter tights for the legs. That is usually good to around -20 or so. Any colder and another layer goes on the legs
Never wear base layer; ineffective.
What an interesting video 🤔 it’s a real science to know what to where ?. I noticed that these test are based on flat constant effort rides . I ride in the high Peak District where it’s 20 minute effort and 5 minute downhill . Please help 😂
Old proverb: Keep your feet warm, your head cool, and your stomach empty.
As a sweaty bitch, i approve of this message.
I have winter boots and good winter gloves but still my feet and hands get cold when I am about one hour into the ride because my feet and hands sweat and become damp. So, I have heated insoles to keep my feet warm and heated gloves for the extremities to stay warm. Winter bib tights are a must for temperatures in the lower one digit plus and minus. Above that it is enough to have leg warmers. Since I sweat a lot even in cold weather, I tend to wear a winter cycling jacket, a long sleeve jersey and a long sleeve base layer underneath. But the rule that you feel slightly cold when starting the ride is a good one wether you are clothed too warm or too cold.
Hikers known this for long time.