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How cold is too cold, and how cold does your setup get ?
I have my Wattbike in an integral garage, so it’s always dry and never gets below a few degrees c. I’m doing a 730pm session and just had a look at the thermometer in there, outside temp is currently minus 4c and inside it’s +4.8c.
Think I’ll be starting with long gloves and a hoody, and fan off for the first wee while..
I do have a small fan heater that would take the chill off the garage, but haven’t had to use it…yet..
My turbo is in the house now. When it was in the garage at those temperatures I think I decided I was more comfortable dressing for the cold, but turning a fan on rather than removing clothes as I wormed up - just seemed the better solution for me.
My turbo is in the shed. In these temperatures I tend to warm up with a long sleeve top on and the fan off - remove layers and turn the fan on after warming up. Usually topless by the end of an hour! Usually need gloves on throughout but feet can get pretty cold.
I do it in the conservatory (think badly built, uninsulated, plastic roofed utility room). There is no such thing as too cold for me, I really feel the cold usually, but on the turbo I boil immediately.
I'm the olden days, some people used to ride actual bicycles outside. Might be worth looking at what they wore for the sort of temperatures where they were not all snuggly in front of a telly on their bikes.
I've never wanted to heat the garage for turbo training. Even in the depths of a Scottish winter, it might be a bit cool to start with, but once I have warmed up it's still taps aff and the fan running to be comfortable.
Jeez, Iain, it was sub zero up Whitelee on Sunday and we didn't die of cold. Take a Horlicks out with you ya big Jessie!
Ride outside most days (commute). When turbo/zwifting in winter (un-heated detached garage), I'd just leave the fan on low to start.
Barely even long trouser temperature for cycling.
Been doing early mornings in the garage for the last few winters.
Remote control for the fan essential. Sometimes have to start off in a down jacket and gloves but invariably warm enough and stripping off the layers after 5 minutes.
When it gets really cold (Southern England, so that's below 10C 😉 ) I keep a fan heater pointing at me even if I then add another "plain" fan. What you need is airflow, not freezing airflow
yeah, fan (Vacmaster) has a remote on the bars. My compromise tonight will be beanie, zip up hoodie and long gloves, with expectation of hoodie and jacket off after 15 mins probs, and fan on a bit later as required. Have found the fingerless gloves a bit cold with the air from the fan on my last few sessions !
My spare room is about 0C right now and outside is between -6 and -10. I've just completed a workout on the turbo and I can see the new layer of frost forming on the windows inside.
I still train. I expect to keep training when the temp gets properly cold in there. I'll just turn the radiator on for a bit before then to take the edge off and then ignore it like I normally do.
oooh, are the smileys back?
outside is between -6 and -10.
Wow - where are you?
Just north of Uppsala in Sweden.
For reference, I used to commute for two years through Stockholm when I lived there. Every day but four (due to illness). Yes I had winter tights on for the cold bits of winter, but if you are moving and the cold is dry, even -15 is fine.
Real cold is when you go out XC skiing and you can feel your nose hairs freeze as you breath in.
FWIW, I'm in Aviemore and it's currently -7. It barely got to 0 today .
Running last night at -5 I got an icy beard 🙂
Turbo training is done in my gym, adjacent to patio doors that I'll open as soon as I start riding.
Pogies on your trainer bike ....
It was hovering around -6 outside today. I have one radiator on in the bathroom and that's luckily keeping that room up to about 16C. Lucky because I have a stout fermenting and it doesn't really need to be warmer than that!
@scotroutes Is it a dry cold or something that feels really biting?
@willard - a nice cold at the moment. Dry, cloudless sky, barely a breeze. I'm hoping for the same again tomorrow.
Up to +10C (but showery) at the weekend. It'll be that horrid damp cold in between!
keep a fan heater pointing at me even if I then add another “plain” fan
You have to be joking.,. You use a heater inside, whilst exercising on a stationary bike?
Why not just wear some clothes?
Pogies on your trainer bike …
That's a great mental image - can you get ice spiker turbo tyres
Don't joke.
I got a flat on the turbo tyre the other day. Was not even on it at the time, I just heard it go bang when I was downstairs and then found it off the rim. No damage to the tyre itself, just a hole in the tube. The patch seems to be holding.
You have to be joking.,. You use a heater inside, whilst exercising on a stationary bike?
Why not just wear some clothes?
Because I'd get much more sweaty and it'd be far less comfortable with a load of soaked gear on me, especially when I finish the ride and am wanderinbg about the garage/garden. My way, I can shove on a jacket and be fairly comfy because I'm not too sweaty apart from my head.
I'm not suggesting someone buckle you up in a straitjacket... just that you put on some layers that you remove as you warn up.
Y' know. Like people do, from the age of about three onwards.
How do you manage outside in cold weather.... Do you have a punkah wallah following you around with a couple of gas heaters to keep you warm? 🙂
Never been too cold on a turbo. Even doing zone 2 stuff still gets too warm.
Just wear layers that can easily be taken off without stopping.
I'm not suggesting that you're interfering for the sake of it but, y'know ... you do you and I'll do what I want
Back in the day, I used to turbo-train on the drive tarmac in the middle of winter* wearing nothing but lycra cycling shorts, with sweat and steam absolutely pissing off of me, sometimes for up to 3 hours solid at a time. I was probably a very strange 17 year old, but my parents marriage was breaking up at the time, so that may have explained it. The neighbours must've thought we were that 'weird house'...
I'm not sure what this thread is really about.
I think the human body is ~25% efficient. So if you are putting out 250W (which is being converted into heat by the trainer) then you have what amounts to a personal 1kW heater
Last nights session started at about 4 degrees and ended at 7 degrees. Cold extremities, otherwise all good, bib shorts, light short sleeved top, full finger gloves, hoodie for first 10 mins, fan on at about 20 mins. Will wear a long sleeved slightly heavier top today though, as temperatures look like they will be similar.
Thread was started as a bit of a jolly and many of the responses satisfy the brief.. 🙂
Ooh
.can't be too cold for me...
Normally turbo in the unheated garage with doors open.
If it's chilly I'll put a shorty cycling top on to start, but I ALWAYS end up taking it off after the warmup... 3 fans on the go too...
If I can see my breath, all the better!
I get Hot!
DrP
I don’t have a turbo but I do ride bikes in the cold which sometimes involves adding or removing layers. This thread is quite weird.
Full zip hoodie when you start, within 10 minutes you'll have that off, another 15 mins later you'll have the fan on. It's the getting started bit.
I have got a fan heater that I've pointed at myself at the beginning of very cold garage Zwift sessions in the past, the trouble is it's living in another part of the house with the kids so I can't steal it back, £15 for another one on eBay, they are generally handy...
scuttlerFull Member
I don’t have a turbo but I do ride bikes in the cold which sometimes involves adding or removing layers. This thread is quite weird.
sat stationary on a turbo is very different to riding a bike outside. I was out on Sunday on the gravel bike in sub zero conditions and had a few layers as normal and as appropriate, and dress accordingly as I have done for the past 50 plus years om my life since my mum stopped dressing me 🙂
Removing and adding layers on an outdoor ride is basic for us all and would rarely get a second thought, as evidenced by the various comments around that in the thread, all good.
Inside you are in a static air environment with little in the way on environmental inputs - sunshine, rain, wind etc. As there is no airflow without a fan the body heats up and starts to sweat fairly quickly, so shedding layers to bibs and a light t-shirt for example, is normal.
Then switching on a fan and blowing the cold garage air, which may be close to zero deg c, can be pretty unpleasant on the bare and damp sweaty skin. Maybe long loose layers might work better, I dunno, hence the thread !
My musings are more around how the ambient air temperature in the indoor environment influences layering, fans, heating that air up first etc. I don't think it's as simple as wear more when it's cold and less when it's warm in this scenario, as we all do outside, but maybe it is...
It's too cold when the padlocks on the shed are frozen and I cant get them off.
Other than that I do what others do, just bought a fan with a remote so I don't have to try and spin it by hand while I'm warming up, and I've got an old zip hoody I wear while I'm warming up and just chuck it at my other bikes when I get warm. Riding is just in bib shorts, normally with the bibs dropped after about 15 mins.
My dissertation at uni was studying the effects of (amongst other things) cold on endurance. Poor lad was completing observed in an environmental chamber at, IIRC, 4degC while we all hovered around taking readings etc. Us: freezing our arses off wrapped up liek we were off on a polar epedition. Him: wearing only a pair of bib shorts after the inital warm up hoodie was discarded.
Can't even remember our findings TBH.
I am someone how likes the heat and really struggles with the cold. However, if I'm on the turbo trainer, then it cannot be cold enough. When I start, I will put a long sleave top on and that will get removed once I'm warm enough. (No hands is easy on a turbo). All this talk of using a fan heater to warm up on a stationary bike ride makes me realise that the human race is doomed as a species.
Gloves though. Indoors. Why?
^^^ simples, the Wattbike hoods get slippery with sweaty hands, plus some owners have had sweat ingress and water damage to the batteries inside the hoods, gloves avoid that issue.
Gloves though. Indoors. Why?
I'll admit to having started off rides in my unheated garage in gloves. Then taking them off.
I'm with the OP on this one, once it drops below about 4C dressing up and keeping cool on the turbo gets difficult.
I end up sat there in bib shorts, covered in sweat, but absolutely freezing cold. Can't put layers on because then it just gets really hot and sweaty really quickly, can't turn the fan up because that's too cold, can't close the door because that gets muggy in a matter of minutes,
It's not the same as just going for a ride outside at all. Riding outside even in minus doubel disgits i
My hypothesis is it's because what you really want from clothing is comfortable microclimate where you skin is somewhere between 15-22C and dry. On the road you can do that by wearing layers and ventilating then. On the turbo you're stuck with either too hot and can't ventilate, or skin temperatures that equal the air temp which are both equally uncomfortable.
The only thing that kind of works fort me is baggy tracksuit* bottoms and a long sleeved MTB top. Enough to actually keep the cold air off the skin but ventilated enough to let the heat escape.
As illustrated by this sort of problem:
Usually need gloves on throughout but feet can get pretty cold.
If your hands and feet get cold it's a sign that the temperature in your core and limbs is dropping and the body is restricting blood supply, which is obviously inefficient for training. You want to keep your arms and legs warmer so the blood keeps pumping through them which takes heat out to your hands. Keep your arms and legs warm and your hands and feet will be comfortable.
*not the jersey / fleecy /insulated kind, the really thin / stretchy / breathable type "DOMYOS Men's Breathable Regular Fitness Bottoms" from decathlon kind.
Maybe some folk are over-fanning too. For comfort, I've found that a small fan at head height has much the same effect as an industrial fan hitting my whole body, but without the consequential over-cooling effect.
@tinas, glad it's not just me.. 🙂
Maybe some folk are over-fanning too. For comfort, I’ve found that a small fan at head height has much the same effect as an industrial fan hitting my whole body, but without the consequential over-cooling effect.
This. Kinda makes sense, windchill etc. Just use layers and common sense, it isn’t rocket science.
When it gets cold I wear a long sleeved thin jersey and if I'm not racing I move the fan so it's not blowing directly on me, but still sucking in outside air. You need oxygen in there.
I’m really glad I mountain bike, commute (on a mountain bike) or go to the gym (to lift weights). I’ve ridden a road bike a few times and it seeemed quite boring and terrifying (due to traffic). And a static bike is just hell, almost as bad a treadmill and far worse than a rowing machine.
I think you’re all mad! ?
My 'setup' is I go outside whatever the weather.
I use two different fans. Both remote controlled though. One of those Vacmaster jobbies, and one weak tower fan.
When it's cold (<5c), I just use the weak fan for some minimal air flow. I use Trainer Road, so it's all interval work. I only want to fan for the interval/hard bits, so use the remote and turn it off on the rests between.
No heater, that's crazy! Layers, you quickly warm up and can lose layers.
I also use an old pair gloves, to stop some of the sweat, they do catch a lot of it.
Re. riding outside whatever the weather. I used to be that mindset too. But now I have my bike setup on a proper direct drive trainer, it's so easy to just kit up, jump on, get some work done. Feels satisfying. Then weekends are for longer social rides.
I set mine up this year with a Vacmaster at handlebar height directly below the TV, literally about 4 feet in front of my face it's bloody freezing when the temperature drops!
Used to get cold toes with my old floor fan hitting my legs, but with the air now moving over my upper half I haven't felt the need to reach for the oversocks.
I think you’re all mad! ?
It has advantages. Racing makes me try far harder than I ever would outside, and consequently is great for fitness. Racing in real life is a lot more demanding than on Zwift because it takes longer and takes more out of you whilst not reaching the same peak intensity. I can race twice a week on Zwift, I can't do that in real life even if there were races available, which there aren't. It's more like a super high intensity workout with better motivation than intervals.
It's also far less faff to deal with than slogging away outside in the rain and dark on weekday evenings. On the weekends, it's a lot harder to mentally sustain for longer low intensity rides but again there are advantages - I rode indoors on Friday evening and on Saturday, not sure many people got miles in outside.
Maybe some folk are over-fanning too. For comfort, I’ve found that a small fan at head height has much the same effect as an industrial fan hitting my whole body, but without the consequential over-cooling effect.
Works to a point, in winter I put the fan in the doorway to just waft air into the shed. It doesn't help though when the sheds heading to zero though.
I suspect the people who don't see the problem at all are those who's Turbo's are setup in garages, conservatories etc where the air might be "cold" but you don't go out to the bike and find the water bottle frozen cold, it's still a few degrees above ambient.
Mines in the 'summerhouse', which is wood so I put a fair amount of effort into making sure there's no condensation during / after exercise. With the doors open it's basically training outside, but with a roof to keep the rain off. Layering just doesn't really work, it's just one thin breathable layer to keep some warm but ventilating air against your skin that makes it comfortable.
Previously I had it setup in the conservatory and never had an issue as the room just warmed up around you as you worked.
I had a much more pleasurable experience with tonight’s session. Air in garage was 3.2 deg c, and I did a solid hour - some Zwift Base Camp and a Z2/3 ride. Went with Ronhill tracksters over bib shorts, slightly thicker mtb socks, an Endura Baabaa long sleeved top, and for the first 5 mins or so, a beanie and a zip up fleece.
I shed the fleece and hat and after a few efforts the fan was on low from around 15 mins. Not much exposed skin, and temp felt pretty decent throughout, long finger gloves also. Fan was off a few times on easy and cool down sections, and when I finished the air temp was up to 5.1 degrees.
I’d much rather be outside, but unfortunately it’s cold, dark and crap for doing long intervals.
I also don’t fancy having an accident on a quiet lane and lying in the road for hours before I’m found…
I'm convinced that for me I'd have to move continents to find it cold enough. Last year I was doing Zwift in the spare room with door closed, window open fully to the midwinter evening with two fans blowing it at me, and I still go blind from sweat. My kit weighs like 2Kg more when I take it off afterwards I'm sure.