Winter Weather Kit

i'm liking the idea of toasty feet as I get cold feet normally without cycling in winter!!

Merino wool socks tend to work really well.  I used to suffer really badly with cold feet but I stopped wearing too thick a pair of socks.  Make sure you have plenty of room to move your feet in your shoes to keep the circulation flowing.  That and good neoprene over shoes are all you need.  some people I know, get a cheap pair of ski gloves as they suffer badly with cold hands, just remember to get some that allow you to break/change gears.

Robaiux bib tights are really useful too, DHB from wiggle are very cheap, or santini at Prendas are great quality.  A good quality winter jacket and a few base layers should do you for any conditions, my warmest jacket is a £40 Altura, warmer than the Assos and Santini gore wind stopper. 

overshoes.bought some last year and couldn't believe I hadn't bought any before....

Lidl/ aldi.which ever it is does some brilliant cycling things cheap.the winter gloves are really good for a few pounds.also a buff is brilliant

Avoid the LIDL arm/leg warmers though, I bought a pair of Small/Medium and they were enormous - can't imagine them fitting any women really, or blokes of the less muscly physique!

ok for me Pethead 

I just bought a set of the Lidl arm and leg warmers, got a small/med and like pethead says they are quite big but are good, also got the overshoes from there and they are also good.

OK, I must just have really weedy arms compared to you guys! Must get in the pool/gym more than every once in a while...

good tip on the Merino socks dooz, I bought some Sealskinz last winter but the cold gets me in the end. I agree on the ski gloves too. But when the sweat builds up the cold gets through again.
When it gets too icy I stay in the garage (on the turbo) though, most of my training has to be done early and its safer (although still as cold) in the garage than on dark icy roads.

Hi folks - first post on this forum, but I fell foul of the winter bike ride thing last year, so thought I would post what I learned.

I went out for a ride on a distance I should have had no problems with on a frosty day. After about 6-7 miles I was realising I wasn't happy, and fortunately managed to get the bike onto the grass verge before I actually blacked out and fell off! That was the point the mobile phone came out and the wife got called, and it spooked me for a while.

I worked out two reasons for it - the first was clothing, and the suggestions above are great - I went out and bought myself something called a "base layer" that made a massive difference. But I think the big one was food - I went out more or less without any breakfast, to make an early start. I think I simply ran out of sugar with the cold and a couple of hills.

Hope that's some use!

Cool guys thanks!

Rio has told me I need to get stronger on the bike so best get turbo sorted and clothes shopping as apparently I need to get some good 30m rides in whilst the weather is nice!