Cycling is easily loved during the summer months, but its unalloyed joys tend to become stretched by the time the clocks go back. The weather and vanishing winter sun conspire to inflict a damp, cold and pretty miserable experience on you.
You can’t do much about the whims of pressure fronts or the solar system, but you can mitigate the grimness and risks of winter riding with an ever-expanding range of protective and illuminating cycling gear. Here are a few ideas to get you going.
Front lights
Regular front lights won’t cut it for winter riding beyond the urban glow. Knog’s rechargeable Blinder 900 is its most powerful device. It blasts out enough lumens (900, to be precise) to illuminate any unlit B-road or trail for up to 100 metres ahead.
Meanwhile, old-school dynamo lights are enjoying a resurgence in adventure cycling and bikepacking, where battery issues can leave riders in the dark. They’re perfect for the commute, too, putting an end to sudden rechargeable battery fails. These lights can work via a front wheel hub generator (you’ll need to get the wheel rebuilt) or as a “traction” dynamo that presses against the wheel. The Axa light works with either.
Knog Blinder 900 front light, £52.99
fawkes-cycles.co.uk
Axa Nxt 60 Steady LED dynamo front light, £28.22
santafixie.co.uk
Hi-vis band
This update on the classic trouser clip is a snap-on band in hi-vis yellow. It can be worn on the upper arm while jogging, or around the lower leg while on the bike, where any trouser gathering away from grimy chains is a practical bonus. If you only wear one, pop it on your right leg to best be seen by overtaking traffic.
BTwin hi-vis band, £4.99
decathlon.co.uk
Heated cycle gloves
If your extremities run cold, whether on the road or up a mountain, heated gloves may be the ultimate luxury. This pair from bad-weather specialists Sealskinz aren’t cheap, but they don’t hold back on quality. They have leather palms, breathable insulation, a waterproof layer and a rechargeable battery with up to six hours of toasty time.
Sealskinz Upwell waterproof heated cycle glove, £175
sealskinz.com
Wheel lights
Spoke lights can be fiddly to fit, but these cheap-as-chips alternatives from Halfords screw on to your tyre valves in place of the caps. They light up when in motion to create a Tron-like glowing ring on each wheel, and they’re only to be used in addition to front and rear lights. They are also available in pink and very child-friendly.
Halfords Essential kids bike valve cap lights, £4
halfords.com
Hi-tech helmet
There’s more tech in this lid than in the early space shuttles (probably). Wraparound LED lighting offers a white glow-up front and a reactive red at the rear, which brightens automatically when the rider brakes. There’s an easy-to-fit handlebar switch to trigger indicator lights, and a crash sensor that automatically alerts up to three emergency contacts. It’s also a bike helmet.
Livall Evo21 helmet, from £92.24
halfords.com
Commuter jacket
No single garment is as vital for winter riding as a jacket. Few cycle clothiers have the jacket pedigree of Rapha, which has designed this hi-vis hooded number specifically for the commute. Perfect for wet and windy mornings, it’s breathable, impermeable and tastefully rather than garishly hi-vis in the pink colourway, with additional reflective flashes. It’s also available in more muted colours.
Rapha commuter jacket, £119.99
evanscycles.com
Rearview radar
Nobody should ride in traffic without being able to regularly look over their right shoulder. But for additional security, Garmin’s Varia radar system fits on the back of a bike. It then pairs with a Garmin device or app, which is compatible with Apple devices running iOS 14.1 or later and Androids with the 5.0 operating system or higher, to offer audible alerts when vehicles approach from behind. It’s also available, at a higher price, with a rear light and a camera.
Garmin Varia rearview radar, £129.99
tredz.co.uk
Mudguards
Mudguards come in as many varieties as bikes themselves. Swedish brand Ass Savers launched its minimalist guards years ago almost as a joke. Almost 15 years later, countless, well, asses have been spared the worst winter can throw at them. The plastic guards slide into the rear of almost any saddle and are ideal for clutter-phobes who don’t want fuller or fitted guards but would quite like to avoid a drenched bottom.
For those wanting more protection, all but the speediest road bikes come with mudguard mounting holes, and nobody regrets fitting proper mudguards to their wheels in winter. They spare you, your bike and anyone close behind you the mess of mud or oily road spray, and once fitted they stay firmly on. This set from SKS are a tried-and-tested classic. The German brand also makes a Speedrocker alternative, offering similar protection that can be strapped rather than fixed to bikes. This allows for easy removal on dry days or switching between bikes.
Ass Saver regular mudguard, £7
merlincycles.com
From £7.64
tweekscycles.com
SKS Chromoplastic mudguards, from £42.38
tredz.co.uk
Rolltop backpack
Proviz caused a stir with its space-age reflective material when two commuting brothers launched it in London more than 15 years ago. Its early jackets were a little rough around the edges, but the brand has upped its game since, doing justice to the most reflective material known to cycling (it relies on millions of tiny reflective beads). This new rolltop backpack incorporates reflective panels into a functional bag that includes a laptop sleeve.
Proviz reflective rolltop backpack, £59.49
provizsports.com
Cycling tights
If you head out on the road for more than an hour when the temperature’s dipped below 10C, summer bib shorts are unlikely to offer enough protection, even if you pair them with leg warmers. It’s worth investing in a pair of thicker, longer leggings, or bib tights, which warm the lower organs as well as the exposed leg fronts. You’ll find no shortage of premium Lycra for north of £200, but Decathlon’s Van Rysel performance range includes this well-reviewed, more affordable pair.
Van Rysel RCR Sport winter cycling tights, £79.99
decathlon.co.uk
Snood
An original Buff snood is the multitool of winter cycling gear, offering customisable snug protection on the coldest days. I wear two when it gets arctic: one around my neck, and another on my head, sometimes twisted at the top and brought back around itself to create a double-thickness kind of skull cap. This merino number comes in tasteful maize or indigo.
Buff merino lightweight neckwear, £23.95
buff.com
Simon Usborne is a freelance journalist based in London, where he keeps three bikes (four if you include the static one in the loft). He has multiple cupboards full of gear of varying vintages used to, among other things, scale Alpine peaks, traverse ancient trails and commute to work in all weathers
