The clocks go back on the last Sunday in October, this year the 25th, and in London sunset jumps from about ten to six to about a quarter to five. The ride home goes from daylight to dark in one weekend.
Dressing for the bike is not the same as dressing for the walk to the station. You make your own wind and a great deal of your own heat, and most cycling clothing mistakes come from dressing for one and forgetting the other.
You make your own wind
Riding at 15mph into a 10mph headwind puts 25mph of moving air across your face and hands. By the standard wind chill formula, someone walking in that wind on a 5°C morning feels roughly 2°C, about what the forecast's feels-like figure will say. Put the rider's 25mph through the same formula and it comes out at around minus 1°C. Even on a still morning, riding at 15mph takes 5°C down to about freezing: most of the chill is your own speed, not the weather.
A windproof jacket over a working torso shrugs most of it off. Your hands, held still at the front of the bike in the full airflow, take all of it, as do your ears and feet, which is how you can sweat under a jacket while your fingers go numb.
Direction matters too. The UK's prevailing wind is south-westerly, so if you ride east in the morning, expect the headwind on the way home. The feels-like explainer covers what the forecast figure includes and why gusts matter on exposed bridges.
Start slightly cold
At a steady commuting pace you produce several times the heat you make sitting at a desk. Dress to be comfortable at the front door and within ten minutes you are sweating into your base layer, then chilled by it on the next descent.
So start slightly cold: cool, not shivering, for the first ten minutes. If you are comfortable standing at the door in all your kit, take a layer off your body, and unzip before you start to sweat, not after.
Underdress the body and overdress the extremities. Your torso will be warm within ten minutes. Your hands and feet may never catch up, and your fingers have to work the brakes.
E-bikes are the exception. The same air for far less effort means far less heat, so dress a layer warmer and do not count on warming up.
What to wear at each feels-like temperature
The bands use the forecast's feels-like figure and assume a ride of 20 to 45 minutes. They are lighter on the body and heavier on the hands than the everyday version in the FAQ.
| Feels like | Body and legs | Hands, head and feet |
|---|---|---|
| Below 0°C | Thermal base layer, thin fleece, windproof jacket, thermal tights or lined trousers. | Insulated windproof gloves or lobster mitts, thin cap, neck tube, wool socks, overshoes. Check for ice. |
| 0°C to 5°C | Long-sleeved base layer, windproof or waterproof jacket, full-length tights or trousers. | Windproof full-finger gloves, cap or headband over the ears, neck tube. Overshoes if wet. |
| 5°C to 10°C | Base layer and a windproof jacket or gilet. Full-length legs, or shorts and knee warmers. | Light full-finger gloves. A headband if it is windy. |
| 10°C to 15°C | Long or short sleeves, a windproof you can pocket, arm warmers for a cold start. | Thin gloves for the morning ride. |
| 15°C to 20°C | Short sleeves, and a packable shell for showers. | No gloves. Sunscreen on forearms and neck. |
| Above 20°C | The lightest, loosest top you can ride in, and a slower pace. | Sunscreen on forearms, neck and hands. Water. |
Rides under 15 minutes rarely warm you up properly, so go a little warmer, and rain or a strong headwind moves you down a band. The layering guide explains how the layers share the work.
For a starting point, select Commuting on the outfit tool, then translate for the bike: a heavy winter coat becomes a shell over the right base layer, the scarf a neck tube, the warm hat a thin cap under a helmet, and the umbrella stays at home. Its tomorrow panel also flags when 8am will be in a colder band than the afternoon.
Hands, head and feet first
Gloves. The back of your hand faces the airflow, so that is where a glove must be windproof; knitted gloves let the wind straight through. A thinner palm keeps your feel for the brakes, which a bulky ski glove does not. Below freezing, lobster mitts, which group your fingers in pairs, are warmer than five-finger gloves and still let you brake.
Head. Helmet vents channel cold air across your scalp. A thin cap or headband underneath covers the ears, which hurt first; a thick knitted hat stops most helmets fitting properly. Clear glasses stop the cold air making your eyes stream.
Neck. A neck tube closes the gap between collar and helmet and pulls up over your chin. Skip the scarf: the Highway Code advises cyclists to avoid clothes that may get tangled in the chain or a wheel.
Feet. They do little of the work, sit in the airflow and catch the front wheel's spray. Overshoes block wind and water but are fiddly and wear out if you walk far in them. Waterproof socks keep feet dry inside a wet shoe; wear tights or trousers over the top, or rain runs down your leg and straight in.
Rain: mudguards first, then the jacket
On many winter commutes, most of the water that reaches you comes up from the road. The back wheel throws a stripe of dirty water up your back, the front wheel soaks your feet, and both carry on for hours after the rain stops. Full-length mudguards, ideally with a flap on the front one, do more for staying dry than any garment, and they work on dry mornings with wet roads too.
For the jacket, look for a breathable waterproof with a dropped tail to cover your lower back, sleeves long enough with your arms on the bars, vents, and a hood that fits under a helmet or packs away. No membrane keeps up with a hard effort, so aim for warm and slightly damp rather than cold and wet. Road grime and sweat both degrade the water-repellent finish, so wash and reproof it more often than you would a walking jacket (see how waterproof ratings work and choosing a waterproof jacket).
Waterproof trousers or wet legs? On a ride under about 20 minutes in rain above 10°C or so, wet legs are an inconvenience if you can change at work. Colder or longer than that, waterproof trousers with ankle zips earn their place. Avoid jeans: denim soaks up water, turns cold and takes most of the day to dry.
Being seen
The Highway Code advises cyclists to wear light-coloured or fluorescent clothing in daylight and poor light, and reflective clothing or accessories, such as ankle bands, in the dark. Fluorescent fabric converts the ultraviolet in daylight into visible light, so it stands out on grey mornings and at dusk, but under headlights it is just a colour. Reflective material does little by day and sends headlights straight back to the driver at night. Put it where it moves: ankle bands rising and falling with each pedal stroke read as a person on a bike.
None of this replaces lights. Between sunset and sunrise a bike on the road must have a white front light and a red rear light lit, and be fitted with a red rear reflector. Around the shortest day sunrise is after 8am in most of the UK, so that includes many morning rides.
Ice, frost and when to take the train
Black ice is a thin, clear layer that looks like wet tarmac. It forms when a wet road freezes, typically on a clear, still night after rain.
It appears first and lingers longest on bridges, which lose heat from above and below; in lanes shaded by trees, walls or cuttings; and at the edge of the road, where you ride, which collects meltwater and gets the least traffic. Many cycle paths and back streets are not gritted.
Forecasts give the temperature of the air a little above the ground, and on a clear night the road can be below freezing while the air is at 2°C. Frost on parked cars means surfaces are at or below freezing. If you are caught out, treat any patch that looks wet on an otherwise dry road as ice, and roll across it without braking or steering.
Take the train or bus when the roads were wet in the evening and the overnight low is at or below freezing, or when the Met Office has a warning for ice in your area, especially if your route crosses bridges, uses unlit paths or runs down shaded lanes. A train fare is cheaper than a broken wrist.
Arriving presentable
Either ride in kit and change at work, or ride in work clothes at a pace that never gets you out of breath, which only works on short, flat, cool rides.
If you change, keep shoes, a belt, toiletries and a towel at work, and bring a week's shirts in on hangers on a day you are not riding. If you must carry a shirt, roll it and put it in a dry bag or bin liner. Panniers beat a rucksack, which leaves a sweat patch exactly where the shirt will sit.
Without a shower, ride in merino: it holds odour far less than synthetic fabric, so a top hung up during the day is fine for the ride home. Ride the last few minutes gently and wait ten minutes before changing, because you keep sweating after you stop.
Hang wet kit up rather than leaving it in a bag, and stuff wet shoes with newspaper, changed at lunchtime; it draws out a surprising amount of water. Gloves soaked on the ride in will still be wet at half past five, so keep a spare pair at work.
Summer: sweat, sun and the afternoon storm
In summer the problem is arriving without having sweated through everything. Ride at conversation pace, use lower gears on hills, and leave ten minutes earlier so you are not racing the clock.
Your forearms, neck and the backs of your hands face the sun on every ride, and on a clear June evening the UV index at five o'clock can still be around 3, the level at which protection is advised. Put sunscreen on them before you leave work.
Summer thunderstorms are most likely in the afternoon and early evening, which puts them on the ride home. The rain is heavy, warm and usually brief, so a light shell or a twenty-minute wait both work. Avoid deep standing water, which hides potholes. If you hear thunder on open ground, get off and into a building rather than under an isolated tree; bike tyres offer no protection.
A compact kit list
- Jacket: breathable waterproof with a dropped tail, vents and reflective detail.
- Windproof: a jacket or gilet that packs into a pocket.
- Layers: long and short-sleeved base layers (merino if there is no shower) and a thin fleece.
- Legs: full-length tights or trousers, and waterproof trousers for long or cold wet rides.
- Hands: thin windproof gloves, insulated gloves for frost, and a spare pair at work.
- Head: a thin cap or headband for under a helmet, a neck tube and clear glasses.
- Feet: wool socks, overshoes or waterproof socks, and reflective ankle bands.
- Bike: full-length mudguards and charged lights.
- At work: shoes, a towel and a week of shirts.
The guide to dressing for UK weather covers the walking half of a commute and office wear.