As I push more into biking during the winter, I need to test more often to see what works. I replaced some break pads on my bike as well as got all the lights mounted again. I did a quick ride around town around 10pm in 31F weather to get a feel for how I'm setup.
The Bell-brand light that I have for the handlebars is definietely insufficient for the task. The head-lamp I have does a much better job of lighting the way. It would be nice to have a handlebar-mounted light that really shines. From what I read I need 20 watts in city driving (as the other light washes out my light).
Biking gloves are still somewhat of an issue. My older leather-shell thinsulate gloves don't overlap correctly with my jacket sleeve, causing a gap. I tried out a pair of fleece "pop-top" gloves (half fingerless glove/half mitten) -- these let you fee the breeze through the fleece (and that's without wind). My newest pair of thinsulate gloves I have generally work -- they keep the hands warm and overlap properly. The only issue with those is dexterity. I might have to hunt down some bike pogies. These mount on the bike and create a nice protection from the elements, allowing you to wear a thinner, less wind-resistant glove (like the fleece pop-tops).
The windbreaker pants over top of jeans works great, at least in dry weather. They seem like they'll do a decent job in rainy weather as well. For anyone else looking for a multi-layer pants solution, windbreaker pants go over anything.
As for the bike, I'll need to find a decent mirror. I picked one up that was supposed to hook on the side of the hand-grips, but in my case, the hand-grip is also the shifter and therefore too big for the mirror to fit onto.
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