Cold Weather Cycling: Hincapie to the Rescue

In news that will shock and amaze you all, Florida is hot a good portion of the year.

Have you picked your jaw up off the floor yet? Sweet, because the converse to that is that, sometimes? It’s not warm. In fact, sometimes it’s downright wintry, with frost on the windshield and freeze warnings and everything. I know. It’s really dreadful*.

(*It’s not dreadful at all. In fact, I tend to kind of enjoy these cold bursts since they never last all that long. Plus, I want to keep my cred when it comes to complaining about how hot it is in the summer, and you can’t have it both ways, can you?)

Anyway, the weather has to get pretty darn cold to keep me away from my outdoor workouts. Running is easy — I heat up fast, plus, I can easily shove gloves or a headband in a pocket or tie a jacket around my waist if I get too hot after a mile or so.

Cycling has been a bit more challenging. I have plenty of cool gear for riding in warm weather — in fact, the Hincapie gear I reviewed a while back is still the kit I get the most compliments on. But proper layering on the bike is tricky — you can’t just tie things around your waist and call it good. Happily, as the temperatures dipped, Hincapie reached out once again, this time with the opportunity to review a colder weather kit.

I don’t have to tell you how I responded, do I?

Hincapie Revolve Long Sleeve Jersey and Capri

I was geeked from the start, because, well, look at it. This is a slick design — I love that it’s muted enough to be pretty damn stylish and flashy enough to be visible on the road. But it wasn’t until I received it and put it on that the magic really hit me.

This is the prettiest cool-weather kit I think I’ve ever seen. Credit: Hincapie

“Oh my god, feel this. Feel this!” I called to my husband as soon as I took the jersey out of the package. I put it on over the tank I was wearing and sighed. “This is the best thing I’ve ever felt on my body,” I told him. “It’s just so soft. I wish everything I owned was made out of this.” (I actually wrote all this down at the time because I wanted to remember exactly how I reacted.)

It’s the truth, guys — I guess it’s the QuadroHot fabric, which is a moisture-wicking fabric with a brushed inner layer of fast-drying, hollow-core fibers to help keep you drier and more comfortable in cooler conditions. They can call it whatever they want — I call it heaven.

Aside from the magic fabric from heaven, both the jersey and the capris feature some fantastic attention to detail. Both items have Hincapie Gel-Gripper on the edges, which keeps everything in place — particularly important when it’s chilly out and you’re trying to limit your exposed skin, but don’t want something squeezing you tightly. The jersey has reflective details for enhanced visibility (safety first!) as well as three generous back pockets.

Full disclosure: I’ve even worn the jersey as a light jacket for other outdoor workouts, prompting some of my running pals to ask me, “Dude, when did you go pro?” I told you, it’s sharp.

The capris are also fantastic, and really make a big difference when it comes to keeping warm out on a chilly road ride. The fit is great — I particularly like the flat, yoga pant-style waistband, which doesn’t cut in the way some thin waistbands do once you’ve spent a couple of hours bent over on your bike in them.

This is seriously high-level stuff, as I mentioned when I first reviewed the Anthem kit from Hincapie. It feels like pro-level stuff because, really, it is. If you’re a cyclist who’s in need of cooler weather clothing for your ride, I believe it’s worth making the investment (and it is a bit of an investment — the jersey is $100 and the capris, $110).

How seriously do you take your cycling gear? Would having a kit for cooler weather get you out on your bike more? —Kristen