Winter tights
Many readers will remember the days when winter tights were typically a chamois-free outer layer, worn over the top of a favourite pair of shorts. A lot has changed in the last decade. Now, brands are able to sew a chamois into the outer shell without affecting fit and comfort, and that’s what pretty much all but the most traditional models now do.
Winter comes in many different guises. There are the cold, frosty days where leaving the house means rolling past frosted car windscreens and negotiating worryingly shiny patches of tarmac. Then there are the deluge days where spray and muck fly despite even the most careful mudguard fittings.
Winter tights differ in order to cater for these varying needs — some models place their focus on warmth, using fleece linings to provide a high level of insulation, while others come with heavy-duty water resistant coatings, which can affect the fit it not carefully applied.
We’re not all limiting ourselves to base miles in the winter any more either — wearers could be knocking out hard intervals in the bleak midwinter, as well as logging long slow miles, so kit needs to let the skin breathe and wick sweat.
The absolute ideal in a good pair of winter tights is balance: the perfect garment can keep a rider warm and relatively dry during the colder months, while maintaining comfort in the saddle. Reflective details to aid visibility
