Two nifty technologies that are making my winter more comfortable. One is super technical material called Outlast. “Outlast® technology’s phase change materials (PCMs), incorporated into clothing, interact with the skin’s temperature to provide a buffer against temperature swings. PCMs are materials that can absorb, store and release heat while the material changes from solid to liquid and back to solid. This is known as a phase change. Water changing from solid (ice) to liquid is an example of this phenomenon. During these phase changes large amounts of heat are absorbed or released.” Rather amazing stuff, and it works in real life in my experience.

Another great bit of tech, which I wish was more widely adopted the boa lacing system. I had a pair of winter cycling shoes that were not cutting it. Simply put my foot was cold far to early an often, and worse, they did an awful job of insulating the bottom of my foot from the metal, cold conducting cleat just underneath it. Another less problematic annoyance was that getting in and out of them was painful. All these winter sports shoes have ankle cuffs that seal the boot, but in doing so have made it difficult to get your foot in and out. Fortunately I tend to do it only once a ride so I ignored it as a problem and accepted it as the way things had to be.

I was so annoyed the other day by the cold emanating from the cleat, that I stopped mid ride at my LBS and asked the winter hard core what the recommendation for footwear was these days. I didn’t expect to be able to do anything since stocks of that sort of stuff is generally low by this time. But to my delight they had a pair of the recommended shoes in my size albeit the road version (booo), and they were so much better than what I had that I switched right then and there. One of the things that made them better was the boa lacing system. Pull the knob and they release and the slack allows the boot to open wide. Get your foot in, and a couple of turns and the lacing system has gathered the slack and now allows you to fine tune tension. Amazing. I’m now looking for other footwear that uses this system I enjoy it so much.

The reason the road version isn’t as good as the mountain version is simple. The mountain version is far more walkable. Anyway, I’ll make that change down the road, for now, a serious improvement.

Now these shoes bring both these products together, but there are other bits and pieces of them spread around. Worth checking out.

One last tip. Cycling clothing is generally overpriced x4. It’s a crazy industry. Many winter sports share the same requirements, so look around for stuff that works for runners and skiers etc. Chances are it’ll work for you as well, and be far less expensive.