suggestions on clothing under gear

[emiraff]

Hi all,
I am trying to understand what the appropriate clothes are to wear under full gear. There are several synthetic fabrics out there and more brands. What do you usually wear for either winter and summer. Separate kind of fabrics or the same overall? It should also be something that should not smell too bad if worn in hot climate and at the same time dries quickly if washed.
The question is for both jersey and jackets, if also better packed very small.
Cheers!

[spooky]

dumped all my synthetic under ware and replaced it for the woolly one from Woolpover, keeps warm, no smelly sweaty any more.
OK may drying a bit slower but gives a better body feeling than all this high-tec synthetic crap.
Woolpower 1x T-shirt 200, 1x long-shirt 200, 1x Polo-shirt 400, 1x West 400 and socks in 2x 200 and 2x 400 will do.. additional 2x thin underpants, may add a pair of longjohns in 200.. that's all you need in onion style under a smock type waterproof, windproof jacket or leather

well not the cheapest option to go, compare it to cotton under ware... well this are bad, soggy, smelly, heavy

Compare the woolly stuff with synthetics, well they are not cheap either, and you gonna smell and sweat like a codfish in no time.

[dave.m]

A lot of this is personal preference, like the above post. The principle of layering is often advocated as a good method of regulating your temperature. So, basically just add layers in the winter.

In the summer, I just wear a cotton t shirt and will wear it for a couple of days. In winter I tend to use either a synthetic thermal top or tops (depending on how cold it is), or merino wool, or tops that combine synthetics with merino.

You can get tops in different weights and materials to suit different kinds of activity. Plenty of choice in outdoor shops/online. If you really feel the cold try looking for thermal tops that divers wear under their drysuits as they tend to offer more insulation than the lifa stuff for walkers/climbers. Merino wool is excellent but pricey, and it may be cheaper to buy internationally.

[RTWbyBIKE.com]

I tried everything, Goretex, Goresomething, this and that. From my childhood I always hated wool, till I came accross Merino. Layerd in Merino from 40°C to -35°C, no problem. Doesnt stink, doesnt scatch, cools superfast, keeps warm and cool...


For our RTW we will take Merino back to New Zealand, I guess its better to buy it there but why to buy it new if we already got it? I guess the guys at the border controll will tell us we are crazy... but who cares.

There are several brands, we took Icebreaker...

[GSPeter]

Hei Emiraff,
You don't mention what sort of temperatures you expect. Without doubt wool will serve you better for riding. The technical fibres are for athletes who sweat and don't stop to get cold. They want to transport sweat away from their skin, if they have to stop then they soon get much colder.
I have worked with mountain rescue, some custommers might have survived had they used wool and improvised shelter before hypothermia - which sneaks up on you, some actually start to take layers off. You don't want to go down that road.
On a bike you have to factor in the wind-chill, you can find more info on Wikipedia or google it. Leather is good for sliding down the road, but it is cold when it's cold out, and hot when it's hot.
Hope this helps.
Peter, in Oslo

[Two Moto Kiwis]

We are using totally Icebreaker www.icebreaker.com

Doesn't stink like cotton and is very nice to wear, you can layer up or down to suit.

I am a sweaty bugger and these work a treat for me.