With the winter months upon us, it’s easy to slip into hibernation and hang up the bike until spring, but with so many great products out there to keep you warm and dry, there’s no reason mountain biking can’t be a year round passion.
Finding stylish and functional women’s MTB wear is difficult. Even at the best of times and height of summer, women are crying out for more options, more colours and well… just more of everything. The choice can be so limited that we’re often stuck with the same brands which inevitably leads to coincidental matching on the trails with other women.
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With the women’s industry still growing and now slowly answering to our plight for more clothing, it can be daunting to think of the winter months and having the palaver of looking for well-fitting clothing, which is also waterproof and stylish.
We’ve done our research and our field testing to bring you some of the best winter MTB wear to see you through to spring… and beyond.
Base Layers: Alpkit’s Kepler Merino Wool Top
Where better to start our guide from, than the bottom. Merino wool is a fantastic base layer for all active wear – it’s soft and light, but its remarkable properties allows the material to keep you both warm when it’s cold, but cool when you heat up.
Alpkit are not MTB specific, but they cater to the adventurer in us all. Their Kepler merino wool base-layer acts great as a second skin for riding in. The cut is flattering and it fits really well, with a long body to limit it riding up your back throughout a trail.
The Kepler merino wool layer is priced at £39 makes it quite reasonable, especially when we haven’t yet mentioned the best feature: Thumb Loops. These are very comfortable, and ensure your sleeves are nicely tucked into your gloves so you don’t get any nasty wind shooting up your arm as you shred down a trail.
A good quality base layer can make all the difference to your winter ride. It keeps you warm, without being heavy of inconvenient. It’s even great to layer with your jersey, or jacket and there’s nothing stopping you from wearing it on its own.
Again, we found Madison to provide just that with their Flo Women’s soft-shell shorts. These baggy shorts are waterproof and highly durable with double panelling on the knee areas to add further protection to you and the wear of the fabric. We consider these to be the ultimate winter MTB short, without the expected winter price tag. At £54, the Madison Women’s Flo Shorts are comfortable, waterproof and stylish. My favourite feature is the extra leg length on them, reaching past the knee. Hard to find with women’s MTB shorts, and an often feature that we women are crying out for.
