Heated Jacket? 65 or 90 Watt?

[StuartV]

Originally Posted by jgas

I'll have layers and a heavy riding jacket over the vest to keep the heat in. Often I overheat rather than get too cold whenever I hit the slow trails.

One of the benefits of good heated gear is that you don't have to wear all those extra layers. That pays off in 2 ways. One, you're more comfortable riding when you don't feel like the Michelin man. And two, you turn the liner up to Hi when you're toodling along "getting there". Then, when you hit the singletrack and, normally, you would take off layers to keep from getting hot, you just turn the heated liner down or off. No need to remove layers and no need to overheat when you get to the slow, tight stuff.

It seems that many riders approach cold weather riding by layering up and then, when that's still not enough, they add the heated gear. I think that approach is backwards. I put on my summer riding gear. If it's too cold for that, then the next thing I add is my heated liner(s). If it's still too cold, with the heated gear at max, THEN I think about adding long johns and/or fleece or whatever.

I hate feeling like a stuffed sausage casing when I'm riding.