# Cold weather gear question- Leg Warmers



## skhan007 (May 18, 2012)

I just stopped by the LBS and bought a pair of Pearl Izumi Pro leg warmers. I'm a lanky 6'1" and the owner said to get Large. Makes sense, as I have long legs and don't want exposed skin around the ankles or higher. 

Upon trying them on at home, I'm noting that the upper most part is not that snug around the thighs. It has elastic, but it's not a tight fit at all and slides down. When I put on the cycling bibs over top, the tightness of the bib shorts seems to hold everything in place properly. 

Is this OK or do I return and get a Medium? My legs are like toothpicks with zero fat, so I'm curious if Medium will fit snug, but still have the proper length. Any advice is much appreciated.


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## Trek_5200 (Apr 21, 2013)

I bought my first pair of leg warmers last year. I first tried Izumu and my experience was quite similar. Then I bought a pair of Hincapie's and for me they fit much better. I still have to pull them up quite high to get a snug fit, but if I do limited walking and stick to cycling the fit is pretty good. Our build's are quite different, I'm 5'4 with relatively muscular legs, but my point is that different brands will fit differently so experiment.

Also wish to point out that once the temperature drops to the 30's and under I find the leg/knee warmers insufficient and switch to thermal tights.


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## pdh777 (Oct 7, 2005)

I am like you at 5'11 with skinny legs.
If they do not hug your legs they will slide down and be a pain, or imppossible to manage. I have had several pair and gave up on them, and just recently bought a pair of PI' Pros that stay up.

They key for me is - on the outside of the leg / arm warmers is a plastic band at the top - these work with a similar plastic band on some shorts that is on the inside - the plastic sort of stick to each other. You have to put the warmers on the inside of your shorts or jersey. 
I also had to buy ones that were as tight as possible to my skin from the start .
Have not had any problems with these as of yet - worn maybe 3 times.


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## Roland44 (Mar 21, 2013)

skhan007 said:


> Is this OK or do I return and get a Medium? My legs are like toothpicks with zero fat, so I'm curious if Medium will fit snug, but still have the proper length. Any advice is much appreciated.


I would definitely replace them with a smaller size If I were you OP. You need them to be a bit tight so they won't fall off while you are riding.


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## tvad (Aug 31, 2003)

Try a size medium, and use longer socks to make up for the shorter length of the leg warmers.


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## ericm979 (Jun 26, 2005)

I'm 6' tall and 145 lbs, with long legs. I use medium or small size knee warmers to get them tight enough, and leave a lot of calf bare. For full coverage I use tights.


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

Do you have a sewing machine, or know anybody with one? Tightening up a leg warmer is about the easiest alteration imaginable. Make 'em fit the way you want.


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## Got Time (Jan 23, 2009)

Hmm, why not simply try the leg warmers at the LBS?
Then you might be able to find those which do not slide down but are still long enough?
Well, at least if you're lucky... I need size S but those are almost never long enough for my legs.


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## ymerej (Sep 13, 2005)

Imo leg warmers kinda suck they always seem to fall down
So I got gore 3/4 wind stopper tights they really work well to keep cold out. However are not the best size wise they bunch up around saddle area 5-10 size large. Ordered medium to try them out
Hope this helps


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## Special Eyes (Feb 2, 2011)

6' and 175# and sorta thin legs here. I've had the Specialized and Hincapie for a few years, size small, and they are just fine. fit quite snug, no sliding, no loose places, and quite long enough. Try the small size, it's amazing how they will still fit you and you will love the snugness. They go from my ankles to about 6" under my shorts.


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## skhan007 (May 18, 2012)

Thanks guys. Sounds like a plan. I'll return these to the LBS and try some Mediums or maybe even Small.


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## easyridernyc (Jan 10, 2008)

skhan007 said:


> I just stopped by the LBS and bought a pair of Pearl Izumi Pro leg warmers. I'm a lanky 6'1" and the owner said to get Large. Makes sense, as I have long legs and don't want exposed skin around the ankles or higher.
> 
> Upon trying them on at home, I'm noting that the upper most part is not that snug around the thighs. It has elastic, but it's not a tight fit at all and slides down. When I put on the cycling bibs over top, the tightness of the bib shorts seems to hold everything in place properly.
> 
> Is this OK or do I return and get a Medium? My legs are like toothpicks with zero fat, so I'm curious if Medium will fit snug, but still have the proper length. Any advice is much appreciated.


pearl izumi sizing is tricky. its all downsized a bit, but no so much that if you go a size larger (or smaller) you will hit on a right size. so if you are not in their sweet spot in between size to begin with, you will get nailed with the wrong size gear, which is a shame, cause their stuff is good quality and looks great on. but for me, it just never fits. expensively.

had the same experience twice with a pe long sleeve jersey and an elite barrier jacket. at six feet 190 large stuff fits too snug, I usually go xl in u.s sizing. but pe has a sorta pseudo euro sizing thing going on, and as much as I wanted it too, it just wasn't spot on comfortable, xl was too loose, large was way too tight. coulda been me I figured, so I went to the sizing chart and sure enough, the numbers bear it out...large too small xl too big. solution?

gore bike wear. true sizing, and excellent pro quality gear, and it fits perfect EVERY TIME. cant get enough of it. I don't do leg warmers, just go with winter bibs, they get me down as low as I need to go, into the twenties and below, depending. if I were gonna try em though, I would go with gore, knowing that the sizing, elastic, fit, whatever, would not be a problem...


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## Jay Strongbow (May 8, 2010)

My leg warmers are pretty loose especially now that they're getting old and losing the stretch. In my experience leg warmers staying up or not has more to do with how tight and how low towards the knee your shorts go. 

I'm kind of short and have bigish legs, so most shorts are kind of tight on the thighs for me and go low towards the knee thus seem to hold up loose fitting leg warmers no problem. The only shorts I get slippage with are the pair that doesn't extend as far down towards my knee and aren't very tight on the thighs.

Sounds like you're pretty much the opposite build so would guess your shorts aren't real tight on the thighs and don't extend as low towards your knee. So I wouldn't anticipate you could get away with depending on the shorts to do the work like I can.

Another factor is probably that I have Assos leg warmers which are curved really well around the knee so pedaling doesn't tug them and due to their design combined with my short legs they come up really high on the side. So the brand combined with my short legs probably means I have best case scenario as far as holding up non-tight leg warmers goes.


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## ParadigmDawg (Aug 2, 2012)

I find that with a fresh shave my keg warmers stay up all day. If my legs are even a bit hairy the warmers slide down.


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## tvad (Aug 31, 2003)

Jay Strongbow said:


> I have Assos leg warmers which are curved really well around the knee so pedaling doesn't tug them...


^This. Assos leg warmers stay up largely due to their anatomical cut. They also have generous length. I am 5'11" with a 33" inseam, and the Assos leg warmers go 10" above the leg gripper of my long-leg Assos bibs, and the bottom of the leg warmer still comes down to the ankle (and doesn't slip up).


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## gus68 (Oct 19, 2010)

try the castelli nanoflex, they seem thinner throughout the leg.


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## samh (May 5, 2004)

*legwarmer alteration*



JCavilia said:


> Do you have a sewing machine, or know anybody with one? Tightening up a leg warmer is about the easiest alteration imaginable. Make 'em fit the way you want.


 How? do you have a picture or can describe? (I'm not a tailor)


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## skhan007 (May 18, 2012)

Thanks guys- I'll note the other brands you've mentioned and look into them.

I got a pair of Medium Pearl Izumi Pro's and they fit much better. We've had a bit of a warm streak here in the DC area, so I've been riding daily. So far, so good!


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## heybrady (Jul 3, 2011)

I have zero luck with PI sizing. Everything seems cut for the fat man, and I am borderline myself (6'2",210). Xl jerseys are baggy, large is too short. My guess is you have same problem with the warmers. Try a different brand or size down.


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## single1x1 (Mar 26, 2005)

Glad you found a medium, I'm similar, 6' 34" inseam and the PI leg warmers fit nice, and tight, pulled up the thigh a ways, wearing a longer wool sock sometimes has a slight gap, but not much. The ones I have I think are select or elite thermo, one step down from the pro line and I've worn them quite a bit.


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