Thoughts on helmet goggle set up??

[endchiro]

Hi John,

I was wondering if you would comment on your helmet goggle set up that you or your buds ride with? We ride up in your area most of the time and find it to be very cold on many rides. I have thickened my balaclava and taped my goggle vents closed which help. I have also used a chin curtain in my hmk helmet that keeps the wind from coming up under my helmet but tends to cause some fogging/freezing especially if mouth/nose guard isn't tight against my nose and face. I also run a fan that seems to help somewhat. I am looking for the easiest and quickest but warmest set up possible.
What has been your best helmet goggle set up for when it gets really cold?

Thanks,
Eric

 

[jd]

Hi Eric.

I would be happy to let you know what setup I have found to work best. However, first I would like to say that for reasons not completely clear to me, it has been my observation that the setup that works best for me does not work as good for others and setups that work very well for others has not worked well for me. The only explanation I can come up with is that each persons face and head are shaped differently and thus leads to the different results with the different setup. I can also say that I do not ride the trails a lot. Most of my riding is off trail, which is done at a much slower pace than trail riding. Very rarely am I going faster than 25-30 mph when off trail and spend a considerable amount of time going 0 mph (stuck!).

Anyway, the setup I use is a Klim F4 helmet with either the Klim goggles or the 509 Aviator goggles. I also wear the Klim Covert Balaclava for most rides and the Arctic Balaclava for the really cold rides.

It sounds like keeping warm without fogging is your main problem. I am not sure if you mainly trail ride or not, but if this is the case, then the open face setup might not be the best for you and you might want to check into the modular setups. I really do not have any experience with the modular setups, but if you would like more info, then let it be known either in this thread or perhaps one in the Misc. section and I am sure you will get plenty of responses from those with a lot more experience/knowledge than me.

If you mostly off trail, then my suggestions would be to try an "No-Fog" neoprene mask to help keep your face warm and deflect your breath away from the goggles. This has worked well for me in the past, but I have found that I do not need the no-fog when I use the F4 with the included breath box. I also carry a spare set of goggles and keep them in the goggle warming pouch in my sled. That way, when I do have goggles fog, I can swap them out for warm and dry ones and the fogged ones will dry out in the goggle warmer.

Hope this helps.

-John