Base layers; for climbing same as for motorcycling?

John Roberts

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I live not far from Joe Brown's climbing shop in Llanberis and I'm wondering if base layers made for climbing are any different to ones for motorcycling. I phoned the shop just now, he can't think of any difference, does anybody here know of any?

He said to go for merino wool. As for size, what's best, long or short sleeves, shorts or long pants?

Oh, and I do know that I can get them tomorrow by ordering the conventional bike makes on line, but Llanberis (or to his other shop in Capel Curig) would make a very nice bimble on a perfect day like today. :)
 
I have tried a few and, by a large margin, prefer my merino wool ones. Long pants and sleeves.
 
I use merino wool (Smartwool) - less itchy than some.
I tried the synthetic ones but they used to pong after a couple of uses. Merino you can use for many a day with no side effects.
Whichever you buy, get base layers to fit and not be loose otherwise they don't do their job properly.
 
Yes, another vote for merino wool: mine are from Ice Breaker and Columbia, courtesy of the Cotsword shop
 
It seems that merino are the ones to go for, and that unanimously, which is encouraging. :)

I just had a look on other threads on the subject and one other thing to look out for seems to be thick/obtrusive seams, I must admit that I hadn't thought of that while considering the mountaineering versions, and when I thought about it realised that the matter of how much you move about on your bike (half an inch every quarter of an hour as opposed to continuous and strenuous movement while climbing?) could well be an issue. So I called the shop again. The lady that answered said that the seams all seemed to be over... over something... bugger, I can't remember the word she used, but she said they were sewn with flat seams so that carrying rucksacks wouldn't get too uncomfortable because of them.

So, next stop is at Mr. Brown's shop in Llanberis, in the heart of Eryri (that's Snowdonia). And another stop at that perfectly delightful and quirky-but-in-a-nice-way Caffi Pen Ceunant at the bottom of the track up Snowdon from Llanberis. Good, it's another gorgeous day in the mountains for me.

Thank you all. :beerjug:
 
overlocked?
folded back and sewn flat ;)

DSC00174.jpg

A bit like this - first pic I found
 
newboy said:
And surely Pete's Eats is the place to go!!!

great scran there - but must try yours now :)
Click to expand...
Agreed, but give Pen Ceunant a try, it's very different to Pete's, certainly. I believe it's run by a chap who doesn't need the money and does it just to meet people, he a very nice bloke. He does B&B too. Have a look at
http://www.snowdoncafe.com/index.php/snowdoncafeaccommodation
There's a little art gallery there as well of paintings by Kyffin Williams, see
http://www.bonhams.com/press_release/13088/
among others.

Enjoy!

:beerjug:
 
Ive just bought som Rab MeCo stuff and its very good certainly in the warm weather although when it gets chilly i opt for the icebreaker heavier weight merino

None of this is for motorcycling but per se so to answer the OP question IMO yes climbing stuff is just as good
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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