I mean, I really wish this forum had a thumbs down vote like Reddit.
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This is the perfect unpopular opinion.
It doesn’t matter if your legs don’t feel cold, temperature effects on performance are real.
Here’s one study but there are many. Because facts.
Cool and warm sensitivities are seen to vary widely by body part. The foot, lower leg and upper chest are much less sensitive than average; in comparison, the cheek, neck back, and seat area are 2-3 times as sensitive to both cooling and warming stimuli. Every body part exhibits stronger sensitivity to cooling (1.3–1.6 times stronger) than to warming.
Sure, I’m the only rider that’ll cover my knees this Saturday when the ride starts at 55°F and I’ll probably be in a summer jersey because it’ll be fast and it’ll only get warmer.
However, if a pro ever shows up in this g•d forsaken part of the country and it’s below 70°F, that’ll make two of us.
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I assume these were already brought up but I figured I would beat the dead horse.
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W/kg only matters when climbing.
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FTP equals the power you can sustain for about one hour.
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Full aero optimization for races (helmet, skinsuit, aero bike, etc) is just a way for the weak riders to try to get faster without putting in the work (training).
Paraphrasing from a club friend.
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At what temp do you feel is too cold for exposed knees? Anything more than shorts before donning long sleeves(arm warmers, LS jersey, or jacket) is a major fashion faux pas.
for me, anything on my legs before it’s below 55* is almost unbearably hot. Usually tolerable down to the mid 40’s though.
Take this guy on the login screen for GC! only thing that would make it more atrocious would be if he had his socks overtop of his leg warmers.
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I’ll riff on this.
If it’s cold enough to wear knee warmers you should just wear tights.
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I start considering knee warmers when it dips below 50.
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I just did a quick online search and depending on the coach, recommendations seem to fall somewhere between 60-70 degrees as to when you need to start wearing knee warmers (and obviously anything below that).
I could care less about whether people think it’s fashionable. I wear a bright green helmet and shoes for visibility. I’d rather protect my knees (and skull) than worry about what the fashion police think.
Which brings me to another unpopular cycling opinion: EF Donald Duck jerseys and helmets were atrocious. 
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Without it being weird or arrogant, why is it obvious you need knee warmers below those temps? I ride down to 25F without knee warmers or tights. Below that and I figure I just run the risk of frostbite on any exposed skin and I default to the trainer.
Not trying to be a tough guy, I just didn’t realize there was a benefit.
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Not sure. All I know is I’ve grown to hate being cold on the bike at the beginning so I end up overdressing. That’s okay though. I make sure to layer so I can easily take stuff off as I get warm.
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What I’ve always seen discussed is that it keeps the knees and ligaments, fluids, etc., warmer, which helps prevent long term knee issues.
I find it hard to believe that internal temps of moving joints will cool much, surface temp sure, but the joint and ligaments aren’t on the surface, they are also surrounded by our central heating and cooling system. I’d love to read some articles on how I need knee warmers for temps below 70.
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Google it then. That’s what I keep doing every time someone asks a question. (Edit: I’m having a conversation with Chat GPT about it now. Ha!)
Guess I better start wearing tights when I ride the trainer in the basemen!
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I won’t argue with that, but there are a few advantages to knee warmers. One is that you don’t have to buy new bibs, so you can use your knee warmers with all the kit you already own. Another is that you can start a ride on a cold wet morning with them on, but when the sun heats things up, burns off the fog, the wind speeds go down, etc., you can take warmers off.
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To be clear, that study was on rat’s, not humans.
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The thing that I often notice is that many of those people could stand to lose a few pounds and get much greater gains. I’m all for people buying all that stuff though. Spend more money and support the cycling industry! (saying this as a guy who could definitely stand to lose a few pounds!)
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That’s what I told the guy at the LBS when he tried to upsell me on a lighter chain. My best gains would come from me reducing the denominator in the watts/kg equation. It’s a work in progress.
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Oh… I get that. I was including leg warmers with tights which have the same benefits except for leaving that small gap of skin revealed. Which I’ve never found to get too hot. Ha
Though most knee warmers are easier to take off over your shoes while riding than leg warmers.
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It seems that I have more unpopular opinions than popular. Here’s another:
It’s very foolish to pay for Zwift, TR, Xert, Systm, TPeaks, etc. All you need is a bike computer, a trainer and an Intervals.icu account.
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