Frozen toes is a my curse when weather gets below 60. I've used Pearl Izumi for about ten years and with the Kevlar thread used in certain areas, they've lasted me for about 7 years a pair. I dislike the fitting as the covers don't fit far enough back on my Shimano cycling shoes and can work their way off. The Toe Thingy's were on sale, so I bought a pair and found them better fitting and slightly warmer. I had to trim away the bottom holes to better fit my clips, but they stay on much better. Given the foam rubber material, they're already taking a beating and will likely tear, but having lost and recovered my Pearl's on rides, that's fine with me as running out in the middle of the street to retrieve a Pearl isn't worth the great price on a busy street, so to speak.
TL;DR -- The title says it all.
Let's start with the one issue I see in this piece. The zipper is dead center and hits you right in the adams apple. It should be offset. With that in mind, if you are between sizes you need to go with the larger one, otherwise the pressure on the neck will be more noticeable. How do I know that. I first bought the L and then got the XL. The L fits well, but I feel pressure in the neck. The XL is looser of a fit. I would prefer the large with a redesign on the neck area.
The unfinished sleeves are awesome - providing no bulk when layering. Everything is like a warm hug with this piece. I feel it should fit fairly snug so that you can layer - putting this mid-layer over a skin layer and under a jacket - to add extra warmth. The current Assos jackets are meant more for high intensity efforts where you are cranking out heat. If you are not putting out a lot of effort you need something like the GT mid layer. This philosophy is an exconmical one since you do not need a bunch of different jackets for varying conditions, you just layer in what you need by combining fewer layers to achieve the jacket of the day.
I prefer this over the older style of dedicated jackets. The GT mid layer can be used for other activities than cycling. I use it as a warm compression layer for golfing in colder weather,
For pretty much everything else I wear Castelli L(arge) size (bibs, jersey, jackets, etc) so I thought I should get an L for the arm warmers too (it doesn't help that Castelli does not publish a sizing guide that considers hand length/circumference). Well, that was wrong, the L warmer barely sits on my hand, it's probably not going to slip on its own but it doesn't feel like it sits firmly on the hand either. Next time I'll get an M...
The other problem is that some of the stitching has already started to come off after 3 wash cycles (I use the lightest setting on the washing machine for bike clothing). I think my cheaper Pearl Izumi warmers held longer.
I expected much more warmth for a winter rated sock, but the devil was in the details. This sock is kind of a specialty item for very high intensity riding in cooler weather. If you want traditional winter warmth definitely look elsewhere. I wish I had not bought these as one got a snag on the very first ride so I don't believe these will be at all durable.
The color is vibrant-nice and the compression/fit is decent so I'll use these during the fall/spring shoulder season but won't be buying any more that's for sure.
This is sort of a specialty item for a racer Castelli makes much better winter socks than these!
