What gloves for a masochist?

I am the god of hell fire

Hi

Im aware there are masses of glove threads but please bear with me

I am stupid enough, or rather scared enough, to want to ride all year round this season
My road bike is normally dumped in the shed in November and brought out again in April

Therefore this is a new one on me

I need some waterproof gloves for when I am out for 2-3h in the rain

Like most cyclists I have several dozen gloves but none really hit the spot at the moment

The closest I have is a MTB orientated pair of Sealskinz
But the prob with these is that they are designed to be worm on a flat bar bike
The thumb and other bits are non waterproof fabric and so if you are on the hoods or the drops they just soak up the rain
On the MTB the bits rain lands on are all waterproof - if you see what I mean

Its OK in a light shower, and OK if its above 5 degrees but todays ride was just horrid
Im not usually on the road when its 2 degrees and raining and its just not fun

So who if anyone regularly rides in the cold and the rain?
Thats rain not a light shower, and also uses drop bars not flat bars

If so what do you find works?

I have various snug gloves when its not raining, including a fab pair of Trek lobsters from 20y ago, but nothing for my new found love!!! of masochistic road riding in freezing cold horizontal rain

Cheers

cougie

I did a winter without gloves one year - after reading that one of the top MTBers did it.
Its painful to begin with - but your hands really do warm up after the initial cold start.
Also weans you off cafe stops.

Thats what I'd suggest if you are a true masochist - and why wouldnt you ride all year round anyway ? Its only ice that stops me.

wyadvd

I ride drops and went through last winter with altura night vision "waterproof" gloves. nuff said.

Thought out of the box this winter and went into my local scuba shop and got some 3mm nylon coated neoprene diving gloves. I have not had cold hands even when it was down to -10. Castelli do duluvios which are basically the same, and spesh do some too:

http://www.tredzblog.co.uk/2008/11/spec ... eview.html

Elio

I have the Castelli Diluvio's and can confirm that they keep your hands warm, even in really low temperatures. And they are completely waterproof. Since they're made of neoprene though, your hands will become sweaty on longer rides which can feel a bit uncomfortable.
So when it's really cold but dry, I tend to use my Burton snowboarding gloves...

racingcondor

http://www.amazon.com/Craft-Thermal-Split-Finger-Glove/dp/B0013Z7GR6

I know it's a US link but these gloves are outstanding in very cold weather (and I was too lazy to keep searching). I picked some up in November (for £30) and can't wear them until it drops under 5C. Definitely good for a few degrees colder than my SealSkinz (which are also good but fall short at about 2C).

Avezius

Note - neoprene isnt waterproof on it's own.

Simply put, the fabric is designed to let some water through, then your skin warms up a thin layer of moisture & the rubber insulates that layer.

I would imagine that thin neoprene incorporated into cycling gloves would be really good, but don't have any experience of any. The only ones I have are surfing ones - although I did have some windsurfing ones a few years back that were pre-shaped & stitched in the shape to hold a boom. Still probably better to get proper cycle ones I'd imagine.

cougie

Neoprene IS waterproof. Water gets into wetsuits thru the neck arm and leg seals - and the zip too. But not through the material itself. In gloves - it's more likely your sweat than rain.

Avezius

cougie wrote:

Neoprene IS waterproof. Water gets into wetsuits thru the neck arm and leg seals - and the zip too. But not through the material itself. In gloves - it's more likely your sweat than rain.

Maybe the neoprene in cycling gloves is different &/or has additional layers to make them waterproof? :?

I'm a novice cylist, but have surfed for over 30years in the UK so neoprene wetsuits are the equivalent of padded shorts for cycling - you can do it without them but not for long & you know it's going to hurt!

AFAIK Neoprene material in wetsuits IS porous. You get some water ingress through seals, zip, seams, etc but water also comes through the material itself.

Top of the range suits have glued seams instead of overlocked (cheap) blindstiched (better) & glued/taped (extra) seams to eliminate water ingress through seams & various seal improvements stop water flush to an extent.

Of course, I admit I know nothing about neoprene in cycling gloves!




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58585

I'm riding a couple of hours a day in 0 to minus 10 degrees at this time of year - I can definitely recommend the castelli diluvio in these conditions. As is mentioned though, these are totally waterproof so you are likely to get sweaty hands. If you want good feel on the controls these are a good bet since they fit tight and are a lot thinner than most winter gloves.

Depending on the way neoprene is made it may or may not be waterproof - these gloves are definitely water tight.

I am the god of hell fire

Ive just ordered the Castelli Diluvio's
Thanks for your opinions

Id been out since my initial post with the Sealskinz
They are warm and toasty in the dry but its damp which snookers them
As mentioned this is the first winter I have ridden through on the road - I usually default to MTB and ride in all manner of horrid weather without problems

Anyway this mornings ride was cool and it started to rain when I was 2h from home
Wearing the Sealskinz was just depressing
If I had been near a station I would have bottled it
My hands were just utterly freezing and numb - although the rest of me was fine

Having warmed up and had time to think its a combination of the MTB orientated design (which is great off road) leading to water ingress if you tilt your hand whilst riding on the hoods or drops coupled with the higher speeds on the road - with wet gloves you totally dont need to ride at 30kph into a 2 degree cold headwind!

And finally now Ive bought the Castelli's we are now pretty much guaranteed good weather

Cheers

dennisn

Why would a masochist need gloves?

loobster

dennisn wrote:

Why would a masochist need gloves?

mrushton

Perhaps a sadist told him he did