COLD HANDS .. WHICH gloves.

bragawd

Hi all..
To keep it short .
When winter comes even the first frost I get really cold hands.
ATM I'm using my endura dexter windproof gloves.
but even with it being a light frost on my last morning ride my hands were so cold.
So I'm just wondering if another glove may help.
I've seen the sealskinz nordic glove well rated.
maybe I do have a medical bad cirulation problem ongoing .. I don't know at this time but are these sealskinz OK.

ajlowin1983

I currently use them gloves and they work really well, maybe just buy a silk liner to wear underneath?!

blackpoolkev

ajlowin1983 wrote:

maybe just buy a silk liner to wear underneath?!

+1, I bought these -http://www.sportsdirect.com/nevica-silk-glove-liners-405121. My hands are now so much warmer with the added bonus that taking off my sweaty outer gloves is now easier.
For £6 I'd say they are a good buy for any winter cyclist.

noodleman

I've tried every pair of gloves under the sun. I still get painfully cold hands. Even when the people I ride with say their hands are too hot, mine are freezing. I've come to the conclusion my circulation must be crap or, as I'm pretty slim my body concentrates on keeping my torso warm at the expense of my fingers.

thehighroad

I also suffer from cold hands and feet.

Bought a pair of these http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/product ... roof-glove. Might be able to find them cheaper elsewhere but I bought them in store.

Went out on 3 degrees at the weekend and no cold hands, very happy with them. When it gets colder I have a pair of thin thermal inner gloves as well.

petemadoc

I too suffer from cold hands. I've found that wearing a thin hat and an extra layer helps, keep your head and core warm and your body doesn't need to draw blood away from the extremities.

I still need some clucking good gloves as well

Escher303

Lobster mitts are much warmer than fingered gloves, and also much, much easier to put on when your fingers are cold and numb and youve taken them off to eat something. You can also wear different thickness liner gloves or none at all depending on conditions. http://www.wiggle.co.uk/craft-thermal-s ... ke-gloves/ I always suffered cold fingers in full fingered gloves but much less so in lobster mitts.

crumbschief

Luke would have known he was a cool hand.

bobones

I bought these last week when they were £29.99. Goretex and thick insulation so they're warm and waterproof. Seemed to be better than any cycling specific glove I could find.
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/salomon-mens ... 84690.html

cougie

I counted up all my gloves this week. 12 pairs. The warmest by far are some fleece lined golf mittens. I got them from Aldi for about £7 and they're so toasty. Great for riding in sub zero temperatures. They'd probably be tricky on sti but if it's sub zero I'm off roading on my MTB anyway. Thumb shifters are fine with them.

meursault

What about Defeet gloves? Socks are well regarded.

Crozza

I've suffered for years with this - not so much cold hands as they go completely numb after not very long at all

finally cracked it last year with a pair of lobster gloves (I've got seal skinz ones) with another pair of thin fleece gloves on underneath.

only downside is they are a bit bulky when fishing stuff out of pockets, but much better than the alternative

KINGGARY

+1 for sealskinz lobster mitts, toasty warm.
Takes a little getting used to but worth it

shamrock134

Escher303 wrote:

Lobster mitts are much warmer than fingered gloves, and also much, much easier to put on when your fingers are cold and numb and youve taken them off to eat something. You can also wear different thickness liner gloves or none at all depending on conditions. http://www.wiggle.co.uk/craft-thermal-s ... ke-gloves/ I always suffered cold fingers in full fingered gloves but much less so in lobster mitts.

I used my pair of Craft split finger gloves for the first time today. I don't like them.

They are warmer than normal gloves, but the palm padding is inadequate so my hands were sore and I don't like the way I have to hold my hoods with the split finger design. Changing gears was fine using Veloce.

GGBiker

Agree that cold hands is often a symptom of insufficient clothing on the body/head/legs, hence your peripheries shut down to keep the core warm.

If you actually had poor circulation ie peripheral vascular disease you would likely be in agonising pain riding a bike at anything more than minimal effort.

andrew_s

There are medical conditions that make people much more sensitive to cold (eg Raynaud's), but you would get affected regularly off the bike as well as on.

Before looking at warmer gloves, the first thing to do is to make sure that your head and body aren't getting cold - hat, gilet or windproof-fronted jacket.

Once you've made sure that cold hands aren't a symptom of a cooling body, start on gloves.
1) ensure that the outside layer is windproof.
2) Don't wear tight-fitting gloves, or liner gloves that aren't significantly less voluminous than the outer glove.
What insulates is air trapped in the glove, rather than the glove itself. If a glove is getting squeezed, the air gets squeezed out and with it much of the warmth. With a single layer glove,it helps if your hand is hardly touching the inside of the glove, so that your hand is against air rather than glove. Size XL is your friend
3) look at reducing the surface area to lose heat through. Lobsters are warmer than gloves, and mittens are warmer than lobster gloves.
4) If all else fails, look at getting some Pogies (other varieties available). These are effective enough that you can get away with just liner gloves even when it's -20° (see here, scroll down a bit).

You do have to accept that keeping your hands warm and having your normal dexterity with shifters and brake levers are not compatible when it's properly cold.

lackofgrip

bobones wrote:

I bought these last week when they were £29.99. Goretex and thick insulation so they're warm and waterproof. Seemed to be better than any cycling specific glove I could find.
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/salomon-mens ... 84690.html

What type of temperatures are these OK for?

Bobbinogs

These are pretty good:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/dhb-extreme-winter-glove/

In fact, I find them far too warm for most rides. They are my "less than 5 degrees" gloves. All lined up for next week though, brrrr!

Coach H

I suffer from cold hands, but if I learned anything from skiing (apart from the fact I'm never going to be a good skier ) it is the benefit of liner gloves.

Down to about 8-10 degrees I get away with Pearl Izumi Cyclone gloves (basically a windstopper only)
Below this, even below zero, I use a size larger pair of Cyclones but with a pair of Extremities Thinny Merkalon liners.
The liners wick fantastically which is essential and trap loads of air when used under an outer glove.
This makes a MASSIVE difference and would need to be propperly sub zero before needing any more.

bobones

lackofgrip wrote:

bobones wrote:

I bought these last week when they were £29.99. Goretex and thick insulation so they're warm and waterproof. Seemed to be better than any cycling specific glove I could find.
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/salomon-mens ... 84690.html

What type of temperatures are these OK for?

They're very warm so I would say below 5-7C, but it depends on the individual. I don't suffer cold hands nearly as much as I do cold feet. I hear a lot of fellow riders complaining of numb hands when mine are fine in gloves that are nothing special. I bought these ones for the truly cold and miserable days when you're out on the bike for a few hours.

blinddrew

Don't really suffer too much with cold hands on my bike but I used to ride a motorbike all year round and when you stick a 70+ mph windchill into the equation it rapidly becomes an issue. I favour the Hein Gerrick lobster gloves (but I notice the price has doubled in the last 3-4 years) but for really cold weather you can't beat a set of bar muffs, like the pogies mentioned by andrew above. They may look a bit weird but if they make cold weather bearable then they're worth it.

mroli

My missus has a touch of the Reynauds and the Hein Gerrick Lobster gloves are the only thing she has tried that do her any good whatsoever. We have something like the Pogies on our scooter and they are incredibly effective, I think Breeze Blockers are meant to be good too: http://www.breezeblockers.com/

navrig

These are good, I find them better than the Sealskin equivalent:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/lou ... s-ec040436

takeonafrica

Would def recommend pogies of some sort.
HotPog do several different sorts now in the UK and quite reasonably priced... Shane used a pair when we were winter biking in northern Scandinavia. My Dogwood Designs were great too but they're expensive over here in UK.
Probably wouldn't even need gloves with them in the UK...

Teddy Westside

Escher303 wrote:

Lobster mitts are much warmer than fingered gloves,

+1 for lobster mitts. I was always put off by the looks and what I imagined were the impracticalities of lobsters but a couple of years ago I bought a pair of Giro 100 Proof mitts and they are excellent. I even find myself happily wearing them well into the spring when there's still a chill about. They do lack padding on the palm, like many winter gloves seem to, but I can always take the liner out and use my Endura Full Monty or Giro Monaco full-finger gloves, or even Endura F260 mitts if I need the padding.

Shop around though - you'll get them for well under the RRP.

cougie wrote:

I counted up all my gloves this week. 12 pairs.

I have 7 or 8 pairs of gloves in circulation and another 3 or 4 in retirement.

My name is Teddy Westside and I am a glovaholic! :oops:

Graham K

Gore Windstopper's, dont know the proper make as ive had em about 4 years, proper toasty hands though,

Think these are the newer version
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/gor ... s-ec040953

rjh299

I use the Gore Universal Undergloves under Gore Windproof and they work fine for me on regular winter rides, think the fleece lined undergloves provide the warmth and the gap inbetween creates warm air and the outers stop the wind chill. This was only in a mild Cornish winter though.
On my early morning commute I use the logic suggested above, keep the core warm and hopefully the hands will look after themselves to a certain degree.

OverTheHillAt21

Interesting thread. I have very bad circulation in my hands almost certainly peripheral vascular disease (I had angina by the time I was 37) and I normally need at least thin gloves even running at around +6 or +7 deg. Last year when I wasn't even cycling I had chilblains for the first time which were agony. Currently for the bike I either have just double layered woollen mountaineering gloves (Wynnster Thinsulate 85% acrylic 15% mohair) but the inner finger tips have broken through the outers or Gore Bikewear Windstoppers which have been little use once we get down to near zero or below (had first subzero ride yesterday). I badly need something better but without breaking the bank - preferably no more than £40 if I can manage it. Will check out some of the ideas and maybe take the windstoppers in to evans cycles as a comparison to make sure what I get is a lot thicker!

bails1310

blackpoolkev wrote:

ajlowin1983 wrote:

maybe just buy a silk liner to wear underneath?!

+1, I bought these -http://www.sportsdirect.com/nevica-silk-glove-liners-405121. My hands are now so much warmer with the added bonus that taking off my sweaty outer gloves is now easier.
For £6 I'd say they are a good buy for any winter cyclist.

Just got a couple of pairs of these for commuting (anything between 1-3 hours a day depending) and will try tomorrow.

Only have some fairly mediocre Aldi winter gloves so interested how they fair.

mattgeezer

I have some LG lightweight gloves which are fine down to 8 degrees or so,
after that i use my Aldi winter gloves and liners fine down to 0, looking to get some gore xenon wind stopper thermo gloves though.

vanleapo

I bought some ski gloves from TK Maxx for about £20, I can't remember what brand they are, but they are excellent, and seem to be far more insulated than most cycling gloves.
I would definitely check out their ski section as they often have cheap base layers too.

Also agree that liner gloves are a good idea.