and Cold Hands

defever

Hello fellow cyclists,

Subsequent to the cold feet discussion (Cold Feet), I too suffered the cold weather yesterday on my commute.

Not feet, but hands!

On the bargain thread (Thread to tell everyone what bargains you've spotted!) I posted this at beginning of October:

defever wrote:

Cycling stuff on Aldi this week (well since last Thursday I believe)!

Aldi Special Buys: Sports & Leisure

I bought this on Sunday:

Crane Neoprene Cycling Gloves £9.99


Won't be using gloves until much colder but I was using my surf gloves (3mm) last winter and it was such an amazing idea (water + wind proof). Bought another pair for cycling!

Yesterday morning was really cold so I wore Aldi neoprene gloves for the first time.

IT WAS USELESS!! My hands were in pain from cold after 5min and by the time I got to work (14.5miles and 50min later) I lost my sensation of all my fingers. That was really no fun, and dangerous.

This is what I noticed. The seams and stitching on Aldi gloves and my Alder wetsuit surf gloves were completely different. Some background information on different techniques to stich / seam together neoprene: Wetsuit Stitching.

My surf gloves were glued and taped. No stiches.

Aldi cycling gloves were flacklock stitched. No glue or tape. This meant that every stitching create pin prick holes and allow outside air to penetrate the neoprene. At speed and hands being one of the most exposed parts of the body when cycling, this is exacerbated when cycling. Hence the gloves did absolutely nothing to keep my hands warm. This was apparent by blowing air into the gloves as if to blow into a balloon; the gloves didn't inflate at all and I can hear air escaping from everywhere through the gloves!

Last night when I got home, I applied a layer of wetsuit repair glue (McNett Black Witch) on the inside of the gloves.

By this morning the glue was dry and I blew air into the gloves; they both inflated with some air still leaking. It meant that most of the stitching holes have been sealed by the glue.

I wore Aldi gloves this morning to work. MASSIVE IMPROVEMENT! My fingers still got cold but no where near the pain I felt yesterday (perhaps it was a bit warmer this morning). So when I go home I'll apply the glue on the outside to make double seam to minimise any air coming into the gloves.

I like the lightness, dexterity and waterproof / windproof (allegedly) property of neoprene material. But it’s useless if it allows outside air to penetrate through the gloves. I thought I'd share my experience as not all neoprene gloves are constructed in the same way (allegedly the cheaper neoprene gloves are likely to be flatlock stitched and no glue / taping) but with a simple "modification" a useless pair of neoprene gloves may have a chance of being vindicated to its claimed benefits!

Happy and warm cycling everyone!

sloppyschleckonds

Yesterday 3 degrees, today 9 degrees.

Kerching

defever

doh!

trekvet

Don't forget it is the warm blood that keeps the hands warm, so make sure shoulders and arms are also windproofed. Other places the blast gets in are neck and helmet, for these I use a buff and sheet kitchen roll (fold front corners) (use hand towel coming home), respectively.

cougie

Neoprene gloves aren't meant for the cold. They're meant for the wet.

step83

Yeah Neoprene does sod all in the cold bought some Carnac windproof gloves in a planet "sale" for £8 used them at the weekend, toasty and comfortable. Only got them as they have a very long cuff, if it gets too cold well worth looking at liner gloves they really help.

cgfw201

I've got 2 pairs of Sealskinz gloves, one's good for -5 to +2, other for +3 to +10.

Check weather, wear right gloves. Not had cold hands for a while.

Having cold fingers is miserable, worth buying something decent.

navrig2

Lesson learned when skiing. You cannot skimp on gloves.

I've had a pair of these for the last 5 years and will probably get this winter out of them (I am a weekend and one evening a week cyclist).

https://www.evanscycles.com/louis-garne ... s-EV169736

Not sure of there is a new alternative.

defever

Thank you so much everyone.

This is a prime example of what the forum is about!

I’m not ashamed to admit that I was stubborn to accept the defeat of buying cheap and having unrealistic expectation of the product performance! What struck me was that my surf gloves were perfectly fine and Aldi neoprene gloves failed fairly early into the ride.

Also, this winter is going to be my first winter commute so I am excited to learn all the tricks and tips from seasoned commuters.

Thanks for all the product suggestions and advice on how to keep yourself warm!

Happy cycling!

cougie

I've used the Aldi winter gloves for the last few years and they've been brilliant. Warm and reflective.

navrig2

defever

Bar mitts!! amazing!

They won't work on my vintage bike with over the bar brake cable and down tube shifters!

But otherwise I might have looked into it...!

Coach H

oxoman wrote:

Rather than thick gloves try windproof ones with a silk / manmade fibre thin liner glove. Been riding like this for the last few winters and never got cold fingers.

This with bells on. Merkalon liner gloves cost a few £s. Wear them under one size larger windproof gloves and hey presto.

The liners wick moisture away (taking away a source of cold) and the windproof outer limits wind chill.

I get cold hands and have never had to resort to anything more. You'd need to be in good lobster style gloves to be wearing a single layer pair that are as good IMHO.

defever

Little update.

I kept on using the Aldi neoprene gloves but it wasn't up to the task. I even wore latex gloves AND the neoprene gloves for few days, but just messy and uncompfortable (sweat pools in the latex...). I don't understand myself why I thought that was a good idea to try.

So I gave up on the neoprene gloves! Instead I got one of these:

DECATHLON: B'TWIN 900 Winter Cycling Gloves - Black (£19.99)



Been using it for a week or so. It's so toasty! No more frostbites. Even yesterday morning (nearly 2C in the morning) no problem. I keep my core body warm as well so I think that also helps with keeping my circulation warm.

Many thanks for all your advice!

Happy cycling!

PS the gloves from Decathlon has "touchscreen" friendy finger tips so I can use my iPhone with gloves (bit temperamental but I got the hang of it). Genuis.

sloppyschleckonds

They look a bit thick to be able to use your controls efficiently

slowbike

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

They look a bit thick to be able to use your controls efficiently

For winter rides I tend to wear old ski gloves.

defever

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

They look a bit thick to be able to use your controls efficiently

Good observation, actually. I noticed a massive difference in the grip feel last night when I took of the gloves as I got off the main road in to my estate close and cruised into the driveway. The bar felt so thin barehand compared to with gloves. In fact I was thinking of wrapping another bar tape to make the bar thicker.

But luckily for me it doesn't really affect my braking nor shifting (I have down tube shifter) when wearing these gloves.

And I don't have to wrap another tape over the winter.

Good point though. It's not everyone's taste to have bulky gloves.

lesfirth

I find find my hands are OK first thing on a cold morning with ski gloves but an hour later when my core is heating up my hands are sweating along with my head. I am bald. As anyone who is bald will know,your head sweats like hell,but that is another subject.
For my hands I find the best solution so far is Ebay silk gloves under warmish but certainly windproof gloves. When you warm up can remove the inner gloves. This works on some days but not always.

DavidJB

I have Reynauds so I'm pretty fucked when it goes below 3c and stay on the turbo instead...doesn't matter what gloves I have if there is no blood going to my fingers.

defever

lesfirth wrote:

I find find my hands are OK first thing on a cold morning with ski gloves but an hour later when my core is heating up my hands are sweating along with my head. I am bald.

I agree with the sweaty hands after a while. I'm not bald but I've been wearing vintage bike caps under my helmet (suits with my 1983 retro road bike!) this week; Very cold Monday morning was fine (approx 3C), but yesterday it was mild (7-8C in the morning, 10C in the evening) and my hands and head were sweating like a monkey in sauna. It just shows gloves and caps do keep the heat in and minimises wind chill.

It's not uncomfrotable so I don't mind. Luckily I can take a shower when I get to work and just hand things over the radiator to dry during the day.

lesfirth

defever wrote:

lesfirth wrote:

I find find my hands are OK first thing on a cold morning with ski gloves but an hour later when my core is heating up my hands are sweating along with my head. I am bald.

I agree with the sweaty hands after a while. I'm not bald but I've been wearing vintage bike caps under my helmet (suits with my 1983 retro road bike!) this week; Very cold Monday morning was fine (approx 3C), but yesterday it was mild (7-8C in the morning, 10C in the evening) and my hands and head were sweating like a monkey in sauna. It just shows gloves and caps do keep the heat in and minimises wind chill.

It's not uncomfrotable so I don't mind. Luckily I can take a shower when I get to work and just hand things over the radiator to dry during the day.

I have given this some thought but I can't come up with an answer. Why does a monkey sweat a lot in a sauna?

vimfuego

Been using Castelli Diluvio neoprene gloves for years
If it aint raining, wet your hands before you put the neoprene ones on.
Works a treat innit.

MrATX

I've been using some cheaper but thick ski gloves for years on my daily commute. When it gets somewhere around -2 Celsius or colder I'll add some thin gloves under the ski gloves. I'm sure there are better solutions but this has worked for me. If anyone wants, I can snap a pic to give you an idea of what I'm using.