Gloves?

[vern]

I washed my very stinky lobstah gloves last night, and to aid in drying I pulled the sewn-in liner layers out and placed it over a heat register. Nice and dry this morning, however, I failed in 30 minutes to get the liners properly placed back inside the gloves, and since these are my only gloves suitable for below 30 degrees, I had to ride the Metro. I won’t make that mistake again.

[dkel]

@vern 107384 wrote:

I washed my very stinky lobstah gloves last night, and to aid in drying I pulled the sewn-in liner layers out and placed it over a heat register. Nice and dry this morning, however, I failed in 30 minutes to get the liners properly placed back inside the gloves, and since these are my only gloves suitable for below 30 degrees, I had to ride the Metro. I won’t make that mistake again.

Been there, done that. That’s one big reason I got bar mitts: my lobster gloves were never the same again.

[brownnugen]

@vern 107384 wrote:

I washed my very stinky lobstah gloves last night, and to aid in drying I pulled the sewn-in liner layers out and placed it over a heat register. Nice and dry this morning, however, I failed in 30 minutes to get the liners properly placed back inside the gloves, and since these are my only gloves suitable for below 30 degrees, I had to ride the Metro. I won’t make that mistake again.

That is the reason why I got the Planet Bike Borealis lobster gloves. The liner and outer glove are designed to be separate. I like it because I can go with just the fleece liner, just the shell or both. I don’t like using just the shell because when my hands get sweaty, the shell smells. At least with the liner, it will absorb the sweat and is easily washable.

The liner works well, but feels like it is a cheap fleece that won’t last too long before it starts to tear. When it bites the dust, I will just go out and buy a nicer quality liner.

[brendan]

@dkel 107388 wrote:

Been there, done that. That’s one big reason I got bar mitts: my lobster gloves were never the same again.

I concur. Washing gloves…or even trying to remove sweaty hands from gloves and put them back into the same gloves (say, during a trail repair) sometimes means the gloves will never work correctly again. That’s not the kind of equipment failure I want to deal with tens of miles from home on a cold winter commute. Bar Mitts don’t seem to have that problem…though twice this winter I’ve found bird poop inside the bar mitts during my morning commute…could be worse, though, I guess.

[Vicegrip]

Why I like snowboarding mitts. YMMV.
Since I have been using them my hands are never cold.(some other bits not so good just yet but the hands are a closed case) Cheap compared to cycling gloves and easy to clean. An independant five finger inner glove gives a wide temp comfort range. Can place hands anywhere on the H bars and still be protected and warm when not on the bar for any reason. Can shift electronic and cable brifters through the mits. Easy to slip off the outer mitt to answer the phone or the like and the inner glove still keeps the hand warm. Can switch to finger gloves only when the sun comes out and the temps rise. They often come with terry cloth sections on the mtit back for wiping the tender facial bits but I keep a small strip of micro fiber towel on the back of one mitt. Nice and soft to the nose and easy to swap out.

I put everything that is being called up for the next days ride near a wall register. Warm and cooked bone dry when needed in the am.

[vern]

@Vicegrip 108822 wrote:

Why I like snowboarding mitts. YMMV.
Since I have been using them my hands are never cold.(some other bits not so good just yet but the hands are a closed case) Cheap compared to cycling gloves and easy to clean. An independant five finger inner glove gives a wide temp comfort range. Can place hands anywhere on the H bars and still be protected and warm when not on the bar for any reason. Can shift electronic and cable brifters through the mits. Easy to slip off the outer mitt to answer the phone or the like and the inner glove still keeps the hand warm. Can switch to finger gloves only when the sun comes out and the temps rise. They often come with terry cloth sections on the mtit back for wiping the tender facial bits but I keep a small strip of micro fiber towel on the back of one mitt. Nice and soft to the nose and easy to swap out.

I put everything that is being called up for the next days ride near a wall register. Warm and cooked bone dry when needed in the am.

What brand do you use?

[Dickie]

@brownnugen 108794 wrote:

That is the reason why I got the Planet Bike Borealis lobster gloves. The liner and outer glove are designed to be separate. I like it because I can go with just the fleece liner, just the shell or both. I don’t like using just the shell because when my hands get sweaty, the shell smells. At least with the liner, it will absorb the sweat and is easily washable.

The liner works well, but feels like it is a cheap fleece that won’t last too long before it starts to tear. When it bites the dust, I will just go out and buy a nicer quality liner.

I’ve been pushing the Borealis for a few years, I love these gloves. I use merino wool liners and they have never let me down… super warm, suer versatile, easy to dry and clean, cheap…. their only achilles heal is rain, they are sponges.

[PotomacCyclist]

Has anyone tried gloves with retractable fingertips, for convenient smartphone use during stops? I saw a pair that had a retractable cover on the thumb and index finger, specifically for this purpose. This lets you keep the glove on the rest of the hand while using the smartphone. The gloves didn’t seem that warm, so they might serve best as glove liners.

I’ve found a couple brands online. Freehands has decent to mixed reviews. Some recommend that they be used as glove liners, not by themselves, in colder weather. There’s a UK brand but they have an obnoxious label patch on the back of the glove and mixed reviews. Plus they ship from the UK, which is more expensive and more difficult in case of returns and exchanges.

Are there other brands out there? If used as liners, then it wouldn’t matter as much if they aren’t that warm. I could leave the outer glove on one hand and remove the outer glove from the other, while leaving the glove liner on. That can work for brief periods.

This would be useful for riding as well as for running and walking in the winter. (My hands tend to stay a lot warmer while running, so I probably wouldn’t need an outer glove on a run.) Some of the reviewers say the gloves are also useful for outdoor winter photography.

This is an example of the Freehands glove. They have Thinsulate insulation, but not on the fingertip sections.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10344[/ATTACH]

[Vicegrip]

@vern 108831 wrote:

What brand do you use?

Looks like this might be like the ones I use.

http://www.zappos.com/dakine-scout-mitt-black-1?ef_id=U20zRgAABMiIk4NO:20160105133422:s

I don’t think this brand or pair I have is better than another brand. I think the format is what works. (for me YMMV) The roomy wind proof mitt and 5 finger glove combo is the key. Hour ride in to work today the Garmin was reading 10 deg F for the duration. Hands were happy and not slow cold soaking at all. I wrap some micro fiber cloth around the strap on the back of one glove. Good for wiping glasses and the like and can change it out.

Another thing I started this year is using a 90 watt foot warmer pad. I pile my shoes, gloves and other to be reused winter wearable gear on it when I finish a ride and add in the fresh stuff like socks or the days balaclava. Helps me keep it all together and ready the next am so I can find everything while mumbling around as the coffee soaks in. It gently dries everything to be worn again and pre-warms the fresh stuff fully. I start the ride with toasty shoes, face and fingers. Warm weather I just leave it off and use it as the parking zone for the daily cycling gear. It is water proof so sloppy stuff does not puddle on the floor while drying. I was having a hard time getting my North Wave winter boots to dry out fully between rides and the mat works like a champ. Tossed another one under my desk at work too.

http://www.amazon.com/Cozy-Products-FW-Warmer-Warming/dp/B000079896/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452001741&sr=8-1&keywords=electric+foot+warmer+mat

[TwoWheelsDC]

@PotomacCyclist 130905 wrote:

Has anyone tried gloves with retractable fingertips, for convenient smartphone use during stops? I saw a pair that had a retractable cover on the thumb and index finger, specifically for this purpose. This lets you keep the glove on the rest of the hand while using the smartphone. The gloves didn’t seem that warm, so they might serve best as glove liners.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10344[/ATTACH]

Pearl Izumi has integrated touchscreen compatibility pretty much throughout their entire glove line. I have a pair of their spring/fall gloves and a pair of their heavy winter gloves that are touchscreen compatible and they work without any problems. You obviously have to be a bit more deliberate with your screen touches, and typing with heavy gloves is tricky, but for taking photos or checking maps or whatever, they get the job done without really compromising performance.

[Alcova cyclist]

@TwoWheelsDC 130913 wrote:

Pearl Izumi has integrated touchscreen compatibility pretty much throughout their entire glove line.

I just got a pair of these also. They work fine for me — basically starting and stopping strava. The ones I have are a little too light to make it through winter, but I use them down to about 35 degrees or so. Between 25-35 I use a set of heavier gloves (sadly with no touchscreen compatibility) and below 25 I switch back to the Pearls but wear ski gloves on top.

There’s also this stuff that purports to turn any set of gloves into touchscreen compatible ones. It gets somewhat mixed reviews but I haven’t tried it myself.

[Emm]

@PotomacCyclist 130905 wrote:

Has anyone tried gloves with retractable fingertips, for convenient smartphone use during stops? I saw a pair that had a retractable cover on the thumb and index finger, specifically for this purpose. This lets you keep the glove on the rest of the hand while using the smartphone. The gloves didn’t seem that warm, so they might serve best as glove liners.

I’ve found a couple brands online. Freehands has decent to mixed reviews. Some recommend that they be used as glove liners, not by themselves, in colder weather. There’s a UK brand but they have an obnoxious label patch on the back of the glove and mixed reviews. Plus they ship from the UK, which is more expensive and more difficult in case of returns and exchanges.

Are there other brands out there? If used as liners, then it wouldn’t matter as much if they aren’t that warm. I could leave the outer glove on one hand and remove the outer glove from the other, while leaving the glove liner on. That can work for brief periods.

This would be useful for riding as well as for running and walking in the winter. (My hands tend to stay a lot warmer while running, so I probably wouldn’t need an outer glove on a run.) Some of the reviewers say the gloves are also useful for outdoor winter photography.

This is an example of the Freehands glove. They have Thinsulate insulation, but not on the fingertip sections.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10344[/ATTACH]

I’d recommend gloves that you can keep on. I have these pearl izumi ones which work great from 30-50 degrees. In fact they can almost be a little too warm sometimes, which is crazy since they’re thin. But they allow for accessing the phone/strave/itunes easily.

These ones are my super cold weather gloves. . I’ve yet to use them biking since I don’t bike too often below 25-30 degrees, but I have used them skiing during mild (20ish degree) days and they worked well. Definitely a little bulky, but not bad.

[Powerful Pete]

A vote for the Castelli Estremo gloves. They are fine for up to 1.5 hours or so even in the temperatures we are facing these last couple of days – you feel the cold by the end of the ride, but nothing too problematic.

Not tried in the wet yet. The insulation is quite thick, so you do lose a bit of dexterity. And no using devices with these on either.

[vvill]

I’m using DeFeet DuraGlove ET (Electronic Touch) down to about 45F which let you use your phone/etc through the glove (not perfect, but it works). They can be used as liners too.

Below that I have an assortment of cycling and snow gloves, and Moose Mitts.

[huskerdont]

@Powerful Pete 130931 wrote:

A vote for the Castelli Estremo gloves. They are fine for up to 1.5 hours or so even in the temperatures we are facing these last couple of days – you feel the cold by the end of the ride, but nothing too problematic.

Those Castellis are beautiful, but under 30 degrees and I have to use lobster gloves or mittens to keep the fingers together. Otherwise my fingers go numb or even white and bloodless (Raynaud’s). One trick I’ve learned is to let the gloves sit in front on the heater vent overnight for really cold days. Today my fingers didn’t start getting numb until after about 20 minutes, which is pretty good for me.

[Author]

Posts