I know this is an old chestnut but my hands were so cold on Sunday's ride even with my thickest gloves that I am going to have to find something better. I have poor circulation and big hands so suggestions gratefully received. I know they won't be needed very often but it's nice to have some real hand toasters for minus days.
Short of using pogies, try some diver's lobster/trigger finger gloves in 5mm neoprene, perhaps with a thin polyester liner glove underneath. Can be had for ~£25. They'll get clammy after a while but the warmth to dexterity ratio is the best I've found. Other thick, warm gloves tend to get bulky and clumsy or hard to get a good grip with.
in the couple of recent cold snaps we've had i've been using the new 100% brisker Xtreme gloves and they've been good to the early minus 1 or 2. anything too far below zero (more than -2 or 3) i tend to go with neoprene gloves - just don't stop and take them off mid ride!
I'm trying some thin liners with sealskin mittens on my moped tomorrow. May resort to pogies if that doesn't work!
Short of using pogies
No, no, no. The answer is
Pogies
On those rare occasions it's 'that' cold stick the Pogies on, wear your regular gloves and be happy.
Oh, and Briskers, I can't even get the xxls anywhere near on. My fingers are fairly long but my wide palms seem to scupper a lot of gloves
I use decathlons thick winter gloves which are good down to just above freezing.
Any colder, or damp, decathlon do a waterproof shell glove which keeps the wind and rain out which makes them super toasty. Same idea as pogies but without having to attach them to the bike. Downside is the gloves slip past each other a bit, doesn't bother me but I've err'd towards "grips" with less mechanical grip for ages (foam, silicone, etc) so I might be atypical about that.
Liner + windproof walking gloves from Montane, from proper cold Montane fibrepile gloves.
And keep the arms warm - one more baselayer or arm warmers under.
Another vote for liner gloves, combined with a sized-up pair of standard winter gloves.
e.g liner gloves and Aldi specials are fine for me when it's getting down toward -5
The Aldi specials are my favourite cold weather gloves and what I wear when riding drop bars and hence no Pogies. So glad I actually bought two pairs 😀
i got Pogies for xmas. just ace.
also just got some Hestra ergo grip wool lined gloves. not used em yet but they just feel like they are gonna be very good.
Neoprene windowcleaners gloves
https://windowcleancentre.co.uk/collections/gloves-hats/products/glacier-perfect-curve-gloves
Thin gloves in pogies for me today. Perfect.
+1 to the extra lower arm layer as well, had armwarmers under a longsleeve thermal top.
Feet were still bloody freezing though!
Pogies, but I don't like em for harder riding, they're on the fatbike but they're too distracting and weird feeling for me to ever have been happy with them on the normal bikes (and even on the fatbike it can be problematic on steeper/rougher stuff). So they're not a magic bullet.
For me bike gloves basically don't cut it, I have cold hands. So I always say the same thing, Glacier Gloves Perfect Curves. These are bad riding gloves but they're warm, and warm fingers in bad riding gloves is better than frozen fingers in good riding gloves. They're made for window cleaners, they're waterproof neoprene so completely unbreathable, you can't wear them if it's not bloody cold because they fill with sweat. They're made of foam rubber basically so your contact with the bike isn't so good, you lose feel and you get a lot of squish and movement, and if you get them muddy that gets even worse (though on the plus side, you can wash the mud off in snowmelt streams and not feel it). And they end up smelling like something's died in them, because they're hard to clean out and dry properly.
But they keep me warm, and no bike glove has ever kept me warm, and all those downsides are basically irrelevant when you're doing a stupid kinlochleven winter race in the snow on scary terrain and you can still feel your fingers and brake properly, and not just be surviving but actually comfy. Or finishing a ride that you'd have bailed, or not having to finish a ride in actual pain feeling terrible. Or being able to throw a snowball at your mates 😉
They're an extreme option but I love em. I'll be very happy when I put them away in spring.
Bit left field but my hands are the one thing i struggle with so after a little experimenting I’ve found after a certain thickness of glove it makes no difference other than bulk and wasted money. I even used pogies and Chiba Winter gloves and hands were baltic.
solution - thermal buff round my neck
keeping warm you need looser clothing than normal so circulation isnt affected, Insulation and windproof.
Dont underestimate tight clothing impact. cycling shoes are the worst thing ever for warm feet. thick socks = tight shoes = numb feet. Counterintuitive thinner socks and loose shoes = more room and my feet are warmer!
Then there’s the x-factor for me. I think there’s a conditioned response whereby your body slows circulation to extremities if it feels like its too cold. For me, exposed cold chin / neck area made my body go into that “holy shit its cold…panic….stop bloodflow to extremities” mode!!
keep your core warm, look at your arm warmth then thermal and windproof gloves but dont expect to buy the thickest gloves ever and keep warm. <br /><br />
-6 windchill today chiba winter gloves, baselayer, endura windproof HC and the all important neck warmer and hands were toasty
I like Stolen Goat gloves. They feel good and pretty warm, even in the wet. You can put liners in them if you’re nesh or it’s freezing.
Can you get pogies for drop bars? Never seen any but I use my diverge for a cycle-path commute and they could be transformative (until I get tangled up going from the hoods to the drops...)
Going to get the old Dachstein mitts out tomorrow at 7am.
I have some ancient Gore bike winter gloves. They're almost like loose and thinner ski gloves. Very good down to about -8 to -10. Then it gets too cold for me to go out at all.
I was wearing those Glacier gloves at the Puffer yesterday, it was snowing about 5am. I had to loosen the cuffs a little to cool down
And I have Raynaud's!
Can you get pogies for drop bars?
https://www.bikemonger.co.uk/45nrth-draugenklaw-drop-bar-pogies-22910-p.asp
The Aldi specials are my favourite cold weather gloves and what I wear when riding drop bars and hence no Pogies. So glad I actually bought two pairs 😀
Ditto, I've got 3 pairs of varying vintage, I also bought the lobster mitts they did one year, which are kind of useless on the bike so get worn for scraping ice off the car instead now.
Hate the neoprene gloves. Can't find a decent fit and they don't seem that warm.
Only thing I've found that works for me is Planet X lobsters. Horrible dexterity and bar feel, but if it's between that and sitting at home for 4 months straight over winter, then I'll take it.
I was pleasantly surprised by my 100% Brisker gloves yesterday. I was frozen last Tuesday night with my thin cotton gloves, so tried these for yesterday (below 0 degs all day here), and got home with hands not toasty, but certainly not horribly cold.
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.100-Brisker-Cold-Weather-Gloves-AW22_258011.htm
Often if you start the ride with heavy gloves and when are warm from the exercise you can then change into lighter gloves. I really don't like to use lobster gloves but they are are warm and XC ski versions are fairly thin.
It is -16C with lovely 7m/s wind from north here, no interest in riding outside today even though I used to ride 5km to work even in -32C weather.
Really impressed with these, as recommended on another thread on STW. Not touchscreen friendly but that doesn't bother me as long as I have warm fingers.
Edit: Touchscreen ones available but 3x the price!
EJENDALS TEGERA 577 THERMAL WATERPROOF TOUCHSCREEN SAFETY GLOVES
Pogies for me if it's dry, thermal latex gloves (sorry Amazon link) if it's around 0 °C and raining. These get very sweaty, but I've never been cold in them. I just make sure to leave them inside out on the radiator for a couple of days once I get home.
EDZ boiled wool gloves have been a bit of a revelation for me. They are normal wool gloves that are knitted really big then boiled to shrink them, making them thicker and more wind proof. This process also makes the sizing a bit hit and miss, but the company selling them are very responsive and understand this.
I've been using them on a drop bar bike down to freezing and the clever thing is that they actually breathe and even when they get slightly damp they stay warm. Also they don't get that dead dog smell that my other gloves get after a few runs out,or is that just me?
I think that used with a windproof shell they could cover maybe 8 down to sub zero.
for anyone who is seriously no good in the cold, these are guaranteed to keep your hands warm.
i managed to wear em for 30 minutes the other week at minus 7.
Those winter gloves that Ton just linked to are very good, and cheap. I don't really like them for riding though, not terrible, just not great. I have a couple of pairs and use them for everyday outdoor chores and for an outdoor boot camp. They're ace. Very popular with winter climbers too. Available from various places (I like the Skytec Argons, reviewed here - https://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/clothing/hatsgloves/winter_gloves-6049)
I get REALLY cold hands, maybe its Reynauds, maybe it's not. But hands and feet suffer. As soon as it gets to lower single digit temps I'm using pogies. They work really well. Summer gloves or 100% briskers inside
Silk liners and some looser fitting Sealskinz winter gloves work for me. And I have poor circulation at the best of times. The liners do wear at contact points but work so well.
For cold but dry, I really like the Carnac gloves from planet x. Covers a good proportion of the wrist, for an inch or two, which really helps keep warmth in
I've tried neoprene, liners, and all sorts of heavy-duty cycling gloves (Gore, Spesh, Altura and more) and the only gloves I've found that work are proper ski gloves.
They are a tad bulky, sure, but they are the only gloves that can handle proper minus temps.
I got some of the Carnac crab hands for Christmas - very good so far this week! 👍
I use snowboarding gloves which seem to be the only thing that keeps my hands from turning to blocks of ice in the cold. Not much bar feel though but it's better than no bar feel as a result of numb from the cold.
