Tired of frozen fingers, best low profile winter gloves?

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xnavalav8r
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by xnavalav8r

Just to pile on with the others, I believe the key is to keep your torso warm with clothing. As a consequence your extremities are kept warm as well. This is why top riders, including cyclocross racers, can go without gloves on all but the coldest days.

I commute about 80km round trip every day in North Holland. The weather can be brutal. It hasn't been extremely cold this year, but it was last winter. Add to that the incessant rain and the gale-force winds and the conditions are perfect for frozen fingers and toes. But keeping my head and body warm, I have found that I can wear a relatively light weight glove and my hands stay warm... unless the gloves soak through.

On really frigid days, I wear a lobster mitten. There is nothing warmer for cycling except chemically or electrically heated gloves.

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kode54
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by kode54

how do you know if you have Raynaud's syndrome? no matter how warm i try to keep my core, my fingers and toes still feel like they fall off...in about 20 degree weather. lately, i've been using the chemical hand and toe warmers to help keep the extremities from freezing. that helps riding in temps down to 15-17 degrees.
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fromtrektocolnago
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by fromtrektocolnago

Instead of getting even warmer gloves, why not try merino wool glove liners. Just like clothing for the rest of the body, layers help.
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Kjetil
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by Kjetil

I use Assos Insulator Gloves L1 for the same purpose. Also great to extend the temperature range of "normal" cycling gloves.
Last edited by Kjetil on Sun Jan 19, 2014 9:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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kac
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by kac

Kastrup wrote:Best thing i ever did was to purchase a set of merino wool liners. I use these woth a variety of different outer gloves, most of them cheap ones so that i can have multiple ones and adjust according to different weather.

I emphatically agree with this! I bought some Smartwool liners and they work really well!

mattr
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by mattr

kode54 wrote:how do you know if you have Raynaud's syndrome? no matter how warm i try to keep my core, my fingers and toes still feel like they fall off...in about 20 degree weather. lately, i've been using the chemical hand and toe warmers to help keep the extremities from freezing. that helps riding in temps down to 15-17 degrees.
best of going to see a doctor. Also check for too tight clothing or pressure points on your hands when riding.


And instead of merino, I use meraklon liners instead. Used to get them from army surplus for 99p a pair.

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HammerTime2
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by HammerTime2

Mario Jr. wrote:These: http://www.30seven.eu/en/category_29.aspx

They are ok warm without heat until 3-4 degrees celcius. Under that, I just turn up a bit of heat. They are not as nice to wear as say, a pair of the PI gloves, but I am very happy that I have them.
Second best would be a set of ski gloves. I have some 10 year old Salomon Goretex gloves, that is still in service from time to time.
Any recommendations for heated gloves available in the Unites States? Preferably with no or minimal padding. I don't need waterproofness, just warmth in the finger tips in dry conditions. Thanks.

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by tinozee

I ride in 20f and below temps too. I agree with the guy above me to warm the trunk and everything else first. Once you rule all that out you can still have some hard times with the hands in the wind though. I can use Defeet dura gloves down to about 40f. Below that I use Castelli Estremo gloves. I also have a pair of Gore gloves that are just like the Castellis. I like to carry a spare pair of gloves or liners on long rides because once the gloves get sweaty they can get cold. Swapping pairs at that point helps a lot.

Beancouter
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by Beancouter

Common symptom of raynauds is fingers/feet going pale (whitish) - google for pics. People suffer in differing degrees but is much more common than you would expect. One tip tho if you have got it - don't quickly reheat (eg under hot water) - you can get chill blanes. I did and it bl@@dy hurt! Thought my toe was about to fall off!!!!!

In Terms of gloves; I have jay just bought rapha deep winter - I will use silk limners when rally cold. So far so good.

padmasana
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by padmasana

Heated glove liners have been my salvation this winter. They fit nicely under my regular winter cycling gloves and have really done a great job.
I bought some from MotionHeat in Canada. They carry a bigger battery than a lot of the gloves -- a decent compromise between a little extra bulk and a having a battery strong enough to support a 3-4 hour ride at full heat setting. The battery sits behind the wrist so you don't notice the bulk. The heated liners are thin enough that they don't rob you of dexterity while shifting or braking. They cost me just over $200 USD, but I'm pretty satisfied with how they've performed.
A competitor of theirs, iHeat also in Canada, uses a smaller battery and these may be fine for all but severe conditions when you need a lot of battery endurance. And they have these on sale right now at less than half the cost of the MotionHeats. I just ordered a pair for myself and another as a gift for my aunt, who also has Raynauds. I'm hoping that the iHeats -- with a less powerful battery -- will still be OK for cold spring days on the bike. Besides, I've really wanted to do a comparison of these two gloves.

kode54
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by kode54

sounds interesting. i've tried other heated gloves but all are weak and run out of juice within the hour. in the winter, i can only stay out for less than 2 hours. the chemical packs are just okay...and always wanted a better solution. i may give the MotionHeat a try. thx.
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voodoojar
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by voodoojar

It was -10 today and I did 40km ride in my Hestra ski glove and wool liners and my hands where the warmest part of my body.

I like these alot because I still get full use of all my finger yet they are super warm. These keep me way warmer than my PI lobster craws.
https://hestragloves.com/sport/en-us/gloves/alpine-racing/rsl-comp-vertical-cut/020920/

padmasana
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by padmasana

kode54 wrote:sounds interesting. i've tried other heated gloves but all are weak and run out of juice within the hour. in the winter, i can only stay out for less than 2 hours. the chemical packs are just okay...and always wanted a better solution. i may give the MotionHeat a try. thx.


Yes, I've used the MontionHeats and gotten a full three hours from the highest setting. Outer glove was the old style 661 storm (a glove with about medium insulation properties) and in temperatures (including wind chill) of 0-5 degrees F. You won't be super-warm, but you can be at least comfortable -- and my hands freeze very quickly.

kode54
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by kode54

thx for the tip. the chemical packs worked well...but i had to put several in a lobster shell to work...so my fingers weren't frozen. plus, with all the packs in and liner and outer glove, including the shell were a bit clunky. hard to shift well. i still use chemical packs in the shoes...since i still need help there. i did get a pair of Specialized winter boots this year and they have been great. best winter shoe i've had so far. i've had the Sidi winter, the Lake winter, the Mavic winter boots, but the last pair has been great (with chem packs. i used chem packs in the others as well...but never worked out well).
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padmasana
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by padmasana

kode54 wrote:thx for the tip. the chemical packs worked well...but i had to put several in a lobster shell to work...so my fingers weren't frozen. plus, with all the packs in and liner and outer glove, including the shell were a bit clunky. hard to shift well. i still use chemical packs in the shoes...since i still need help there. i did get a pair of Specialized winter boots this year and they have been great. best winter shoe i've had so far. i've had the Sidi winter, the Lake winter, the Mavic winter boots, but the last pair has been great (with chem packs. i used chem packs in the others as well...but never worked out well).


I hope you find a solution that's good for you.
You obviously know the drill .... keep the core warm, good shoes, etc.
I also have found that really warm drinks in a Camelbak insulated bottle are awesome. I often use a Cytomax apple drink -- it's like an apple cider when you drink it hot, so the taste is pretty good.
I'll have to check out those Specialized winter shoes. I use the Sidi winter boots with three layers of socks: thin wicking sock, thin neoprene and medium wool on top of it all. :thumbup:

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