So winter kicked in really, really early this year here in Ontario (as in early November) and already Zwift is making me want to kill myself. Usually, between the slop and the sleet you can pick a couple of days in winter where it’s sunny, the road is relatively dry, and it’s not too cold - say around -4 to -5C (24F). I want to take advantage of those days.
I have clothing to ride in (full length bibs and tights, baselayer, two or three of long sleeve jerseys, jacket, beanie), but the problem is my hands. I have Raynaud’s, which sucks on the run, but then it will usually be gone after a couple of km. On the bike it just doesn’t go away. I have been using something similar to this: https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5059-088/Windstopper-Insulated-Gloves and they’re fine up to just above freezing. I’ve used them below freezing with heat packs, and that sort of works, in a masochistic kind of way, but it’s not good enough. On the run when it’s really cold I use snowboarding mitts, and I’d love to wear those on the bike, but, yeah, shifting and braking…
What do you guys recommend for gloves that are warm but still allow you to shift and most important of all brake?
It is one of the primary reasons I moved south to be honest and this come from running in Minneapolis on some -20F days. Anyway, somebody was looking for some swim gloves in an earlier thread just now and it got me to thinking of DIY hacks. Would a pair of neoprene gloves work better than regular gloves for Raynaud’s suffers??? These come in 3mm and 5mm, and have some texture which could allow decent dexterity. The BlueSeventy Thermal gloves are probably thinner than 3mm if you wanted something even thinner. No idea, just spitballing here but if I ever ride somewhere cold again I might consider it myself.
I’ve used Castelli Estremo gloves for the last two years and have been very happy. Warm and completely windproof for my rides between 20-50’F. I suspect they could do colder, but I’d rather be on the trainer at that point. Really nice grip surface on the inside and fingers. Shifting/braking is fine. Not cheap (~$90) so don’t lose them.
Have a look at bar mitts. It’s essentially large neoprene sleeves that you mount on the handlebars. There are versions for both road and mountain bikes. Fewer seams than a pair of gloves and noo need for dexterity means that they can be both thick and waterproof. I use a pair of these for my commute during winter - I just have a thin pair of running gloves under and I’m good for 45 min at - 10.
I have recently ordered these https://www.gripgrab.com/collections/fall-winter-gloves/products/windster and although temperatures here have only been between -1 and +3 degrees Celcius at their lowest when I was cycling, they were still plenty warm at that point and allow a lot of movement to manipulate your brakes and shifters and so on.
Lobsters og mitts. The ability for the fingers to warm each other makes them much warmer than any glove with separate fingers, no matter how much insulation they have. I’ve found that at some point more insulation doesn’t really help the separate finger gloves - it might even work against the purpose as your fingers will be separated more and might even get a slight pressure on them shutting the blood flow down, which will make them even colder.
I have a sponsor deal with GripGrab and have asked them to send me some of their lobster gloves for this winter (FWIW I also suggested they started making them in the hi-viz yellow colour as I really like added visibility): https://www.gripgrab.com/collections/fall-winter-gloves/products/nordic
I’ve only tried mitts before, but hopefully the lobsters will be almost as warm, but a little better with regards to shifting and braking. With mittens I have no problem with my hands keeping warm riding in -5C and my hands are usually on the cold side - those separate finger gloves gets too cold at around 3C for me.
Also, be sure the gloves aren’t too small and put pressure on your hand as that will close off the blood flow and make them colder.
An important factor not often mentioned is keeping your arms warm.
In cold weather you’re relying on warm blood making it down your arms to your hands, so if it’s losing all of heat on its way down there through poorly insulated arms, then your hands will likely stay cold irrespective of what gloves you’re wearing.
Try some arm warmers under whatever winter clothing you’re wearing. It won’t be a magic solution on its own, but all the small things help in cold weather!
I’ve always suffered with cold at the extremities and the only thing that works for my hands is to wear Neoprene gloves. There are some fancy pants expensive ones out there I bet, but the Endura FS260 are reasonable and work well for me. I sometimes line them with an additional layer, eg some running gloves.
If you want to save even more money, Kayak gloves are much cheaper and almost exactly the same thing.
This is going to sound very counterintuitive but give it a try. It’s cheap. Get some thin latex type gloves and put them on under your standard gloves and hand warmer packs. This will trap all the moisture from your hands getting out. I know people say you don’t want your hands to sweat inside your gloves as that makes your hands colder. For me I’ve found that is next to impossible to prevent so I go the other way and just trap it next to my skin and prevent the wind and cold from getting to it. At the end of the ride your hands will be sweating like a pig inside the latex but they will be considerably warmer. Easiest way to experiment with this is put a latex glove on one hand but not the other and go for a ride.
Raynauds sucks. I’ve had my hands go completely numb and white and the temperature was 50F.
Hands are no problem for me - ski gloves, with knit liner added when it gets into the twenties (which I usually end up removing mid-ride), but I have not been able to figure out how to keep my toes from freezing past the 30-minute mark when it’s colder than around 40F. My current set up includes wool sock + plastic bag + shoe + neoprene shoe cover. 30-minutes in, toes are going numb.
Last year I rode in swix lobster claws, they were ok, but got sweaty quickly than wet & cold. This year I purchased some pogies. Pogies are by far the way to go.
I purchased some moose mitts, in 20-30 degree weather, just wear light full finger gloves. As you get colder, might want to wear something thicker. Thinking back on it, I should of coughed up the extra 20 bucks and got the 45NRTH Cobrafists, my friend has a pair and they look much warmer.
Not sure which bike your riding, but moose mitts does make drop bar mitts.
It is one of the primary reasons I moved south to be honest and this come from running in Minneapolis on some -20F days. Anyway, somebody was looking for some swim gloves in an earlier thread just now and it got me to thinking of DIY hacks. Would a pair of neoprene gloves work better than regular gloves for Raynaud’s suffers??? These come in 3mm and 5mm, and have some texture which could allow decent dexterity. The BlueSeventy Thermal gloves are probably thinner than 3mm if you wanted something even thinner. No idea, just spitballing here but if I ever ride somewhere cold again I might consider it myself.
My riding buddy has the Castelli Diluvio neoprene gloves (3mm?) and while they do keep his hands warm, they get absolutely soaked on rides, even when it’s freezing or below - his skin gets pruned like he was surfing or swimming in them. He’s switched back to a more “traditional” winter glove, can’t remember which one.
I use Pearl Izumi PRO Amfib gloves (not the lobster kind) and they work well in the same temp range.
I’ve used Castelli Estremo gloves for the last two years and have been very happy. Warm and completely windproof for my rides between 20-50’F. I suspect they could do colder, but I’d rather be on the trainer at that point. Really nice grip surface on the inside and fingers. Shifting/braking is fine. Not cheap (~$90) so don’t lose them.
lol amazon.ca has them for over CAN$300. Will look into them but I’m not buying them from amazon…
I have a sponsor deal with GripGrab and have asked them to send me some of their lobster gloves for this winter (FWIW I also suggested they started making them in the hi-viz yellow colour as I really like added visibility): https://www.gripgrab.com/...oves/products/nordic
