Gloves?

[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.

[hozn]

I have PI lobster mitts, wore them this AM. Temps in the teens are too cold for individual-finger gloves for me. I might someday splurge on those 4-finger 45NRTH gloves, but the PI lobster mitts were ok for 2.25 hours today and realistically I’m not gonna do road rides much colder than today. I have bar mitts too; I just don’t like using them (can’t ring bell, can’t change up hand position / use drops).

I have a pair of gloves that unfold to expose fingers; those would be great if I didn’t care about keeping my fingers warm. If I routinely had to use a smartphone during winter rides, I’d probably get thinner touch-enabled gloves and use my bar mitts. The Garmin touch screens work fine with non-conductive gloves.

[Bill Hole]

It was 12 degrees this AM when I left the house. Moose Mitts plus Planet Bike Borealis gloves. My fingers were cold within 10 minutes, and were in agony by the time I got to work nearly an hour later. So far nothing works for me in sub-20 degree weather, and the 30s are problematic. I’ve tried the chemical hand warmers but they do nothing for my fingers. I guess the next step (other than Metro) is to try the Jo-Ne hand warmer I got over 50 years ago for use on my Washington Post paper route. I love the smell of lighter fluid in the morning (not)!

[KWL]

@Bill Hole 130949 wrote:

…I’ve tried the chemical hand warmers but they do nothing for my fingers…

Lobster mitts & glove liners with charcoal warmer packs in each claw segment, right on the fingers, plus one more in the palm. Now if I can just come up with a solution for my toes and running nose.

[huskerdont]

@Bill Hole 130949 wrote:

It was 12 degrees this AM when I left the house. Moose Mitts plus Planet Bike Borealis gloves. My fingers were cold within 10 minutes, and were in agony by the time I got to work nearly an hour later. So far nothing works for me in sub-20 degree weather, and the 30s are problematic. I’ve tried the chemical hand warmers but they do nothing for my fingers. I guess the next step (other than Metro) is to try the Jo-Ne hand warmer I got over 50 years ago for use on my Washington Post paper route. I love the smell of lighter fluid in the morning (not)!

Have you tried really good ski mittens? It’s what I use when it gets down to below 10, and they work for even me. My fingers still get cold, but the key is that I can fold my fingers into my palms to warm them up as a ride. The cons are rather obvious, dexterity-wise, but they work if you’re careful and don’t care too much about shifting all the time.

[Crickey7]

@KWL 130951 wrote:

Lobster mitts & glove liners with charcoal warmer packs in each claw segment, right on the fingers, plus one more in the palm. Now if I can just come up with a solution for my toes and running nose.

Exactly what I did this a.m., though I can get away with just one in each palm. The glove liners are key. FYI, you can use the hand warmers in your shoes as well, on top of the toes. They put out far more heat than foot warmers.

[TwoWheelsDC]

It’s also important to remember that if you don’t keep your core warm, your extremities are more likely to get cold. If your core is warm, your body is more willing to send blood to your hands and feet.

[wheelswings]

@TwoWheelsDC 130955 wrote:

It’s also important to remember that if you don’t keep your core warm, your extremities are more likely to get cold. If your core is warm, your body is more willing to send blood to your hands and feet.

I can be sweating like a pig under my jackets, and at the same time my fingers and toes will be painfully icy. I beg my circulatory system to push along that toasty core blood, but for some reason it does not travel to the extremities.

My solutions are tin-foil on the thumbs, surgical gloves, multiple pairs of mittens and gloves, and my newly acquired bar mitts. I find it also helps to remove your hands from the bars (when not using bar mitts) and hold them down at your side while waiting at traffic lights….this seems to increase blood flow to the fingers. Also I make frequent stops at grocery stores en route… sometimes you just need a little warm-up time, and then the rest of the ride will feel great.

[DismalScientist]

It could be that your blood is too thick. I like to thin my blood out with a couple of Bloody Marys before my morning commute on particularly cold days.

[Vicegrip]

@Bill Hole 130949 wrote:

It was 12 degrees this AM when I left the house. Moose Mitts plus Planet Bike Borealis gloves. My fingers were cold within 10 minutes, and were in agony by the time I got to work nearly an hour later. So far nothing works for me in sub-20 degree weather, and the 30s are problematic. I’ve tried the chemical hand warmers but they do nothing for my fingers. I guess the next step (other than Metro) is to try the Jo-Ne hand warmer I got over 50 years ago for use on my Washington Post paper route. I love the smell of lighter fluid in the morning (not)!

Perhaps you can buy some full on ski mitts with liner gloves from a local shop like REI? If they don’t work after a cold ride or you can’t work the bike controls you can return them. 20 deg is almost the upper limit for my set. Going away from 5 fingers seems to be key. bonus is there is lots of room for a chemical warmer if needed.

[dasgeh]

@Bill Hole 130949 wrote:

It was 12 degrees this AM when I left the house. Moose Mitts plus Planet Bike Borealis gloves. My fingers were cold within 10 minutes, and were in agony by the time I got to work nearly an hour later. So far nothing works for me in sub-20 degree weather, and the 30s are problematic. I’ve tried the chemical hand warmers but they do nothing for my fingers. I guess the next step (other than Metro) is to try the Jo-Ne hand warmer I got over 50 years ago for use on my Washington Post paper route. I love the smell of lighter fluid in the morning (not)!

I’m a cold weather wimp, but I’ve found Moose Mitts to be AMAZING. Is it possible that your other gloves are too tight? Have you tried chemical hand warmers in the pocket of the moose mitts?

[Subby]

This is a little off-subject but has anyone tried electric socks (either disposable battery or rechargeable)? I just can’t get my feet dialed in when it is this cold and I have tried pretty much everything suggested by the forum at this point. Electric socks feel like a potential fiery spectacle of death, which would be awesome in it’s own right. Basically I am willing to risk it at this point.

[huskerdont]

I should add that I think for people like us with poor hand circulation, glove liners inside mittens are counterproductive. Mittens allow your fingers to get warmth from each other and from the rest of the hand; the finger portion of gloves prevents this transfer of warmth. That’s been my experience at least, but everyone is different.

[Emm]

@Subby 130962 wrote:

This is a little off-subject but has anyone tried electric socks (either disposable battery or rechargeable)? I just can’t get my feet dialed in when it is this cold and I have tried pretty much everything suggested by the forum at this point. Electric socks feel like a potential fiery spectacle of death, which would be awesome in it’s own right. Basically I am willing to risk it at this point.

My mom has raynauds and swears by electric socks and glove liners for skiing. Not sure how they’d hold up for daily use though–she only uses them 2-3 times a year.

[vvill]

@Subby 130962 wrote:

This is a little off-subject but has anyone tried electric socks (either disposable battery or rechargeable)? I just can’t get my feet dialed in when it is this cold and I have tried pretty much everything suggested by the forum at this point. Electric socks feel like a potential fiery spectacle of death, which would be awesome in it’s own right. Basically I am willing to risk it at this point.

I haven’t either. I imagine the solution is chemical warmer packets and/or winter cycling boots although I’ve never used either of them. (I have too many shoes already.) I end up going with flat pedals and insulated hiking boots.

I’ve also seen rechargeable heated insoles (never tried either). I imagine they might work too.

[Author]

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