Can we talk winter hand solutions for people with poor circulation? My hands get cold!

Here's my history. Been winter cycling for 4 years. Have tried the following with the following results:

 

Pearl Izumi Lobsters WITH liners - good down to about 28-30. Just a matter of time until ice hooks after that

Heavy ski gloves - maybe better than most things. Good to a few degrees cooler than the lobsters

Heavy ski gloves with latex gloves inside - Sweaty gross hands, but this works pretty well. Just a GIANT pain if you have to do anything en route and don't want to go through multiple gloves. I can usually use them 2 or 3 times, but it's just a big messy pain.

Some misc. others that just suck. Why don't gloves seem to exist that are the cycling equivalent of the Lake cop boots? I have REALLY cold prone hands.

 

Does anyone have any good experiences?

 

Thanks gang.

 

J. Ward

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Sarah D. on November 30, 2012 at 11:50am

Backup plan is the regular three-season tech gloves I have inside a 20-year-old pair of purple patagonia ski mittens with the fleece/velcro lining pulled out - just reunited with them recently and thought they might be perfect. 

Kevin C said:

Love to hear of the backup plan, but yes, most pogies are not designed for drop bars-pretty much straight bars only. The only people I know that manufacture for drop bars are here, though more versions could have surfaced over the years.

Sarah D. said:

Ok, with the bar mitts, it looks like it'd be hard/impossible to change gears on my bar-end shifters while riding. Anyone notice a problem with that? Plus, you'd have to ride in the drops the whole time - not great for city ridin'... Thoughts? I have a backup plan but these seem pretty interesting...

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on December 1, 2012 at 3:00pm

I sewed up two little reusable handwarmers with cotton fabric and rice to fill them.  Heated them up in the microwave for only 30 seconds and put them inside some wool mittens.  They started out hot and were still nicely warm after half an hour.  Of course this is not a real test.  There were no hands in the mittens and the mittens were sitting in my kitchen which was at about 72 degrees since I was cooking.  I think these could work for rides of about a half hour.  It only took me about 20 minutes to make them from start to finish.

Permalink Reply by bk (aka: Dr. Mambohead) on December 2, 2012 at 11:10am

NOTE: For those who run cold/have chronic probs w/cold extremities...

Cayenne Powder!!... In pill/capsule form.

take w/ water. no burn.

Works! You can get it at health food stores, etc

dr mambohead gettin' all homeopathic up in here

i ain't foolin'. thank me later.

you'll still need some gloves tho

Permalink Reply by Joe Guzzardo on December 22, 2012 at 3:58am

Hmmm, very good point. It's not a problem we like to discuss in public but its something that needs to be dealt with, nonetheless.

norman kaeseberg said:

i saved my old winter issue motorcycle gloves from years ago and they work just fine. Check any online motorcycle store and look for details you like. mine are super long and have a strap going across the top of the hand that's just perfect for holding a scott towel or 2 to wipe the snot off!!

Permalink Reply by Duppie on December 22, 2012 at 5:20am

Do these mitts stay on your bike all winter? If so where do store your bike? In a heated environment? Just wondering if they don't get cold when you leave you bike outside for a while (eg. run errands on your commute home).

Kevin C said:

Love to hear of the backup plan, but yes, most pogies are not designed for drop bars-pretty much straight bars only. The only people I know that manufacture for drop bars are here, though more versions could have surfaced over the years.

Sarah D. said:

Ok, with the bar mitts, it looks like it'd be hard/impossible to change gears on my bar-end shifters while riding. Anyone notice a problem with that? Plus, you'd have to ride in the drops the whole time - not great for city ridin'... Thoughts? I have a backup plan but these seem pretty interesting...

Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on December 22, 2012 at 6:02am

I usually only use them when it's really cold (in my subjective view) and/or when I'm going to be out for an extended period of time (more than an hour or so). They work because they keep your hands out of the wind and they trap substantially more warm air than gloves or mittens. If you leave them on the bike for an extended period of time, it will take that much more time to warm up the (now cold) air space. If I'm running errands, I leave them on the bike. If I'm using them on my commute, I'll take them off and bring them inside. On the coldest days, if you're starting with a warm pogie, only a thin glove is required. I first encountered them snowmobiling. Prior to the days when all snowmobiles had heated grips, I was impressed by users who had them on their sled, wore thin gloves, and on really cold days, slipped chemical heating packets in them. Comfortable at 80 mph in single-digit temperatures. As with all clothing/gear choices, individual results may vary.



Duppie said:

Do these mitts stay on your bike all winter? If so where do store your bike? In a heated environment? Just wondering if they don't get cold when you leave you bike outside for a while (eg. run errands on your commute home).

Kevin C said:

Love to hear of the backup plan, but yes, most pogies are not designed for drop bars-pretty much straight bars only. The only people I know that manufacture for drop bars are here, though more versions could have surfaced over the years.

Sarah D. said:

Ok, with the bar mitts, it looks like it'd be hard/impossible to change gears on my bar-end shifters while riding. Anyone notice a problem with that? Plus, you'd have to ride in the drops the whole time - not great for city ridin'... Thoughts? I have a backup plan but these seem pretty interesting...

Permalink Reply by Gene Tenner on December 22, 2012 at 10:42am

Put your mittens (not gloves) on before you go outside, not after. Once your hands start getting cold, they keep going that way. Then it takes longer to warm them back up again.

Permalink Reply by Anika on December 22, 2012 at 3:38pm
The rice handwarmers will create a lot of moisture especially in the beginning. You may find that your hands end up being colder in the end as a result.
Permalink Reply by Melissa on December 24, 2012 at 11:02am

I spied chemical handwarmers going for around 70 cents a pack for the next two days:

http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-hand-and-toe-warmers?ab=n&c=all...

They're made in China and not reusable (meaning they go straight to the landfill) but they work. 

Permalink Reply by Justin B Newman on December 26, 2012 at 4:00pm

It's probably worth noting that for someone really looking for warmth, sorting through insulation levels may be worth your time. 3M's Thinsulate product has a very large percentage of the market. The insulation is sold in different weights; I believe it's measured as weight per yard of fabric. Regardless, many glove manufacturers publish the weights of Thinsulate used in their gloves.

The River Road Cheyenne motorcycle gloves mentioned above, for example, use 70g Thinsulate. The Giro lobster claws are 100g. Google searches for "150g thinsulate gloves", "200g thinsulate gloves", and even "250g thinsulate gloves" turned up results. At the higher end, they appeared to be designed for snowmobiling. It's amazing how much difference there is in insulation levels within products advertised to be comparable. 

Too bad there's not a brand-agnostic insulation measurement used industrywide. It sure would be nice to be able to easily compare prior to purchase.

-jbn

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