Winter gloves - best for racing in cold weather

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la85
Posts: 133
Joined: Fri Apr 17, 2020 10:13 am

by la85

What is everyone using for winter gloves - specifically when endurance racing.

Need to be warm and weatherproof but also offer dexterity... mainly when trying to eat and zip up jackets etc.

I have some insulated gloves that are super warm but are bulky... I can't feel my fingers properly and struggle to get gels etc out from my rear pockets.

Any advice would be awesome!

eli76141
Posts: 79
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2022 1:43 pm

by eli76141

How cold are we talking? I have 8-9 different gloves. I have gloves for nearly all temperatures. I have always cold hands. But for really cold weather, I haven't found gloves, that offer good dexterity. When really cold, I prefer having gloves, that are easy to remove, so I can perform tasks without gloves and quickly put the back on.

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mogwaiboi
Posts: 211
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Location: Melbourne, Australia

by mogwaiboi

I got the Sportful No Rain gloves recently and I really like them. They don't have any padding which I prefer. Again, it depends how cold it is and how well you deal with the cold. I'm in southern Australia so it doesn't get that cold!

https://road.cc/content/review/257086-s ... ain-gloves
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LouisN
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Location: Canada

by LouisN

I'm in Canada FWIW. In the spring and fall, when I can still ride my road bike but the mercury gets close to freezing temperatures, I use POC thermal gloves. I like them very much. Warm but not too bulky. generally I have trouble getting food from back pockets when it's cold, but not just because of gloves, mostly because all my joints are numb. Note that I don't race in such cold temperatures. Last summer (yes ! End of june !) I was in a 100 k gravel race with pouring rain and 6-7 C degrees. I had my POC Thermal LiGHT gloves on but wished I had my full Thermal ones.
Thermal Light are good for above 7-8 C DRY temperatures. They are warm, and thin.
My 2 cents.

Louis :)

apr46
Posts: 253
Joined: Thu Aug 26, 2021 1:46 pm

by apr46

I am a big fan of Hestra gloves. The Windstopper Tracker is both warmer and has a better fit than the Rapha Classic gloves they replaced, but are more of a "stop the cold" rather than an insulated glove. I have some of their cross country ski gloves and they could be worth a look for a warmer glove.

TobinHatesYou
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by TobinHatesYou

I have different gloves 20C, 16C, 12C, 8C, 4C, 0C... For racing in 0C, I found that Castelli Perfetto Max were just warm enough for me.

As for fumbling around with gels, go with liquid-based carbs when you can. Since it's super cold, you can go with a highly concentrated mix as you won't need to drink as much. Fill a reusable Hammer Nutrition flask with your gels of choice.

AXA
Posts: 35
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2020 3:46 pm

by AXA

Anfibio winter rain gloves by Q36.5.
Warm, waterproof and not bulky.

idickers
Posts: 99
Joined: Mon May 01, 2023 5:52 pm

by idickers

I have the Gore Wear C5 and C5 thermo gloves. I really like these because they have reasonable dexterity and cover a wide range of temperatures.

Volsung
Posts: 49
Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2021 5:08 pm

by Volsung

Since you didnt say where your winters are, Frost River choppers have been plenty warm to about -20F for me and could go cooler without extra liners. It doesn't get colder very often in Minneapolis.

jfranci3
Posts: 1572
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2016 5:21 pm

by jfranci3

Every year I have a new theory and none of them work.

Tip1) Your bike, bars, etc is a giant heat sink (or cold sink). You want a foam padded glove or something to create space between your bars and your hand.

Tip2) windproof gloves aren't really windproof because of all the seams. Test a glove by sticking your hand in the glove, sticking your pinky in your mouth, and blowing as hard as you can to see if you can get air through the seam. Try a few gloves of the same make if you want ti buy one.
Tip3) no stretch glove is going to be windproof. Windproofing > insulation. The harder the shell, the better the wind protection is going to be. Using a liner glove, unlined shell is a good plan for deep winter.

Getting a good 40f-55f glove is really difficult. I have a pair of old Gore Softshell windstopper unlined gloves that have proven irreplaceable despite dozens of challengers. Forget the "Windstopper", that's just a water resistant layer on a random fabric. The wind resistance comes from the fabric and the sewing/construction. Ideally, you want a tighter knit shell and fewer seams around the fingertip (the fold over the fingertip is the gold standard).
At this point, I'm into XC skiing gloves. For deep winter, I use an oversized Hesrta 3-finger windstopper and liner or Gore Goretex bike glove - then rotate every 45min because they collect moisture.

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Mr.Gib
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by Mr.Gib

jfranci3 wrote:
Sat Jun 03, 2023 2:07 pm
Getting a good 40f-55f glove is really difficult.
This (4 -12 Celcius) is a huge range. At the upper end there are many options. And various windstopper gloves do exactly what they should - slow down the movement of air through the fabric so it doesn't blow away the heat that your hand has created. And a lot of guys are good with out gloves at 12 degrees if they are going hard enough.

It is a challenge 4 degrees though. I use an oversize windstopper glove with a knit liner underneath. FWIW I ride over 100 days per year in this temperature range and my hands are pretty feeble. But I don't ride hard or race at these temps. Wouldn't need the liner in that case.
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Steve Curtis
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Location: Hampshire UK, Dublin Ireland and Geneva Switzerland.

by Steve Curtis

I have pretty much all of the Castelli autumn- winter glove line. The PERFETTO RoS is an outstanding glove in conditions as low as you need.
It's super thin, water resistant and wind proof.

Well worth taking a look

warthog101
Posts: 872
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2013 10:05 am

by warthog101

Mr.Gib wrote:
Sat Jun 03, 2023 3:31 pm
jfranci3 wrote:
Sat Jun 03, 2023 2:07 pm
Getting a good 40f-55f glove is really difficult.
This (4 -12 Celcius) is a huge range. At the upper end there are many options. And various windstopper gloves do exactly what they should - slow down the movement of air through the fabric so it doesn't blow away the heat that your hand has created. And a lot of guys are good with out gloves at 12 degrees if they are going hard enough.

It is a challenge 4 degrees though. I use an oversize windstopper glove with a knit liner underneath. FWIW I ride over 100 days per year in this temperature range and my hands are pretty feeble. But I don't ride hard or race at these temps. Wouldn't need the liner in that case.
I used to commute at around 0°c in Winter.
Aldi ski gloves for the win. Ugly but cheap and warm.
No cycling tax was the best bit.. :)

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