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As the title says - best winter gloves that are warm but not bulky.
I find my finger tips get very cold. I have Lidl/Aldi softshell ones that aren't bad but on very cold days they just don't cut it. But they are just as good as the more expensive Altura & Endura equivalents I've tried.
Any suggestions?
silk liners
I like the Sealskinz
They feel surprisingly thin, but very effective at keeping your mitts warm and dry
extremities velo.
and if you get proper cold, silk liners with them.
keep your core & arms warm otherwise your fingers will never stay warm.
make sure your wrists are covered up well.
I have a pair of GORE ones which I like a lot. They're a bit similar to ski gloves in a way, but a slimmer fit. Never been cold in them.
Those Sealskinz gloves are the opposite of waterproof - they soak water up like a sponge, then you get freezing cold hands. Not impressed. I think you're best off looking at gloves that stay warm when wet.
^ Same here. Not good.
Just MTFU.....
I use Specialized Sub Zero and I can't recommend these highly enough. Slightly bulky but very, very warm.
I have never come acrsoss waterproof gloves even though they claim they are. I have now settled on leather with padding/insulation which are not bulky and can be waterproofed (to the same standard as so called waterproof gloves) by applying a waterproof cream (although some leather conditioner also claim to be waterprooferers). I leave it in the garage with the bikes and apply just like washing your hands takes a minute. do it each time you go out and expect rain. Probably best with the conditiner as that would stop the gloves hardening. Bought the gloves from the market though (army surplus stall so the same type of shop may do). If you do buy them from the internet use this site to measure your hands to get the right size as you do tend to get the wrong size and if you buy as size to small they will be colder anyway
http://www.glove.org/glovemeasure.php
Aldi £5 specials.
Actually I leave the cream in my helmet so I cannot forget to use it and to be fair I don't bother to check the weather I just put it on as it only requires a small amount of cream.
aldi 😆 - warm even when soaked
Yeah - I have both Aldi & Lidl gloves - I'll probably try silk liners with them before I fork out a fortune on the usual suspects.
Aldi £5 jobs here too - 4th year and still going strong.
Aldi £5 jobbies for me too - I thought I'd lost them the other day and nearly weeped like Bambi's mam.
When I found them I felt as gleeful as, well, the cast of Glee.
Fox Antifreeze are expensive now but very, very good. Not waterproof but very water resistant, and warm enough to keep my bad-circulation hands functioning (the only other gloves I've used that can manage that in deep winter are motorbike gloves) They're a little bulkier than some winter gloves, but then, those winter gloves have hardly any insulation in them so.
Wasn't at all impressed with my Extremities Velos, not even sure where they are now.
In contrast NW, I have those Fox Antifreeze, and my hands freeze in them. Granted, my hands always suffer in the cold. I last used them walking on 3peaks in May. My hands froze on Ben Nevis and my finger tips took something like 2months to recover (they tingled and lost sensation).
They are also not that well made, the velcro came unstuck from the material after 2 uses - it didnt bother me enough to take them back.
I wouldn't use them for walking in tbh, I'd use something warmer and bulkier. But what's out there that's better in a cycling-friendly package?
(did you have the current 2-part design btw? They're very size-dependant, not sure if that's the problem here but they need a slightly relaxed fit)
BBB Aquashield, lovely !!
Take a spare pair in a dry bag. You alreaady realise they are all good up to a point no matter what you spend - a back of beyond face plant into 2ft bog hands & head first and you have wet inside your gloves, it could go pear shaped very quickly. Pull out spare pair, Ta Da! You can do the same with socks .
The antifreeze were new last xmas. 2 part design. They are comfy and good for cycling upto a point, and thats not below 5-10deg for me. Probably be ok for some though
Spesh Sub Zero here. I don't care if they're bulky, they're toasty warm.
Me too for an Aldi £5 job on a really cold day. The snag is that on a non freezing day they feel damp / wet inside - basically they are some marigolds (do they still sell them?) with some insulation on the outside.
Overall - on a proper cold day (and I suffer from really cold hands) they are the dogs.
For inbetween days I've got some Gore WS ones that are great. Warm when wet - only get wet in all day rain. If in doubt - that's what I wear.
Endura's winter gloves are for winters in Dubai - ie never rains and temp gets down to 20C! Mini rant of mine that is 😉
I rate the Lidl ones too. But when it's really cold, they're not enough.
I bought some Chiba Drystar gloves on recommendation, but they were not better than the Lidl ones. I ended up putting a pair of Karrimor liner gloves underneath (or the running ones - same material but cheaper), then my Marmot waterproof gloves over the top. That was in -17 deg C though! I could just about feel the levers!
If you suffer really bad, look into the lobster style gloves. Layering is the key, as it is for you body.
Gore Cross gloves are the warmest I've found, for UK conditions, and I've tried a lot. They are pretty bulky but less hampering than pogies, which, frankly, are the only thing worth using under -20.
What do we mean by 'really cold'? And cold is different from wet....
Really cold (0 to -15 here for some commutes), I use a thin liner glove and a pair of either fibre pile mitts or some Montane Extreme's on top.
Cold - Mountain Equipment Guides
Wet - anything, you are gonna get wet.
NOT, Endura strikes - not waterproof, not warm, not lasting, inner detaches from outer and is pain to get back in.
Hmm, interesting superfli... I've used mine down to about -15 before windchill and they were, well, not warm but just about adequate. But I've not found another normal cycling glove that's better. Probably there'll be ninja-turtle gloves that are warmer though- I couldn't find a set of the Pearl Izumi ones in stock but they're supposed to be incredibly warm.
So I switched to these!
http://www.ghostbikes.com/products/1519-spada-force-2-wp-motorcycle-gloves.html
Feel? Well, you're dimly aware of the fact that you're holding the bars, and that's about it...
For cold weather Pearl Izumi P.R.O. Softshell Lites, when it's really cold the same with silk liners. Light, thin, comfy & warm with a reasonable water resistance too.
NW, I actually use an old pair of motorcycle gloves when its very cold too. Probably slightly more feel than your ones as they dont have much protection.
http://www.jsaccessories.co.uk/shop/gloves/winter/ixs-two-in-one-glove-in-black.html
I got some Endura strikes, I have found them to be really good. I read about the inners comming out and not being able to get them back in, but I think they have addressed this as mine seem to have stitching at the end of the fingers to keep them in place. I found them to be warm (just) through last winter, and they aren't to restrictive. I have found them to be very waterproof aswell. The only thing I did find odd, was that I had to get them in xxl (normally L).
I wear a pair of thin running gloves which I use as inner for my cheap soft shell jobbies. They work well enough. Not water proof though, and keeping track of two pairs of gloves and trying not to leave them on a bus is a pita 😐
nice pair of 99p wool ( one size fits all) gloves under your normal riding gloves does the trick
Gore's OK to 1C then Merino inners and if it gets even colder Belstaff waxed cotton mitts. I don't like cold hands.
Shall we start the winter shoe thread off now????????
Just bought a pair of Aldi £4.99 specials. Looks like a real bargain, although the word "BIKING" written across the back in reflective letters is a bit of an embarassment!
superfli - Member
That guy has [i]enormous[/i] hands 
I have some Gore GTX gloves I use when it's really cold / wet - totally waterproof. Also use them for skiing when it's not that cold (but thin for skiing in early season).
I just got a pair of Rapha winter gloves which are breathable softshell with very few seams. Coupled with a pair of thin polypropalene liners they should keep me toasty.
I've always gone for non-waterproof 2-piece gloves. I'm often the one with the warmest hands in winter rain because I can wring out the liners and start again.
I go for standard winter gloves any brand, with silk liners and. Most important thing for me is that they have a high cuff so that my wrists don't get cold. Warm arms and wrists is the key for me.
as mentioned core sorted (icebreaker)
I had some Fox Antifreeze and they were good down to about -2, but I found them a bit lacking below that. The Velco also came apart, so I took them back in the spring, got a full refund so will try something else this season! Have some Altura Thermolites which are brilliant for days like today where it was 3 degrees at the start of the ride.
Bar Mitts beat everything I've tried previously
Liking the look of the 2011 Specialized Sub Zeros with the semi mitten approach.