I commute every day on my motorbike these days and decided to relent and invest in a set of heated gloves.
I bought a set of Macna Foton 2 from Sportsbikeshop which were, with the batteries and cables etc, not cheap.
Never really used any kind of heated gear on motorbikes my whole life until recently, and so this might be a silly question.
Are they supposed to actually feel hot/warm?
I would say that my hands aren't really cold as such but it doesn't feel like I can feel any tangible warmth, despite trying all the 3 settings. Can't say i can tell much difference between them.
So, heated gloves users. Can you feel, you know, warmth? 😐 Are they TOO warm on the highest setting?
Trying to figure out if mine are working properly.
whats the benefit of the gloves over the grips? We both have heated grips, they are wired into the motorbike, and the heat transfers through the gloves.
I have used heated grips very successfully, but if purchasing again I’d fit some with a thermostat as I ended up with burn blisters after a long ride!
I have also used heated insoles which despite the faff of threading cables and remembering to unplug when dismounting were absolutely brilliant on long trips to North Wales in the snow to do my City and Guilds bicycle mechanics.
First bike I had with heated grips, I got in the winter & thought they didn't work but basically they were doing the job of stopping my hands from freezing but didn't actually feel that warm through my gloves.
Heated gloves I would have expected to at least feel warm at some point but maybe temps are just kept pretty low to combat the cold & nothing more?
Just wear one heated glove and one normal glove and see if one hand feels warmer than the other on your next ride.
I know they look a bit ****, but wouldn't Pogies be a better long term solution? That along with a CX500 if such a thing exists these days... 🙃
I had a pair of Keis heated gloves but returned them because they were rubbish - minimal heat.
I have since fitted heated grips and hand guards to keep the wind of my hands. So it's better but I still struggle.
I'm tempted to try gloves again - the RST Pro Series Paragon 6 Heated CE Gloves seem to get good reviews, I would probably go for them.
I'm tempted to try gloves again - the RST Pro Series Paragon 6 Heated CE Gloves seem to get good reviews, I would probably go for them.
They are the best sellers at Sportsbikeshop. However, the bloke in the shop told me that the Paragons are basically a cheap glove with a heating element, whilst others are a pretty decent winter glove from the ground up.
Hence why I thought I'd try the Macnas.
I bought some "cheap" heated gloves a couple of years ago off Amazon. The brand is Shaalek.
They definitely get very warm, often almost too warm if the setting is too high, or if it's not actually that cold.
The gloves do have armour, but don't feel quite as robust as proper m/cycle gloves, tbh.
For comparison, my newer bike has heated grips, which are great but, as above, the heat is inside your hand, whereas the gloves heat the back of your hand, where the wind gets you. I don't have hand guards.
They are the best sellers at Sportsbikeshop. However, the bloke in the shop told me that the Paragons are basically a cheap glove with a heating element, whilst others are a pretty decent winter glove from the ground up.
Ah that's useful to know, thanks! I might have to look at some others, then 👍
I've tried Keis and Gerbing heated gloves at different times. Both sets have either been returned or sold as they were close to useless.
Now I've got heated grips and a set of Barkbusters hand guards to keep the wind off my hands and that combo seems to work well for me.
I've had the RST Paragons for a couple of years and they are great. I recon the bloke in Sportsbikeshop was on commission or had just been told by a manger to try and sell Macnas because they were overstocked! The RSTs are a great glove (not cheap feeling at all) and would be a pretty good winter glove without the heating option. They have 3 heat levels, the hottest I only use if i'm setting off with hands that are already really cold and then turn them down to a lower setting when they have warmed up because full power is too hot for me. I use the middle setting bellow 5ish degrees C but most of the time I just have them on the lowest setting. On the lowest setting you can only just feel the heat BUT it stops your hands getting cold. The only problem that I have had is that the batteries aren't great ( one of mine wouldn't charge when I came to use them this year) so I bought some higher capacity ones off Amazon and all has been well. I had a 3 1/2 hour ride last weekend and they were great!
Okay, so maybe the Paragons are worth a closer look then! 👍
Just to tie it into MTB (mountain bike forum and all)!. There used to be a user on here (and other forums) called Coastkid. He was big into Fatbiking but I don't think he's been on here for a while. He has a Youtube channel called Coastrider Scotland where he rides (mostly) Royal Enfields . He commutes all year on his motorbike and he loves his RST Paragons (in fact it was his review that convinced me to try a pair).
Bar muffs and heated grips could be another option allowing you to use your usual gloves through the winter. The pocket of stiller air allowed by the muffs means the heated grips can actually be felt.
If you get bar muffs you'll also need an Uber eats / Just eat bag to complete the look 🤣
I say that in jest - MCN's Michael Neeves uses them on his Yamaha scooter and they do work, although they might look a bit out of place on a sports bike 😆
Bar muffs and heated grips are the solution, yeah some idiots might laugh but I reckon if you're biking through winter you still get your Tough Man / Tough Woman badge anyway.
Just to reiterate. I've already got the gloves.
They just don't seem to be overtly warm is all. You'd think you'd feel a pronounced warmth on full power.
Curious about this as well.
I've used grips before and they definitely feel warm. Not necessarily 'hot' though, you just notice that your hands don't freeze.
But then I'm currently jobless and only have to commute one night a week to college so £200 on gloves is a bit extravagant. I'm surviving with some £10 silk liners from decathlon and wearing a fleece and cycling softshell under my leather jacket. I figured that keeping my arms warm means warm blood to my hands, and more layers means less space under the jacket for the wind to get in.
So far it seems to work down to ~4C on the M4 for 40min.
I recently bought some Dr.Warm brand ones from Amazon (for cycling), haven't used them on the bike yet but in a try on test they get a lot warmer than I was expecting (in the highest setting) and it was near instant. The battery position on top of the wrist is crap though as it rests annoyingly on your wrist bone.
Just got into work. Quite murky this morning with lots of fog but not overly cold.
Had the Macna gloves on full.
Couldn't feel any perceptible warmth to be honest. I mean, my hands weren't cold. I'd say that they were comfortable but I couldn't really feel any definite warmth feeling.
I'd ridden in to work wearing the gloves with no power for a few days as I was awaiting delivery of the batteries and I can't say that my hands felt any different to that
I'm really surprised to be honest. For what I've spent, which with all the cables to (eventually) connect them to the bike if I want, was the best part of £220 or so, I'd really expected them to be you know, warmerer. 😐
I think I might take them back. I don't think they are faulty as such but to be on the highest setting and barely feel anything doesn't seem right to me.
I've had the Paragon 6's for about 2 years. They good gloves and really helped when I didn't have hand-guards and heated grips on my MT09. I've now got those and heated grips on my Tracer. The Paragons are good quality, although the batteries took an arse age to charge and they didn't quite last as long as advertised for me. They also rub on one of my finger joints which only got sore and annoying on longer rides in cold days.
It doesn't sound right to me. I could feel *some* warmth from my Kies gloves when stationary, but this was quickly cancelled out by wind chill. So pretty much useless unless I just sit on the bike and not move.
I'd be tempted to take them back and get replacements. If they're the same then perhaps try another brand - the Paragon ones might be worth a look despite the comment from the SBS chap.
Another RST Paragon fan here. I had Gerbing plug-in ones before, but I just couldn't get on with the faffing with the wires. The RSTs are definitely not poor quality, they seem very well made and are very comfortable (for me). I use heated grips too, when it's proper cold (Although I tend to avoid very cold rides these days).