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Cold Weather Ride Readiness 101 | Glove Recommendations

As yet another summer season of riding ends many of us are faced with figuring out how to extend our season.  With the amazing options available in technical gear these days, there’s really no reason to stop riding just because it’s getting cold or wet.  A properly geared up rider can really ride comfortably all year in almost any conditions. (If you don’t believe that, visit Germany in February and you’ll be amazed by how many riders are on the road).

One of the pain points of cold weather riding is our hands.  Keep in mind there are A LOT of entry level riders out there these days so we are aiming to keep this pretty basic and useful for everyone.

 

HELD Tight Gloves Creates Cold Hands

Here are the key considerations to keeping your hands warm:

  • Your gloves should be windproof and preferably waterproof. I personally rely on Gore-Tex technology but there are other non-GTX choices that are less expensive and can do the job.
  • Glove fit should allow movement of all your fingers so blood (and your supply of warmth) is un-restricted. Tight gloves = Cold hands.
  • Choose a glove that has ample insulation for the types of temperatures you anticipate riding in. This is tricky because everyone’s hands are different and it’s impossible for manufacturers to accurately assign temperature ranges to their gloves.  Be prepared to try more than one option.  Anticipate some trial and error. Most good brands and dealers will help you with your choices through great customer service.

Factors in choosing the right cold weather glove:

  • Consider the temperature ranges you expect to encounter. Keep in mind that windspeed makes even 65F seem cold to some of us.  Many experienced cold weather riders have 2 or 3 pairs ranging from simple silk inserts, GTX Windstopper inserts (now called GTX Infinium), non-insulated glove with no venting or a heavily insulated windproof waterproof glove.
  • If you are planning on using an insert, make sure you maintain enough room for blood to keep circulating or your hands will get cold. Some riders have an outer glove that is a ½ or full size larger to accommodate the insert.
  • Heated grips are amazing so if you have those, you will be able to run a thinner glove for cold weather.
  • Heated gloves are also a great option; there are some brands that offer wired 12V solutions as well as battery options. We’d prefer the wired version for reliability if feeling the need to have a heated product.

Some notes on our personal favorites:

Full disclosure: our go-to brand is HELD.  Given the wide range of GTX gloves, experience and quality, they are hard to beat.  For cold weather riding you can take a look at some of these:

 Until next time, keep the rubber side down!!!

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