Modern Buddy

Hi all,
I know a few of you are year round riders in northern climates. I am looking for some winter riding glove recommendations. I currently use my ski gloves when the weather gets cold, but I want to upgrade to something with some protection as well. I live in chicago and try to ride as long as the road is not icy or snowy and my cold hands are definitely the 'weak link' making my rides less than pleasant.

Thanks!
Max

I like to use some slightly oversized gauntlets with a nice wool fleece smaller glove inside.

You can search here.
There's a lot of great info on Modern Buddy about this topic.

I absolutely love my dainese gloves. They are a bit pricey but well worth it for the year-round commuter. They are lined with goretex and stay dry even when submerged in water for several minutes.

I also use a pair of Tucano Urbano muffs for my handlebars

Gerbings hybrid heated gloves, AND heated grips.

Love them both. Even use the heated grips on summer mornings.

Gotta second the Gerbing hybrid heated gloves. Cost a boatload but I couldn't commute all year without 'em.

Boyfriend uses Held Warm N Dry. He doesn't ride when it gets really cold here (below 20F). I got 'em off a German website for less $$.

I use Rev'It Fahrenheit (now replaced with the Kelvin) when it's not super-duper cold (down to the upper 30F). Got 'em used on craigslist!

Good luck and welcome to the small world of crazies who ride in the snow!

siobhan wrote:Gotta second the Gerbing hybrid heated gloves. Cost a boatload but I couldn't commute all year without 'em.

I want those now! ...I think the only way that is going to happen is if rob a bank (but before that I'll have to figure out how to make that scooter get-away work).

I don't go quite as fast as you guys since I'm on a 50cc, but I picked up these on amazon and wear some inserts in them as well.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001UR ... 00_s00_i01

I also got a neoprene facemask since I wear a half helmet. (its reversable to black.)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012T ... 00_s00_i00

jonlink wrote:

siobhan wrote:Gotta second the Gerbing hybrid heated gloves. Cost a boatload but I couldn't commute all year without 'em.

I want those now! ...I think the only way that is going to happen is if rob a bank (but before that I'll have to figure out how to make that scooter get-away work).

The cost is the gloves + the batteries.

You could always buy the gloves, then save up for the batteries.

They are good gloves in their own right, but we still have a couple of months until it gets real cold.

Going fast doesn't have a lot to do with it, ender07...when it gets cold out, your hands get cold.

Tocsik wrote:You can search here.
There's a lot of great info on Modern Buddy about this topic.

Search is great. I'll save you some typing and list a few threads that have come up in the last year:
viewtopic.php?t=21911
viewtopic.php?t=21165
viewtopic.php?t=20526
viewtopic.php?t=20583
viewtopic.php?t=20547

How are those gerbin gloves? I had given them a thought at some point but I'm worried of how they'd fare in the rain. I have seen very few gloves that were legitimately waterproof and they had a goretex liner which these do not. I think I was nervous about electric powered gloves getting soaked through and shorting out on me.

Lokky wrote:How are those gerbin gloves? I had given them a thought at some point but I'm worried of how they'd fare in the rain. I have seen very few gloves that were legitimately waterproof and they had a goretex liner which these do not. I think I was nervous about electric powered gloves getting soaked through and shorting out on me.

There's no such thing as a waterproof glove. Period. I don't care what Bill Gore and the glove manufacturers claim, gloves will leak at some point.

The Gerbings are advertised as having a waterproof membrane (the gloves are made of a soft, fleece-like internal glove, the waterproof stuff and then the outer fabric (leather and a Cordura like fabric). I know some folks who put Sno-Seal (or similar) on their Gerbings and ride in the rain. I will not. I use Rain-off glove covers because I simply cannot stand wet gloves the next morning. They get heavy and the cold transfers to my hands. The Rain-offs also cut the wind. They are, by far, my favorite piece of gear (and I have a lot of gear and a lot of it is nice). Everyone who rides in the rain should have a pair. Mine are going on year 4 and not one issue.

I did have an issue with the first battery pack; one of the batteries died on a day-long ride in November. I was NOT happy and neither was my left claw which is what my hand became by the time I finally got back home. Sent the gloves back to Gerbings, they tested and found nothing wrong with the wiring, and sent a new battery pack. I also sometimes get hot spots so I have to be careful to make sure the elements are distributed evenly. This only happens when connected to the bike's battery. I've never had this happen with the battery packs, most likely because they don't generate enough juice (even on 'high').

That said, my friends who have other Gerbing's products, including different models of gloves, love them. I think I'm just harder on my stuff or else much more demanding.

The big question: Would I buy them again?
The answer: Yes, absolutely, 100%

I will endorse the Gerbing's heated gloves as well. I tried various insulated riding gloves, but heated gloves have been the only way that I could keep my hands warm for winter riding. On the Buddy, I've found I could run gloves off of the scooter's battery, but this necessitates hooking up the battery nightly to the Battery Tender.

Thanks all for the input. The bad news I am gathering is that no glove, no matter how much I spend is going to keep my hands warm below 40 degrees. Guess I will have to start saving for the heated gloves and crazy expensive battery packs

Maximus53 wrote:Thanks all for the input. The bad news I am gathering is that no glove, no matter how much I spend is going to keep my hands warm below 40 degrees. Guess I will have to start saving for the heated gloves and crazy expensive battery packs

My Winter gloves are fine down to the 30's. After that, I need my heated grips. in the 20's and teens, I put on my handlebar muffs. Bar muffs are the best way to keep your hands warm in really cold temps. You have to block the flow of cold air across the gloves in order for them to do their job.
I bought some cheap on Amazon but had to make some modifications for them to fit the Buddy.

If you use the Nikwax Gerbings recommends for their gloves, they are very waterproof.

So far as how well they protect from cold, it depends. Me, I have Reynauds syndrome, which makes my fingers more susceptible to cold than most people's. 90-95% of the time, these are all I need...and all I used for a couple of years. I absolutely could not have ridden without them. I tried riding with other gloves and found myself pulling over 3 or 4 times in the 10 miles to work and blowing on my fingers to warm them up.

Finally, this year, I bought some Hot Grips (heated grips made in America). I absolutely love them! I've used them many times even during the summer in the mornings, and I plan on using them in conjunction with my Gerbings Hybrid heated gloves this winter...though about the lowest I will ride in (I fear the possibility of ice) is about 40 degrees. I have found that the outside temp can vary up to 5 degrees between where I live and where I work...not worth taking the chance.

So far as batteries go...DON'T buy an extra set like I did...I didn't use them and forgot to keep them charged and one of them DID die...out of warranty of course. Luckily the batteries I initially bought for the gloves continue to keep plugging along.

Why the heated grips too? I don't feel the heat from the gloves so much in the palm of my hands, so the heated grips take care of that. Plus in the summer months I can wear my lighter gloves and still stay toasty.

My combination of the GoGo gear men's winter gloves, the Amazon handlebar muffs and the Oxford Hot Hands heated grip covers mean that I can ride comfortably into the teens. Layers matter!

http://www.cyclegear.com/eng/product/Mo ... web1008376

Hello Maximus53:

If you can afford heated gloves that is great, especially in Chicago. I got a number of friends from that Windy City who have transplanted themselves to Portland Oregon where I live. They like it here!

The above link is to the Cyclegear website for one of their cold weather waterproof glove on sale for just $14.95 regular $39.95. I have a pair and I like them. Buy it online, try it, dont fit, ship back for free, try another size. It is the best glove for its price after I had done an extensive search for cold weather gloves. To supplment this I have very thin tight thermogloves as an insert. They are color silver special material.

It is important that while gloves keep your hands warm, you must have dexterity for handling and safety reasons. People don't tell you this.

If that aint enough, here is what someone suggested to me and I am going to do this.............
fashion your own handgrip guards and duct tape them to your scooter. Keeping the wind off your hands makes a huge fat difference.

Do this above, your hands will stay warm below 40 degrees, you will also save money, while being safe.

Rick71454
Portland Oregon USA

I use Gerbings heated leather gauntlet gloves. I have the Y adapter and hardwire it from the battery and up through the handlebars during the cold months (which are not many for me). I make sure there is enough slack to be able to reach my hands up and touch the top of my helmet. I don't use the heat often, since they hold up very well for about 20 minutes in normal city riding down to about 25 degrees. After that, I'll plug in. In the beginning of the winter and maybe halfway through I'll put a coat of nikwax on. My winter rain riding is minimal, as in I don't go for big trips in big rain if I don't have to, so they hold up well in light to moderate rain. That's the extent of it for me, no big soakers yet.