How to keep you hands warm in the freezing cold?

Some people suffer from cold hands more easily than others. I can ride lightly insulated gloves even in a few negative degrees Celsius. Fredrik on the other hand, prefers insulated gloves well before the temperature hits zero *C. It’s a good idea doing a warm-up and getting some circulation in your hands and fingers before getting on the bike. At these temperatures, chances are there’s some snow you could shovel before riding.

Nothing​

Yeah, it’s cold. But we’ve got a nice and secure grip around the handlebars and it’s easy operating the levers and buttons. At least as long as you can feel your fingers, which probably isn’t very long.

Summer gloves​

Regular gloves for summer riding are about as warm as riding bare handed. The grip on the handlebars is great and it’s easy operating the levers. Then your hands get numb.

Lightly insulated gloves​

I can ride these down to around 0*C and even a bit colder for short rides. These aren’t a tight fit and my hands will move around slightly inside the gloves. This means the grip on the handlebars is a bit worse. It’s easy operating any levers but pushing buttons can be difficult.

Thick gloves​

Well insulated gloves seem a popular option in properly cold weather, but there are some downsides. The padding in the gloves makes it difficult feeling if you’re applying force to the brake levers. You don’t know when the brakes are biting and how hard you’re pulling.

Gloves are nice for cycling because you can use one or two fingers for the brake levers while holding on to the handlebars with the rest. Another downside is that your fingers don’t touch and keep each other warm. Therefore, the gloves need to be well insulated, which reduces handlebar grip. Regardless of how hard you grip the bars, your hands will slide inside the gloves.

Lightly insulated mittens​

The only advantage with mitts is that your fingers are in the same compartment, and they will keep each other warm. You can get away with riding relatively thin mitts. But the handlebar grip is bad. Modulating the brakes is fairly easy. But it’s difficult doing one-finger braking. We end up using all four fingers operating the lever, that leads to hopelessly poor grip on the handlebars. Not a huge issue for slow commuting but a big problem when descending fast.

Thick mittens​

These will keep you warm in very cold conditions. But they’re pretty much useless for riding actively at some speed. It’s difficult gripping the handlebars and we can’t really feel or operate the brake lever with any precision. And we’re not really able to grip the handlebars while attempting to brake.

Lobster gloves​

We really like this blend between gloves and mittens. They have 3 compartments. One for the thumb and two for the remaining fingers. I’ve bought a pair in a slightly big size so I can move the middle finger between the two finger-compartments. If the two smaller fingers get cold; I move the middle finger over to this compartment. This also improves handlebar grip when doing one-finger braking. If the index finger gets cold, I shift the middle finger back to share some heat.

I can ride at about -15*C with the lobster gloves, despite them not being heavily insulated. They are quite okay for operating and modulating the brakes. But as with anything insulated, the handlebar grip is reduced. Gripping the handlebars when riding rough surfaces will eventually lead to arm pump.

Bar-mitts​

This neoprene cover sits over the handlebar grips, various levers, motor remote and possibly the display. You can ride bare hands inside the bar-mitts. But the neoprene and seams will rub against your skin, so we recommend using summer gloves as a minimum. These are great for grip and control.



We usually ride lightly insulated gloves or lobster gloves in the proper cold. I never felt the need to use anything with thick insulation, and they probably wouldn’t fit inside these size L bar-mitts anyway. Bar-mitts doesn't necessarily feel necessarily warm, but they're great for shielding against wind. The faster you go, the more effective they are.



There are other advantages too. They’re waterproof, and they keep snow and ice away from shifters and brake handles. We’ve previous had the buttons on the motor remote freeze and becoming impossible to operate, this doesn’t happen with bar-mitts. There are some downsides though. They could hide your display, making it impossible to see remaining range. And these mitts can feel a bit cumbersome. It’s easier just using gloves, but we got used to them during the first ride.

The verdict​

I often ride lightly insulated gloves or lobster gloves. But I use the bar-mitts in combination with light gloves or lobster gloves if it’s properly cold, if it’s moist/wet or if I’m going on a long ride. There are mittens and gloves that can be heated electrically or by heat bags. We haven’t tested them, and even though we rode at -20*C, I never missed them.