Does anyone have warm hands??

[bluebird]

Now that the nasty white stuff has melted I've started using the bike a bit more but it's starting to turn into the 'winter of discontent' because my hands (moreso my fingers) are bloody freezing by the time I get to work......so advice please.....what's the best thing to keep my hands/fingers toasty???

Hot Grips
Winter Gloves
Inner Gloves
Heated Gloves
Wind Deflector Grip Cover Thingys

I know 'The Org' seems to love polls but I don't know how to set one up so I'll just ask for your opinions :D

[Specialone]

I vote for a poll :)
The general concensos is heated gloves seem to do the best job, but heated grips would probably suffice.
I have this problem, but i have heated grips on my sprint so not an issue, but on my drz i dont and i get cold, but i am to blame a bit cos i wear leather summer supamoto gloves all year round with the added bonus of inner gloves when its really cold.

[minimorecambe]

I have heated grips and they work fine for me.
Only problem is the back of your hands do get cold.

[dirtydog]

Poll added for you


My preference is heated grips but then I've never used heated gloves or the wind deflector things

[martin15s]

car windows shut and heater on full blast....

but seriously, I used to travel 50 miles each way for work and found heated gloves very good - not perfect - I often thought of fitting handlebar muffs as well but never got round to it.

[Specialone]

I have heated grips and they work fine for me.
Only problem is the back of your hands do get cold.
The very ends of the tips of my fingers get cold sometimes, but a quick move around sorts that out.

[Lozzo]

On my Versys I've got heated grips and big BMW GS handguards with Touratech extensions. In winter I wear waterproof summer gloves and my hands don't get cold or wet

[pookie]

muffs.. not saying they are a better or worse than other options above but was a cheap to buy and easy to put on and take off.

Greatly reduced the wind chill on dual carriage way riding with additional security measure of making my bike look less appealing. Still had slightly cold hands but not freezing fingertips.

[yorkie_chris]

Winter gloves, enduro handguards and hot grips. They work alright, if I wanted better then I'd extend the handguards and get heated gloves.

[bluebird]

[QUOTE=dirtydog;2471886]Poll added for you

Nice one!!


I've just seen some heated inner gloves on fleabay for around 50 quid but can't tell if the fingers are heated or if it's just the palms?? ....and has anyone heard anything about 'Gerbing', they're are doing some for around the 100 mark!?!?

[Biker Biggles]

Ive got some of those cheapo velcro wrap round Oxford Hot Hands and they are OK for my needs but I dont do serious cold weather distances.I also got them of Ebay several years ago for a cheeky amount which was less than the three quid postage so cant complain.I think if I combined them with muffs to keep the wind off they would be fine.

[dizzyblonde]

Eat more cake.....solves everything


As for the poll, I suppose better gloves.
Heated grips/heated gloves, never used them, even in the dead of winter at 5am. Anyone who does is a big poof

Unless its MissYC cause she really does have funny hands, and I've never seen anyone get miners white finger after 20 minutes on a bike, in Autumn!

[bluebird]

Eat more cake.....solves everything

ha ha, tempting, but that would defeat the object, it's riding to the gym at 6am that's causing the problem.

[yorkie_chris]

Anyone who does is a big poof

So call me Julian and fetch me a bacardi breezer.

Riding 180-200 miles at a time in January without heated grips, try it :) It is all well and good going 2 miles each way at 30mph, try sitting at 120 on motorway and see how much chillier it gets!

[Specialone]

I couldn't stand 200+ miles in winter without heated grips, it gets proper cold.

[Owenski]

winter gloves seem to work down to around 2degrees, below that i need the hot grips switched on much below -3 and ive found even the heated grips dont help.
thats pretty much what ive found

[Bluefish]

voted heated grips, never had heated gloves, but the fatter the gloves the less control and feeling you have, have always suffered from raynards disease= bad circulation so heated grips although not brill, do enough to keep you going, when without them you would either be stopping or crashing.

[thefallenangel]

Layers is the way to go with coldness.

Surgical types gloves with heating grips. The surgical gloves keep the sweat in lovely.

Will say slightly off topic bought a neckgator which goes down under the t-shirt and by god is it warm.

[missyburd]

No, not for me! I do for about 10 minutes with heated grips on lowest setting. Can't have heated gloves or the grips on any higher a setting else the battery on my YBR starts protesting... I find singing "Feck feck feck it's cooold" repeatedly helps me temporarily forget I can't feel my fingers. Should stop more often I guess but for a 9 mile commute home it would take me a lot longer than the usual 20 minutes if I did!



Unless its MissYC cause she really does have funny hands, and I've never seen anyone get miners white finger after 20 minutes on a bike, in Autumn!
Not noticed it since if I'm honest, still get bloody cold hands though.



I've recently just got YC and me a couple of windproof neck gator things from mountain life hiking shop, £12 buy one get one free, absolute bargain and best thing I've bought in a while. Just toasty!

[thulfi]

Had to stop over on a ride up to MK from London once. Amaturely just wore my leather alpines and after about 25miles into the journey I had to pull up somewhere, because 90+ on the M1 wasn't doing me and favours I couldn't really feel my fingers which was a bit scary on the motorway.

I just shove any old naff thermal glove on and wear leathers over it. Seals it up real nice.

[timwilky]

I have heated gloves, best investment I have ever made. OK they do not look pretty and you would only use them whilst also wearing rest of cold weather gear, but they do work. You then notice another part of you is cold.

[-Ralph-]

I had heated grips on my SV, but not on either of my current bikes. There is a brand new pair of grips sitting in the cupboard in the garage which I have never needed to fit.

I buy Schoeller Keprotec winter gloves every time I'm at a bike show and chuck them in the cupboard for when the ones I'm wearing are knackered. On the SV I wore a pair until they were 20,000 miles old, then they started to leak water. I think the fact they were old and the thickness had all gone out of them, was the only reason I needed the heated grips. Since I changed them for a new pair I haven't felt the need to switch the heated grips on, on the SV before I sold it, nor the need to fit a pair of heated grips to either of my current bikes.

Poll added for you

WELL DONE THAT MAN! See, it's infectious ;)

Eat more cake.....solves everything

This advice may not be as daft as it seems. Not that eating cake will help, but your body burning calories in it's usual way will, if you give it half a chance.

Think of your body as a central heating boiler, your veins as the pipes and your hands as the radiators. So long as you keep the boiler in good nick, you'll get nice hot water flowing through the radiators. If there is something wrong with the boiler, the radiators get cold first (fingers, toes, nose, ears, then the whole hand, whole foot, whole face, all the extremities, any of this ring a bell?). Wrap up your torso properly and your body will find it easier to keep your hands warm. In the winter I wear a T shirt and a fleece under a textile jacket with it's winter lining in. This will prompt cries of "Your jacket must be crap, I only need a T shirt with my winter lining in", well I don't NEED any more than my winter lining either, but with the added fleece, my torso and arms are toasty, and that makes a difference to your hands and feet.

[wyrdness]

Ralph's right. You need to properly maintain your core temperature, rather than just concentrating on keeping your fingers from freezing off. Layers - lots of them - are the key here.

I've got heated grips and handguards on the Tigger. The warmest combination is probably heated grips and muffs, but I find that muffs can get in the way a bit and look damn silly too.

[dizzyblonde]

I Think of your body as a central heating boiler, your veins as the pipes and your hands as the radiators. So long as you keep the boiler in good nick, you'll get nice hot water flowing through the radiators. If there is something wrong with the boiler, the radiators get cold first (fingers, toes, nose, ears, then the whole hand, whole foot, whole face, all the extremities, any of this ring a bell?). Wrap up your torso properly and your body will find it easier to keep your hands warm. In the winter I wear a T shirt and a fleece under a textile jacket with it's winter lining in. This will prompt cries of "Your jacket must be crap, I only need a T shirt with my winter lining in", well I don't NEED any more than my winter lining either, but with the added fleece, my torso and arms are toasty, and that makes a difference to your hands and feet.


Exactly, but I couldn't be ar$ed to explain it like that.

YC, yep driven to Hull and back several times in the dead of Winter, at night on the motorway...feckin cold, but I don't need heated grips! My fingers might feel like they will snap off but I do what Ralph does....and my jacket ain't crap either;) Suppose its all down to how thick your skin is and how much you can train yer brain to ignore the fact you can't feel your hands anymore because they've moulded to the handle bars:o

A nice hikers base layer helps.....oooooh I love those long johns:mrgreen:

[yorkie_chris]

So if your hands were numb how can you be in full control?
Hows about a challenge, both ride 100 miles on motorway and then have a see who can stop in shortest distance?

I've had it before where I've ridden up from Wales in sub zero temps and had to filter the entire length of M6 from where you go off M56 right to the M62. No way that could have been safe without pretty much bang on control of the brakes for d*cks changing lanes. Especially considering how much salt was piled up on the white lines, like marbles!

[dizzyblonde]

Mind over matter. Does your brain freeze? Do you think hard core mountaineers just stop, because their feet are cold?
Theres a great trick of moving your fingers about, keeps the blood flowing. As for the challenge...I doubt I'd stop, I'm more likely to stop for a pee, which is a far greater probability!

[beabert]

I use hein gericke pathan gloves, they are the warmest ive tried, but last night i had to pull over shove them inside the frame to warm them up, whilst warming my hands on the radiator.

I found inner gloves were loseless and made it more painful. Id like heated gloves, but im not paying £50 for a few bits of wire attached to cheap inner gloves.

[beabert]

Mind over matter. Does your brain freeze? Do you think hard core mountaineers just stop, because their feet are cold?
Theres a great trick of moving your fingers about, keeps the blood flowing. As for the challenge...I doubt I'd stop, I'm more likely to stop for a pee, which is a far greater probability!

They wear huge mitts, very warm i have some, way too fat to use on the bike though.

We are all different, your circulation and pain threshold may be different. It feels like needles being driven into your finger tips at times for me, there is no blocking that out lol.

[dizzyblonde]

oh indeedy Beabert, I'd say my pain threshold is damn good, my circulation is crap. I've had veins whipped out in my legs and circulation has been particulary dire since my teens. Yes I know that feeling of needles being driven into your hands, but being pigheaded I can mostly push through.....thats the same pighead that was back on a bike 8 weeks after the caesarean last year, on a bike I'd only ever ridden three times round the block whilst pregnant, for a 200 mile round trip.....either that....or sttooopid ;)

[metalangel]

I have Cold Killers inner gloves under my normal gloves. They reduce the movement of your hands a bit but generally if it's that cold I'm taking it easy anyway. They work pretty well, too.

[yorkie_chris]

Mind over matter. Does your brain freeze? Do you think hard core mountaineers just stop, because their feet are cold?
Theres a great trick of moving your fingers about, keeps the blood flowing. As for the challenge...I doubt I'd stop, I'm more likely to stop for a pee, which is a far greater probability!

Well you've missed the point there.

You say your fingers go numb, I say that is dangerous lack of control as you need to be capable of manipulating the front brakes properly, even more so in cold weather when grip is poor.

Biking is dangerous enough without taking stupid risks just because you are pigheaded.

Hard core mountaineers, go climb a mountain, you will find hard core mountaineers use the best kit they can get hold of because if you f*ck up, you die. Funny enough a motorbike is just as risky.

Fair enough stupid risks round blind bends, going for small gaps, sliding the bike about going flat out. That gets you where you're going faster. But riding when you can't stop when a car pulls out in front of you is just retarded and you're f*ckin irresponsible to suggest on here to newbies that they should just basically MTFU and ride on when they don't have full control.

[timwilky]

Well you've missed the point there.

You say your fingers go numb, I say that is dangerous lack of control as you need to be capable of manipulating the front brakes properly, even more so in cold weather when grip is poor.

Biking is dangerous enough without taking stupid risks just because you are pigheaded.

Hard core mountaineers, go climb a mountain, you will find hard core mountaineers use the best kit they can get hold of because if you f*ck up, you die. Funny enough a motorbike is just as risky.

Fair enough stupid risks round blind bends, going for small gaps, sliding the bike about going flat out. That gets you where you're going faster. But riding when you can't stop when a car pulls out in front of you is just retarded and you're f*ckin irresponsible to suggest on here to newbies that they should just basically MTFU and ride on when they don't have full control.

Harsh Chris.




















but fair.

[dizzyblonde]

difference between me and Chris, is that you have an injury to your wrist, which in cold weather will most likely to add to the problem of numb hands and give you restriction of movement. I don't have this problem, plus I regularly exercise my fingers with guitars and meditation balls. My fingers maybe numb, BUT, I have no issue whatsoever moving fingers to pull brakes and clutches. So in my case its not dangerous...if you can't move your hands and fingers in your experiences...who is the dangerous one....me who can move ...or you that can't??

I wear gloves that are capable of the job of keeping in heat, and also go about my journey with the correct mindset for the task at hand.

[thedonal]

I use muffs (I put that under the wind deflector whatnot option). Though I have found over recent days that the fingers on my right hand (specifically the backs of them) still get effing cold on the run to work.

That's with a nice thick pair of Richa Baltic winter gloves on as well.

It does seem rather colder in Weybridge than in Suburbiton though. And I do wonder if the circulation in my hands is poor (not great news for a musician!!).

Having used the Oxford muffs for a while, though, I may try the Tucano Urbano ones to see if they're better (more for fit and keeping off the levers at speed).

[454697819]

R&G Hot grips work a treat

[philbut]

if i'm only going 10-15 miles I can put up with cold fingers and use my winter mits. Any further and I pop my heated gloves on. Slightly more faff due to the design of the cuff, but worth it on longer motorway sloggs.

[thulfi]

My fingers maybe numb, BUT, I have no issue whatsoever moving fingers to pull brakes and clutches.

I dont understand, so you say your fingers are numb. So are you looking down at your fingers to see where brake/clutch is instead of looking at the road up ahead? I dont see how else you can work them if they're actually numb.