Commuting - Will quality glove liners stop frozen fingers?

Hey,

I commute in the D.C. area and it has been really cold of late, sometimes below zero with wind. My commute is short, about 3.5 miles each way -- and my gear performs flawlessly in the cold, all except my gloves in extreme cold.

I wear only one layer, LL Bean gore tex gloves, when temp is at or above freezing and no problems. I add patagonia glove liners when temp is roughly 20-32F, no problems. However, when temp drops into the teens and below freezing, with wind, and especially at night, I get some numb fingers even when I add a THIRD layer (a pair of leather driving gloves).

I'd like to stick with two glove layers in extreme cold since adding the third layer makes things awkward when preparing to leave for the commute to work/home. Is there a slim liner that will keep my hands/fingers warm when used under the larger gore tex shell in extreme cold?

thx

I also commute in DC and use Grandoe ski gloves with a removable liner. They certainly do the job -- I had to take them off today because my hands were getting too warm. On colder days, such as the ones you allude to, I have slightly cold fingers for the first two or three miles. After that, they are perfect. I got them locally at Ski Chalet.

I consider the Grandoes to be "free", since I got them for skiing. One nice feature is that the liner has a zipper to hold it in place.

Paul

I commute/ride in the DC/NoVA area also.

I have some long fingered cycling gloves (not very heavy duty at all) that last me until it gets below 50F. Then I wear liners under them. That seems to do me ok until it gets into the high 30's (F). If I know it'll be colder than high 30's (38-39 F), than I just go with these heavy duty winter gloves I bought from Specialized. They don't have a removeable liner or anything, but they've been great for me. They have the heel pad in them so my palms are padded. I've worn them in temps as cold as 11 F with wind (not sure what the temp was with wind chill).

There have been days when I started out and my fingers where cold but they warm up quickly. I usually try to put enough on so that they are chilly when I start, because they get hot pretty quick. But it usually takes me 20 to 30 minutes just to warm up to "riding temperature". By then, my fingers and usually nice and toasty.

I would recommend Ski Gloves like PaulH uses. Or get some serious winter gloves from a bike store. Or go to www.specialized.com and order their winter gloves (I forget the official name of them and the website doesn't seem to want to come up at the moment). Two layers of gloves is enough. If you aren't warm enough after that, then you need heavier gloves.

Good luck,

PBW

For a short commute like your's Id get some of those reheatable liner thingys... you thow them in the micowave for a minute or so, put them in your glove (in your case on top of your hand) and away you go nice and toasty... OF course the ide home might be tricky if you can't rewarm them...
Doug

The trick for cold hands is mittens. Makes some stuff harder to do, but when it gets really cold your fingers need to be with their brothers to stay warm. Gloves tend to squeeze fingers and reduce circulation. It accelerates the cooling process.

I use Pearl Izumi Lobster Gloves with a liner when it is below 10 F. These have worked really well for 1 hour rides.

I agree with every one else, if what you have does not meet your needs then you need something heavier.

:) If its only 3.5 miles make sure you store the bike were its warm to keep the metal in the handlebars at a warm temp.Griping that cold steel in those temps,seem cool the hands down very fast.Works for me on short commutes.Good luck