Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
...I've been considering pogies (Bar Mitts)...
Actually though I've been considering pogies, lobster claws, and mittens, I've not pursued these options rigorously because last year I tried something new, for your consideration. I posted about it on this Winter Cycling Forum thread from November, "Winter Gloves for Commuting.":
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...-For-Commuting
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
I commute year round, usually in the 20's F, but often lower, rarely down to 0 degrees. My own prefeence at less than 20 is a thin knit glove under a heavily insulated windproof shell. This year I'm going to try a lobster claw pair.
I would however like to suggest this additional piece of gear. Since I have a gap between my jacket and glove end, I always have to carefully tuck the wrist end of the gloves under the sleeve ends. Last year I made a pair of "wrist gaiters" by cutting the toe ends off a pair of athletic socks for my fingers and an additional hole for my thumb. The gaiters extend all the way up over my forearm. I have found that they keep my forearms quite warm, and usually become slightly damp with sweat, but not enough to chill. This may be subjective, but I think they help keep my hands warmer by keeping the blood flowing down to my hands warmer than otherwise without them.
This winter I will take note more carefully on those really challenging days, but last winter I didn't buy mittens, as I had contemplated the year before.
Today I left downtown Boston at 15 degrees F with an 18 mph approximate tailwind for my 14 mile commute, and arrived at my suburban destination at 3 degrees and calm. I wore two pairs of gloves as described, along with the wrist gaiters. For the first two miles my fingertips were slightly chilled, and then the next couple of mile were slightly but tolerably "burning," but from about mile 4 onwards, my fingers were fine and warm the whole distance. FWIW.