Originally Posted by
Mauriceloridans
I use waterproof breathable ski gloves $7 at Basspro and for real cold days I strap a clear plastic spinach box to the front of my handlebars to shield the wind.
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
This [above] post appeared in the Commuting Forum, "Winter Cycling Gloves" (original picture below)
I have considered Bar Mitts for the occasional days in the single digit degrees F, but I am planning to try the above idea first when we get such a day. I’ve already finshed eating the box of spinach.
I also have front brake levers, but I think the box is deep and wide enough to fit. What I plan to do is to cut opposite notches on the two edges of the lip of the box near both ends. I thought I would use rubber bands to secure the box to the handlebars and the bands would sit in the notches to keep them in place. I may also cut some notches on the edges of the ends of the box so the handlebar will sit in them. I’ll post the results when it happens.
Last night I decided to try the spinach box. I rode about 14 miles at about 30 degrees with a crosswind of about 10 mph, Usually I would wear thin knit gloves with a loose weave beneath thicker but unpadded woolen gloves under such conditions. Last night I rode only with the thin knit gloves.
I attached the box to the handlebars simply with two rubber bands about three inches in diameter unstretched. The rubber bands held the box in a good position. For the test, I rode with my right hand outside of the box as a control, and the left hand in the box. I maintained that position for about six miles until I got tired of the asymmetric position.
I found that the box pretty effectively blocked the wind, especially on downhill runs and the left hand was noticeably warmer. I wore the thin gloves the entire route and my hands stayed warm, though the proximal back of my hands was a bit chilled because the box only covered the distal hand, and fingers. Nonetheless they were tolerable. On my feet I wore thick and thin woolen socks, without my neoprene booties and they were cold at the end, indicating the riding conditions, while not frigid, were significantly cold, and I think the thin gloves without the box would have been inadequate otherwise.
My ultimate intention is to see how the box works in single digit degrees F when I will wear the thin gloves under fully padded thick fingered gloves with a nylon windproof shell, my current maximal hand protection, effective into at least the upper teens. The fit will thus be tighter in the box than last night. Also I will see how well the rubber bands work in colder temperatures.
So far I can say that the box, though probably not as completely effective as the bar mitts, seems a reasonable and cheap alternative at the temperature tested. It is however significantly more
FRED.
Originally Posted by
nashcommguy
Soooooo Fred!
So brilliant! So simple.
I'm so stealing this idea...patent pending, of course.
Addendum: This morning I rode 12 miles, with some chilling downhill runs over the last three miles at about 23 *F without the box, wearing my fingered, padded, nylon-shelled gloves without the thin liners. My hands were quite warm, indicating to me that the box may only prove it’s worth at less than about 10 to 15 degrees.