I rode this morning with poor winter gloves this morning, mostly because I realized I didn't have my mittens about a mile out and decided to just suck it up. Bad choice; the gloves got wet and my hands were freezing for the most of the ride.

Does anyone have an suggestions on what kind of gloves to wear on the winter commute? I have a pair of fairly warm mittens, but the hindered dexterity makes me weary of wearing them. If I didn't have to deal with balancing and changing hand positions (drop bars...) and slightly tricky to grab brake levers, I'd be more apt to stick with mittens.

I wear thick ski mittens and ride more carefully. For me, working fingers trump less bulk. That said, I ride with thin gloves over bike gloves down to around 40 degrees.

A lot depends on how cold it gets where you live and how susceptible you are to cold hands. I live in IA and my hands really suffer in the cold. I have a pair of ski gloves that work but mittens are probably your best choice. I'd look for a pair that has a waterproof lining plus insulation. If $ is not a problem, I'd check out outdoor research gloves; they make really terrific gloves. Alternatively (and cheaper) get a pair of bar mitts and then use a thin pair of gloves inside of those.

Just like on the rest of your body, layers work well on the hands, providing warmth without bulk. I've found the bulkiness of ski gloves means that fabric gets caught between the levers on STI. The problem is even greater on the newer-style under-the-bartape shift cables. In fact, it's one of the three reasons I switched back from 5700 to 5600-series levers.

I wear summer-weight long-fingered MTB gloves (size L) inside "cold weather" cycling gloves in size XL. Most cold weather cycling gloves are not designed to get you below freezing, since we all know you can't ride a bike below freezing, right? I've used the water and wind-resistant Specialized, Cannondale, and Endura cold weather gloves. They're all about the same. Except I like the snot wiper a bit better on the Cannondales

The combo pack of two pair layered gets me down to the low to mid-teens. Below that, I switch to snowboarding mittens--they have grippy stuff that ski mittens do not.

The key to using STI levers with mittens is to shift everything with your index finger. With the way my levers are set up, I have to bend at the wrist to hit the upshift paddle, but it sure beats cold hands.

Looking at either trigger mittens or lobster mittens right now online. Seems like the best of both worlds between gloves and mittens. You get some freedom of movement like gloves with the shared warmth factor of mittens...

I would recommend any glove that fits properly, as in fit all of your fingers from tip to bottom so that you can comfortably move your hand fully extended and clenched in a fist. Don't settle for ill-fitting gloves.

- Andy

With lobsters, you have to do the same thing as I do with full mittens in order to shift STI. So with STI, I don't really see the benefit. Plus, every pair of lobsters I've tried on (by no means an exhaustive survey) has used individual fingers inside. So the pairing that's supposed to help fingers keep each other warm is engineered right out of the product.

Triggers, I dunno. One lonely finger out there trying to keep warm by itself scares me off. That may not be a problem, I don't really know. One thing to look at if you go that route are seams and bulkiness on the SIDES of the finger. That's the part that gets snagged between the levers on STI. Shooter's mittens probably won't have that trouble since you couldn't fit all that material into the trigger guard anyway. But then you've got the opposite problem of not enough material to keep that finger warm in the winds--something shooters don't have to deal with in the same way we do.

It's worth a try anyway and you can report back on what actually does happen.

I found a pair of military surplus trigger mittens on Amazon for $15. Figured I'd give them a try, but I'll definitely be using my current mittens in the interim. I'll be sure to report back on my findings.

I have long arms & big hands. Water would always run down into my gloves. This won't address warmth but to keep my hands dry I made basically gators for my hands, bought a rain gear jacket at a thrift store, cut the sleeves so they fit from under my jacket to about mid-palm. Have full use of my fingers & hands stay dry.

I think I'm going to get some bar mitts for my winter bike, I think it might be the best solution for me.

I would recommend mittens and not gloves. Fingers together keep each other warm. My poor thumb is usually the most unfortunate digit after a long ride.

I find dexterity not really a problem with mittens, either with trigger, twist, or DT shifters. As for STI, I can't say. I don't ride my STI bike in the winter.

I'm using the Showers Pass Crosspoint Soft Shell gloves; they're completely waterproof, and warmer than I really need for most weather above about 7C. No complaints.

I greatly prefer mittens for the reasons mentioned. Now I know that twist shifters are supposed to be the mark of a cheap bike, but they are probably what work best when wearing mittens. OTOH I've been riding "pseudo single speed" by choosing a speed and sticking with it, as an experiment to see if I can tolerate it.

You can try wearing disposable latex gloves underneath your winter gloves as a "base layer" of sorts. It should help if the "outer" gloves gets wet. I have no experience with Michigan winters so I'm not sure if it'll provide sufficient protection for your temperatures.

i've found, from extended backpacking in cold weather, and some poorly planned motorcycles trips in bad weather, and cycling, that a two part method works well in really bad conditions. like Michigan gets.

i use ragwool mittens and Outdoor research (OR) goretex shelled gauntlets. in combination, they've never let me down. and each can be used independently of one-another in less extreme conditions.

gauntlets-> Mt Baker Shell Mitts | Outdoor Research | Designed By Adventure | Outdoor Clothing & Gear

ragwool mittens-> Robot Check

ew yuck, my hands always get soaking wet from sweat inside gloves like those, at least in nitrile gloves they do.

Last winter when it was in the 20's F I would usually do my regular summer gloves (for the padding) and then put on my regular outerwear cashmere-lined leather gloves over those.

So far this year I've been doing okay with my Pearl Izumi full-finger winter gloves.

Here in Oakland, where it pretty much never gets below freezing, I use the fleece liners that came in a pair of Burton snowboarding mittens. When I was riding in Washington state though, into the low 20s, I would wear the mittens without the liners. They still have a fleece layer, and reducing ther bulk by removing the liner increased the dexterity quite a bit.

Do you mean "gaiters"? Or are you actually a superhero named GatorHands? Cuz that would be awesome.

I use two layers. A combination of lightweight gloves or glove liners with mittens. In my experience mittens is the only thing that works on very cold days.

Maybe these?

Omni-Heat Touch Screen Compatible Glove Liner

I would recommend the gloves i use, but i cannot find them for sale anymore anywhere.

- Andy

Any suggestions for a small woman's glove/mitten for use in frigid Iowa winters? I can never seem to find any that fit, other than the cheap knit gloves that provide next to no warmth and soak through.

And the really padded ones are so huge it's impossible to open a doorknob!

I quit wearing gloves years ago and just suffered the cold, but I don't think I can manage on a bike without something on my hands.

Will bar mitts fit on a more upright/cruiser style? And are the small/med size small enough for a small woman? I see they're categorized as men's wear on Amazon.

I had some gloves that were good until the low thirties, then the wind blows through.. I found a pair of these surplus trigger mitten shells for $7 shipped. They came in today. It was just in the low forties this morning so I took the gloves and wore just the shells--they are insulated a bit themselves. Never did need the gloves. It looks like they will do fine for that winter day that might come in Georgia.

The did work fine with the MTB trigger shifters.

I have Amazon.com : Bellwether Shield Gloves : Sports & Outdoors , they work okay up to at least 35 degrees, including on downhills going 30mph. But they're comfortable up to 50 degrees, so probably not serious winter wear.

I have a pair of Bontrager RXL waterproof softshell gloves for cold weather. As the name implies, they're waterproof (windproof, too), so no worries about them getting soaked. They're dextrous, grippy, exceptionally warm, and they have reflectivity on the back. I've never had any difficulty shifting or braking while wearing them, and they've performed very well for me down to a bit below 0°F (I haven't had an opportunity to see how they do below that point, but I'm ok with that fact).

I use XC ski gloves from lillsport ...

https://instagr.in//t/lillsport

the (05 RACE model)

unfortunately their webpage is being updated so you'll have to glance through their instagram page