I've posted here about how I have my gear dialed in for rather cold weather riding suitable for the Minnesota winter. That's mostly true, but the one challenge I have is my thumbs.

My standard set up in the cold is to have bar mitts, lobster claws (Pearl Izumi) and glove liners. Below about 15 °F, I add in chemical hand warmers and this has my hands and 4 fingers just fine down to -10 °F.

Except my thumbs.

The problem is partly that the thumbs are isolated from the other fingers and that the hand warmers don't help down there, but actually the real problem is that the part of the thumbs (mid-thumb, along the inside, right near the joint) that are pressed up against the handle bars and/or the brifters, are getting conductively cooled from the metal. Also, I think the pressure applied through the glove limits the insulating effect of the glove.

On longish rides, my thumbs get cold and occasionally this has led to frost nip. Just in those spots.

At times I consciously remove the pressure, steering only with the rest of my hand, and this helps, but it's not my natural "grip" and I have trouble maintaining it. Also, I can withdraw my thumbs into the "Palm" part of the mitt for periods of time. Neither are ideal solutions.

I've considered fastening some extra insulation to the right places on the bars, but I haven't quite figured out the right material/fastener/geometry.

The only other solution i can think of is electrically heated gloves.

has anybody fought and defeated this problem?

I only do road cycling. And although I do own a pair of Pearl iZumi “lobster gloves”…a few years ago I resorted to using straight up windproof/water resistant mittens. (And I purchased them at a close-out store for about $10.) And, at those times when my thumb gets uncomfortable cold like you described…I simply slide my thumb in with the rest of my fingers so that it isn’t isolated. Like that, it can take advantage of the warmth of the rest of my hand, or, if I’m using a hand warmer. There’s strength in numbers…which is shy I switched from the lobster gloves to mittens to begin with. Obviously braking can be problematic…especially in an emergency situation. So, you have to be ready for that. But my road routes in the winter are generally in areas that don’t require much braking. If I get into an area with more traffic, or more braking required, I put my thumb back in its sleeve.

My thumbs also get cold. The only relief I`ve found is being able to pop the thumbs out of gloves, and have them join the of the hand. Luckily my gloves are rather loose fitting. I only do it when I know the next strch of riding will not require any abrupt need to use them. Like a quiet stretch in a park or quiet street with no traffic, people, or need to slam on my brakes.
Maybe those smaller Toe Warmers might fit in the glove area? Or how about those rubber things that go over the thumb for for a better grip when paging papers?
'

That's an idea. The direction I've been leaning is to get some additional padding between my thumb and the bar. But I was thinking of padding the bar, not my thumb....

Here is the problem, I believe. On the winter bike, which is a Salsa Warbird, the part of the thumbs that get cold grip the shifters (Shimano RX 600s) on a metal piece, as indicated by the arrow.



That piece of metal gets cold, even when its inside Bar Mitts, as it is conductively connected to the alloy handle bars.

I am going to try something like this. The foam is the right idea, I believe, but right now it's just attached with plastic tape. I need to contemplate a more secure way to fix it in place.



I'm planning a ride tomorrow evening, and it's going to be cold (maybe 8°F). We'll see how it works....

While we’re on the topic of cold extremities, one thing I’ve come to realize in the past decade or so is that the warmth of them (hands and feet)…or more like preventing them from getting unbearably cold…is the importance of circulation. Previously, I was always battling cold feet by trying to come up with a better sock combination. Then, it dawned on me that stuffing more “sock-age” into my shoes was making it tighter and sort of acting as bondage, ever-so-slightly, but thereby very slightly restricting circulation — the free flow of warm blood getting to the extremity. So then, instead of more socks, I “thought outside the shoe.” Now, I just go with thin socks inside the shoe, and use better shoe covers. It’s much better. In the same light, with my hands, I recently realized that although I was using good ‘hand’ protection, that I was sometimes leaving my wrists improperly protected. My wrists never felt cold, (same with the ankles re: foot/toe comfort), but as blood moved through them it was loosing some of the warmth that it carries to my hands and fingers. So now, I make sure that my wrists are properly insulated from the cold and wind and it seems to help with my hands and fingers staying comfortable. — Dan

Agreed. I too have made the mistake of stuffing "too much sock" into my cycling shoes. This is not so much an issue for my winter cycling boots, which are plenty roomy, but in swing season, when I'm still wearing road shoes with shoe covers, a second pair of socks can actually be counterproductive.

As to feet and cycling shoes, if one is riding in conditions where summer cycling shoes and shoe covers are still tenable, it helps to put some duct tape over the shoe vents.

Yes. I’ve been doing that. However…I’m done with duct tape for this. Left on too long, it leaves residue. So some other good tape that won’t leave residue.

Dan

fwiw - my hands warm as I ride. but they can get cold before they warm. I often take my hands out of my gloves, blow warm breath into them & on my hands. this helps. I do it several times until my hands warm

In real winter I only use mountaineering style mitts, never gloves, and often put my thumbs in the body of the mitt. I agree, thumbs are the Achilles heel of winter of winter biking. I have used these in the past.

The main artery supplying blood to the thumb ("Princeps Pollicis Artery") passes through the "notch" between the thumb and index finger. If you are riding with pressure in this area from the bars or brake hoods, the thumb may not be getting enough blood to stay warm. I've had good results keeping my thumb and index finger together as much as possible to keep pressure off this artery.
Arterial Supply of the Hand

That’s interesting, and good to know. And you can see in the graphic that the vein is on the palm side of the hand. So yeah…the pressure of leaning on the bars/hoods likely restricts circulation. And FWIW…the same phenomenon happens when I’m using the snow thrower. And of course I’m gripping the handles and clutch levers of it…putting the same pressure on the vein. So I guess that’s why.

Dan

Another approach - a different bike. My preferred winter bikes in my Boston days were fix gears. Where the setup was such that all day in the drops worked. Very little bare metal needs to be touched. The grip on the drops has no specific hard points so circulation is better. And fix gear - cold coasting doesn't happen. Downhills are slower; less cooling and much warmer; you are generating considerable heat.

If you haven't ridden fix gear, don't make the change now! Cold weather is NOT the place to learn! But consider setting up a good winter fix gear next summer and riding it. When next winter happens, you'll see why it's been a winter favorite for so long.

And a specific item that makes for far warmer hands - the Zzipper fairing. Better done on fix gears than briftered bikes. (Yes, you look goofy but you will be a full layer of clothes warmer, wind is completely off your hands and the bike is one tooth faster. Quartering tailwinds are serious fun!)

I hail from Portland now, but I've wintered in Boston and Ann Arbor without a car Spent a lot of time doing all of the above..

Yes, this is likely relevant - much of the weight of the hand against the bars is in that critical place between the thumb and the rest of the hand.

Maybe there are heating coils embedded? Otherwise, wtf?

hehe, it was in response to the typo "cod" hands. like being part fish

Hello all,

Been lurking forever blah,blah,blah.

Anyway, I am right there with frozen fingers, this being in large part to being diabetic. My fingers are cold all the time. (I know we are talking thumbs.) I also downhill ski so I have had years to figure this out. Tried everything I could find but nothing worked. Finally I came across a great deal on some Marmot mountaineering gloves. (I actually would have paid the $120 retail way back if I had known.) Serious gloves that are not so thick to get in the way with controls. Being constructed for mountaineering they are warm and waterproof. I also have a pair of liners that goes in the really cold days. They are a gauntlet type glove, which I like because I hate drafts around my wrists. I cannot say they will work for you, but it sure did for me. Any good quality glove should do, just make sure what it's designed for. My regular ski gloves don't provide this level of warmth.

XC skiing and bicycle gear are largely interchangeable, so a heavier weight cross country ski glove helps me in the spring/fall.

Forgot about this thread. Just to let people know, that foam strip worked wonders, and a combination of double sided tape inside the foam, and regular tape around the outside, held it in place all winter long last year.

Barr mitts are great, but they pretty much force you to have the same hand position for the whole ride. For me, I'm gripping the bars the same way, with my thumb pressed up against that cold metal disk. The foam solved the problem

YMMV