What are they?

They're pop bottles turned inside out, held on by a spoke and a hoseclamp

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.

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.

I love my bar mitts, full fingered gloves really bother my hand crotch and with bar mitts I can typically just use my summer gloves, I typically don't ride much below 15F anyways. They're really a great product, I've tried all kinds of gloves and this is the best solution, I don't typically use the flats anyways and drops aren't all the necessary for me either when I'm running studded tires, I'm not looking to set any records once I go into winter mode anyways. Definitely one of the best winter riding investments for sure.

I got mine yesterday and realized I'll have to punch a hole for my bar end mirror (flat bar mountain bike). Has anyone else had to do that? Does it cause any problems with effectiveness?

I wonder if shimano has discontinued its bar mitts. All I can find now is the bar mitts brand.

The Zzipper farings will also block the winds passing over your hands Title

If Shimano mad any pogies, they must have just been for domestic Japan use.

Wow a whole thread on bar mitts. It's good to read all the love on this site for these things. My hands froze last year riding my bike so I picked up a pair. I will consider it money well spent even if I don't get to use them this winter but living in IA, my guess is that I will be using them often.

Shimano pogies are mentioned three times on the first page of this thread but I can't seem to find them even here in Japan.

But it is okay. I cut off the sleeves of an old wet suit and made myself some "Bar Sleeves." I may make them more "Bar Mitt" or before that "Mouse Mitt" like, or add them to my collection of ridiculous looking useless things (before anyone asks stem, and specs).

Bar Sleeves by timtak, on Flickr
An added plus is that I did not use the wetsuit because I have given up wakeboarding and it was too thick to swim in. Now it is an armless wet suit, it may get some use for winter swimming.

Thanks for the Zzipper farings link. Good idea. They even make you faster (or at least more efficient) apparently!

I've been looking at the Mountain/Commuter Bar Mitts for my commuter. I wear Large size gloves. Read online that the S/M size is pretty snug. Anyone have experience with them? Debating if I should get the Large or XL.