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heated gloves?

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slyfink

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,796
5,627
Ottawa, Canada
for winter riding in the North East.

Last year, heated socks convinced me there is a place for batteries in biking. I used them with my mid-season shoes (Specialized Defrosters) and cheap neoprene booties, and was good down to -20°C. The limiting factor became my hands.

I have a pair of 45Nrth pogies, but I really don't like pogies. I don't like how locked in my hands are. And I find it a faff to take them off when the riding isn't so cold. I think I will sell them to finance the purchase of heated gloves.

I like the idea of heated gloves because:
- I can use them for other things than biking (e.g. DH and xc skiing)
- I can start with the heat cranked up and then turn it down once the blood starts pumping
- I like my hands being free to come off the bar at any angle when I fall off my bike

I want gloves that:
- are not waterproof (I need them to be breathable, not waterproof. how tf did it become a "plus" to have winter gloves be waterproof?! water is frozen in winter :butcher: )
- are highly breathable
- still have light insulation (so that I can still use them without batteries)
- are relatively dextrous and grip the bars well (8" of foam padding in the palm is not useful - as is the case with many DH ski gloves).
- are self-contained (I don't know if snow-mobile and moto gloves attach to one big battery to power all the heated clothes (socks, gloves, vests, pants etc)
- preferably don't cost a fortune

Anyone know of such a unicorn?
 
slyfink

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,796
5,627
Ottawa, Canada
jonKranked said:
google turned these up:


but they are waterproof. and $160. for reference the a'me heated grips are $200 for the complete kit.
Click to expand...
Thanks, that's helpful. A local shop carries Sealskin so I'll have a look if they have these or whether they can order them.

They also carry OR, which is the other glove I was looking at, that seems very similar to the Sealskin (softshell back, goat leather palm, primaloft gold insulation) minus the waterproof membrane. These ones: https://www.altitude-sports.com/products/outdoor-research-stormtracker-heated-sensor-gloves-llll-orr-271545#?style=Black I get 10% off and free returns with that retailer, so I could order them to check them out and return if I don't like them.

The problem with the grips, is they are not cross-sport compatible...

sunringlerider said:
Not battery powered but, I wear these for my winter cycling adventures. (Northern Midwest)
Have kept my hands toasty of some of my dumber rides I have done. -17F once last winter.

https://www.duluthtrading.com/mens-yellowknife-gauntlet-gloves-80313.html?dwvar_80313_color=BLK#lang=default&brandName=root&q=gloves&start=19
Click to expand...
I have a bunch of various gloves and mitts that resemble those. I'm really looking to cut down on bulk.
 
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Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
20,153
10,705
AK
slyfink said:
I have a pair of 45Nrth pogies, but I really don't like pogies. I don't like how locked in my hands are. And I find it a faff to take them off when the riding isn't so cold. I think I will sell them to finance the purchase of heated gloves.
Click to expand...
Get some looser pogies? I've never had trouble getting "out" of pogies...mostly because there's nothing "holding" your hands to the bars. Most people go down holding the bike and then let go on the ground, I've never seen this working any different.

I say all of this because the absolute worst for bike control IME is thick gloves. Any heated gloves are going to be thick gloves and it's like trying to ride with boxxer-gloves on, the more downhill/faster you go, the worst it is trying to operate the brakes and hold on with thick gloves.

Plus, I need the heat in my finger tips, you can heat my palm all day, doesn't make a difference.
 
slyfink

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,796
5,627
Ottawa, Canada
Jm_ said:
Get some looser pogies? I've never had trouble getting "out" of pogies...mostly because there's nothing "holding" your hands to the bars. Most people go down holding the bike and then let go on the ground, I've never seen this working any different.

I say all of this because the absolute worst for bike control IME is thick gloves. Any heated gloves are going to be thick gloves and it's like trying to ride with boxxer-gloves on, the more downhill/faster you go, the worst it is trying to operate the brakes and hold on with thick gloves.

Plus, I need the heat in my finger tips, you can heat my palm all day, doesn't make a difference.
Click to expand...
I generally ride with the end of the bars in the palm of my hand, which is part of why the pogies don't work for me. They're also too warm in anything above -10°C. When I used them regularly (this will be my fifth season fatbiking I think?) another annoying problem was running thin gloves, falling, putting hand in snow, glove got wet, hands stayed cold for rest of ride. Lastly, there's a spot that's in the early section of a whole bunch of trails (so not really by-passable), that's really steep, with a tree in the middle of it, and has a 90° right hand turn at the bottom. Because it's in a high-traffic area, it gets a lot of traffic and gets really icy. I've come to know how to spot the ice there, but in the early days, my front tire slid out, and because my hands were in the pogies I couldn't get them out, and I shoulder check the tree. I didn't do any lasting damage, but I was out for the better part of three weeks, and my shoulder bothered me for the whole season. And since I like to scope out steep lines to 'surf' down, this is a common and likely scenario...

So unless you can recommend some pogies that address all those issues... I'll politely ask that you answer the question asked! :D

Also, I find pogies look dumb. It's hard enough for me to acknowledge that I'm riding a fatbike ffs, I just can't go that extra step!

(Also, totally agree about thick gloves. Which is why I'm looking for a thin and dexterous heated glove)
 
6thElement

6thElement

Schrodinger's Immigrant
Jul 29, 2008
17,232
14,708
slyfink said:
So unless you can recommend some pogies that address all those issues... I'll politely ask that you answer the question asked!
Click to expand...
I use cheap $15 ATV pogies on the fatty, a lot less "enclosed" than bike pogies.
 
Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
20,153
10,705
AK
slyfink said:
I generally ride with the end of the bars in the palm of my hand, which is part of why the pogies don't work for me. They're also too warm in anything above -10°C. When I used them regularly (this will be my fifth season fatbiking I think?) another annoying problem was running thin gloves, falling, putting hand in snow, glove got wet, hands stayed cold for rest of ride. Lastly, there's a spot that's in the early section of a whole bunch of trails (so not really by-passable), that's really steep, with a tree in the middle of it, and has a 90° right hand turn at the bottom. Because it's in a high-traffic area, it gets a lot of traffic and gets really icy. I've come to know how to spot the ice there, but in the early days, my front tire slid out, and because my hands were in the pogies I couldn't get them out, and I shoulder check the tree. I didn't do any lasting damage, but I was out for the better part of three weeks, and my shoulder bothered me for the whole season. And since I like to scope out steep lines to 'surf' down, this is a common and likely scenario...

So unless you can recommend some pogies that address all those issues... I'll politely ask that you answer the question asked! :D

Also, I find pogies look dumb. It's hard enough for me to acknowledge that I'm riding a fatbike ffs, I just can't go that extra step!

(Also, totally agree about thick gloves. Which is why I'm looking for a thin and dexterous heated glove)
Click to expand...
Sounds like you must be rocking some pretty rigid pogies for all that to be the case. I have a set of rigid pogies for expedition stuff, I only break them out when it's going to be -18°C or colder, since they are kind of a PITA to deal with being so bulky and rigid and of course WAY too warm most of the time. One of the great things about softer pogies, apart from the fact that they are not so rigid, is they can be easily rolled up so you can manage your heat. The pogies are rolled up in the picture below.

253199302_10102414504131558_4554300798566362332_n (1).jpg


244043698_10102395329672328_7216442080867615242_n.jpg


Also, gloves, I don't know about you, but whatever I do, my gloves get damp, even if I never expose them to snow, whatever, they get damp from my sweat eventually. Given a good downhill, my fingers can turn to ice and it's REAL hard to get them warm again. To that extent, winter-biking 101 is bringing a dry pair of gloves/thin-mittens IME. This makes a ton of difference, being able to put on a dry pair. If you are facing some colder temps, you can also throw them down your shirt and use your body heat to warm them, alternating between the pair you are wearing and the pair in the "oven".

I've shoulder checked a lot of trees in the winter...but I really can't blame my pogies. Bad things happen.
 
Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
20,153
10,705
AK
There are some battery powered heated grips out there. I'd be looking at those before heated gloves, simply because damn near every glove will be way too thick for serious control while riding.
 
slyfink

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,796
5,627
Ottawa, Canada
So an update on the heated gloves, in case anyone ever comes here looking for info.... I wound up getting the OR Stormtracker Infinium Heated Gloves.

They work exactly as I had intended:
  • They are thin enough that they give good feel and grip on the bar.
  • They are breathable enough to not get clammy under heavy exercise.
  • I can crank them up for the first 10-15 minutes, and then bring them down once I get warm.
  • I've worn them down to -24°C (-11°F), cross country skiing. I think that's they're lower limit (on their own).
  • I've worn them fat biking, xc skiing, outdoor skating, and walking to school with the kids, so I think they're versatile enough to justify their cost. Looking forward to trying them alpine skiing, but that may have to wait a while due to Covid restrictions and until my back heals a bit more.
  • I discovered that an overmitt extends their reach and potential significantly. When it was the coldest, I slid the overmitt on, and it was like wearing a... well... heated glove! so toasty. even at a lower heat level, meaning I can significantly extend the battery life that way.
 
chuffer

chuffer

Turbo Monkey
Sep 2, 2004
1,794
1,142
McMinnville, OR
I hope it's OK if I piggy back a question onto this thread.

What are some decent decent heated sock options? So much garbage comes up in a google search these days. I figured it'd be better to ask here.
 
slyfink

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,796
5,627
Ottawa, Canada
chuffer said:
I hope it's OK if I piggy back a question onto this thread.

What are some decent decent heated sock options? So much garbage comes up in a google search these days. I figured it'd be better to ask here.
Click to expand...
I have Lenz heated socks and I really like them. It's what got me thinking about heated gloves. I used them for a full season of riding last winter (edited to add: on average, two rides/week from mid-December to end of March), and they were great. I've only used them twice so far this season, but they picked up exactly where they left off last year. The phone app is actually quite handy as I can run them on low on the drive to the trailhead to build up some heat, then easily crank them up for the first 10-15 minutes before I heat up, and turn them back down again while on the ride. All without fiddling with reaching under my pants and tights. I can use them for alpine skiing, xc skiing, outdoor skating, and fatbiking. When I finally get around to picking up the equipment, I'll probably wear them ice fishing too. I got one sock as a Christmas present, so that offset the cost a bit. They're knee high, like an alpine ski sock, thin enough to fit a "performance fit" boot, and a mix of merino and synthetics.

I find this is a case of you get what you pay for. I have a buddy that has bought some of the amazon heated socks. Granted they were a quarter of the price, but he's already run into problems with them twice in two years. For me, this is a use case where I don't want them failing. I want to be able to rely on them to keep my toes from getting frostbitten. Even one failure can have pretty dire consequences depending on how far you are from the exit.
 
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