I know that cold hands are caused by two things: actual cold
and the apparent wind of riding taking the moisture out of your hands. I
discovered that wearing thin gloves (latex or latex-free surgical-style gloves
but also used for crafting etc.) under normal gloves helps a lot.
2 cents.
-Doug
From:
thethinktank-bounces@bikecollectives.org
[mailto:thethinktank-bounces@bikecollectives.org] On Behalf Of Jonathan
Morrison
Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2008 10:58 AM
To: SLC Bicycle Collective; The Think Tank
Subject: [TheThinkTank] TIP: Keeping your hands warm in the winter.
I have been having alot of bicyclists ask me what gloves to
buy so that their hands will stay warm in the winter. My response is that
there is no glove that will cut it.
I used to live and bicycle commute in upstate New York and I
tried everything from lobster claws to neoprene without satisfaction.
The only thing that works came from my winter motorcycle
riding experiences and they are called handlebar guantlets aka
"hippo hands." As compared to bulky gloves that prevent
dexterity, hippo hands surround your handlebars and allow you to use a thin
pair of summer gloves and not feel cold. They keep the wind off you while
your hands heat up the space inside. Your hands may even sweat.
Yes, they may look funny, but if they can keep the
hands of a motorcyclist (and snowmobilers) flying at 75 mph warm in the dead of
winter -- the bicycle is a logical crossover. Jill Homer, of
Juneau, Alaska, rode her bicycle in the Iditarod Trail International — 350
miles of wintry pedaling over tough terrain. Note the hippo hands
she is using in this NPR article: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16314506
This will only work on flat bars, not sure what to suggest
about drop bars, except it was rumored someone was promoting a commerical
version for drops this year at Interbike (www.interbike.com).
Here are some at overstock.com
that might work:
Here is the company that bought the hippo hand name,
the originals (which you can get on ebay) were made by craig vetter from
1971-1978:
--
Sincerely,
Jonathan Morrison
c: 801-688-0183