Hey, I've got a quick question. Anyone happily riding around with mittens and STI-type/brifter shifting on drop bars(pawing at the smaller lever with the leading edge of your index finger to upshift, perhaps)? Or does it really need to be those lobster gloves? I'd like to get away with sturdy army surplus mittens in this late cold snap. Thanks!
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Stuff
Mitten dexterity
(22 posts)-
Posted 9 years ago #
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Nope. When I still had Sora STI levers I tried a few days with snowboarding mitts but couldn't stand it. Shifting was OK as they were the older thumb-lever on the inside type of lever but I couldn't rest two fingers on the side of the lever whilst still gripping the bars with the other two, riding on the hoods. I could either have grip or stability, but it never felt right.
Posted 9 years ago # -
I rolled with motorcycle gauntlets a few years back. My old boss bought a new pair and donated them. They were good except in heavy rain. However they had all the fingers
Currently liners from endura and heavy gloves from decathlon. But still not exactly warm. I am not sure given what Wingpig alludes to that the lobsters will work for me.
Posted 9 years ago # -
I have a pair of Aldi lobsters (not from the freezer) but they are uncomfortable on my road bike. I prefer gloves but get nippy fingers, especially the thumbs. I tried chemical hand warmers today but eventually the cold got through to the fingers. Mind you standing around a lot due to all the traffic didn't help (I really don't like filtering when there's an ice risk).
Posted 9 years ago # -
Rab Icefall Gauntlets for me this morning and no problem with the mtb shifters. Toasty warm fingers!
Posted 9 years ago # -
Thanks, everyone. I'm getting the sense mittens might be optimistic for road biking, though likely fine for shimano rapidfire. Lobster gloves might be the best compromise, then.
Posted 9 years ago # -
I've tried lovely warm mittens for cycling but had to go back to leather gloves, because the mittens were simply too slippery on the handlebars. My gears are twistgrip so no problem there though.
Posted 9 years ago # -
I accidentally tested my three season full-finger gloves yesterday by doing a low-speed fall into an icy puddle. Although both gloves were saturated and I'd a two hour ride home my hands never felt frozen. It took two hours for the feeling to return to my feet though.
Posted 9 years ago # -
I wouldn't recommend the lobster gloves. They effectively combine the worst elements of mittens (no fine control) with gloves (can be a bit chilly). After all, if they were such a good idea then everyone would wear them.
(I picked up a pair with about 90% off at the end of a sale many years ago. I only wore them about three times, as they were so rubbish).
Posted 9 years ago # -
I have some Gore lobster gloves which I also rate as being rubbish. Not only are they very badly made in terms of seam placement and an inner liner that isn't properly attached to the outer so the liner always inverts itself when you take your hand out, I found them to be colder than my other gloves, entirely lacking in fine control and because the two pairs of fingers were held together I found them getting cold because I couldn't waggle them around. Oh and they soaked up moisture like a sponge.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Unhelpful to the OP, but I started on the premise that mitts were what I was going to wear when it's really cold and then made the bike so all the controls were easy to use ;-)
Posted 9 years ago # -
Hmm, the plot thickens. Currently using very worn Patagonia work gloves, which don't really cut it, but I mainly ride around the city, with MTB bars and shifters, so mittens would work most of the time. Scandalous about kaputnik's Gore lobsters, which must have been pricey, as well.
Posted 9 years ago # -
I had ice forming on my glove finger tips this evening!
Merino inners are on the way to replace current holey cottony ones. Looking at the forecast their arrival will herald a change to milder conditions.
Posted 9 years ago # -
There was a person bombing down the Tarmac ahead of me tonight. Nifty little racing bike as opposed to my tricross, rucksack as opposed to my two ortlieb panniers, skinny tyres, actually very slick compared with my Schwalbe matathon plus but I like to think the main reason the young woman was leaving me for dead was that she had lost her gloves at the gym, her hands were red raw with the cold and yet she seemed very cheerful when we had brief chat at longstone lights.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Are mitts not a bit slippy?
I get by with "Assos Early Winter" gloves throughout winter
Also have their lobster over-gloves, but never felt cold enough to deploy them
Posted 9 years ago # -
You mean like, made of slippery stuff? Not especially although I suppose it depends on the brand?
Mine are pretty averagey random Decathlon mitts that I picked up for a few quid. Last winter I made do with two left mitts from ski holidays, but thought it was a bit stingy for a man in my position.
The main problem really is that they are quite sweaty, it seems rarely cold enough to need them. Quite often I've been removing them a mile or two from the finish of my commute to let my hands dry out!
Posted 9 years ago # -
I have a pair of sheepskin mittens - very loose fit, bought at a market in Paris when we were there in every cold November. The sheepskin is flexible enough that it is possible to ride with them if essential. But I wouldn't go so far as to recommend them. Warm though!
My aldi gloves have been keeping my hands pretty toasty this winter, although I've been walking a lot, so perhaps not being tested as severely as they used to be.
Posted 9 years ago # -
I had proof that inner or liner gloves do work today. My almost deceased pair have now lost a finger and it was that finger that gave into the icy pain abyss first. Other fingers followed but nowhere near as painful. Another mile into the ride my hands warmed up as my body finally gave greater priority to my extremities (effect requires about 4 miles to kick in).
Posted 9 years ago # -
sealskin meaty ones for me have always done the trick. I sometimes wear cheap fingerless inners too.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Liners sound good, to extend the life of my gloves, and I think German army surplus mitts will do the job for really cold or wet days, just not road shifters.
It's a bit like the adage of picking two elements out of "light, strong, cheap," I suppose.
Posted 9 years ago # -
Update: I got the German mitts, £10 from eBay, and they're warm. Shifting a Sturmey-Archer 3-speed is no problem; v-brake levers and rapidfire shifters is less smooth because of sliding the whole mitt over or to the side of the brake lever, but manageable, all the same. I haven't tried brifters with mittens but imagine it'll be clumsy.
Posted 9 years ago # -
See below, return of the lobster
Posted 8 years ago #
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