Better gloves or bar mitts??

[marc.knuckle]

hey guys.

with the high cost of getting my electric bike sorted and all the accessories i am loathe to spend much more but i may have to.

i have some thick, padded motorcycle gloves, fabric not leather. really warm usually. i also have some thin liner type gloves.

over the last few days it has been as low as -4 this morning. overall with both these on my hands aren't warm but they're not freezing either. apart from my thumb that is. as i am on the brakes a lot due to riding with traffic, my fingers are stretched out on the brake lever quite often leaving my thumbs to fend for themselves. even with both gloves on they get freezing.

last night, ready for this morning, i cut the ankle part off my 6 year old's socks and put the rest, the foot part, over the thumb and attached with an elastic band creating a baggy sort of extra layer. not bad but not ideal.

so, do i get ANOTHER pair of gloves that may be no better than the existing set up or opt for bar mitts, moose mitts or whatever else they are called?

with all the gizmos such as bike computer, ebike controller etc they would have to fit over all that. any suggestions?

 

[Jeremy]

When I fitted bar mitts to my old flex wing microlight (a far more challenging environment in winter than riding a bike) they were tremendously effective. I went for the neoprene ones, and could then get away with wearing a fairly thin pair of thermal fleece gloves. The key seems to be just keeping the wind off, so reducing the wind chill.

When I added electrically heated grips things became really toasty...........

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I tried everything on my motorbikes. I didn't find those bar mits particularly effective. What I learnt was that your gloves have to be as loose as possible so that they don't restrict any blood flow. I found that inner gloves were worse than not having them because of this. Your gloves should have the thickest padding you can get. That's why ski gloves are particularly effective. The best gloves I had for long sub-zero journeys was a pair of mits that I made out of a sheep skin. I copied the pattern of some industrial mits I had. They ended up like boxing gloves, but I could still work the controls. I still have them and use them occasionly, but they're not as effective because the fur has become compressedafter 32 years.

 

[themutiny]

The most effective motorcycle gloves for me were heated ski gloves. The ones I have run off small square lithium cells, and are quite expensive. You can buy into heated gloves more cheaply if you can live with some extra bulk.
How about these - run off D cells but at £4.69 you probably can't go too far wrong!
Basic Black Battery Heated Gloves £4.69

At least you can try the concept. If you like, then you could invest ima better pair?

 

[SRS]

Bar mitts, personally a pair of halfords waterproof gloves work for me. My e-bike, not being a moped does not have hot exhaust for warming hands.

However you may be interested in my partners solution for our 4 year old daughter.
She has a dutch Batavus, step through. We fitted a crossbar and saddle from an off the shelf product.

My daughters hands, naturally became cold as she holds on to the handle bars. Regular bar mitts would not slide down the bars. However my kayak mitts, having a hole each end are perfect.

Guess I,ll not be kayaking this winter. Seriously, if you have a little kid on a centre seat, they work a treat. Cost effective, waterproof. Most kayak stores sell them.

 

[Cakey]

I use thermic heated ski gloves and insoles .
Also when really cold warmthru gloves

 

[103Alex1]

I just came across this - after seeing reference to heated grips on my handlebar switch installation instructions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEad-0if9vM

Wonder how much current / battery they would draw ... must admit if I had to rise through another Winter I'd be tempted to try to rig some up to my bike battery ... if only they did them in this style ...

Amazon.com: Ergon GC1 Performance Grips, 1 Pair - Black

... and a bit worried about having to cut them down to fit throttles etc - could be a problem on some eBikes.

They're certainly OK to power off alternative battery sources (jumper leads for splicing in) :

http://www.amegrips.com/mountainbikeheated/mtb-heated-accessories

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Most motorbike grips take from about 1 to 3 amps.

Make your own. Have a look at this:
Motorcycle Info Pages - 'How to' & FAQs > DIY Heated Grips

 

[Scimitar]

For the past 20 years I've had a set of internal bar-end heaters, originally made by a bloke in New Zealand, but was selling them in the UK. I think he's long since disappeared, but similar internal heaters are in common use in snowmobiles in Canada, and are easily available.
They're fantastic, don't wear out (unlike normal external heaters), don't have exposed wiring to fray or chafe, can be pulled out and transferred to another bike, and don't take more current than normal heaters.

 

[AlMel]

The best gloves I had for long sub-zero journeys was a pair of mits that I made out of a sheep skin.

My sheepskin gloves, bought from John Lewis, are also the best I've ever had even in sub-zero temperatures.

 

[GT3]

I've just Ebayed the other half's heated gloves, she found the battery packs too cumbersome with too short a life. We both ski in Hestra double cuff gloves. I use my old pair on the bike. They aren't warm enough for the mountains any more but they're more than good enough for the UK winter.

 

[103Alex1]

Most motorbike grips take from about 1 to 3 amps.

Make your own. Have a look at this:
Motorcycle Info Pages - 'How to' & FAQs > DIY Heated Grips

Interesting .... think I kind of understand - but wonder whether my grips would dislodge the wires or be capable of sliding over the masking tape barrier on top of the Constantan wires - they're designed to be quite a close fit even before they've been tightened up.

I also don't understand the guy's instructions about exiting the wires where he says

" Centre punch the bars in the middle of the bar clamps and drill a hole large enough to let the wires out"

- the way he suggests soldering them to the bars near the bar ends and then winding them around the handlebars under the grips doesn't lead to them being inside the bars needing to exit in the way bar end indicator wires would !

Never seen these wires - but I guess somehow you want to make sure they are not hot beyond the area you're heating as that would firstly be wasteful but also lead to hot wires near your other wiring or cables on a converted eBike. Would need to understand a bit more before venturing towards this one I think. Plus would most likely benefit from a handlebar switch and yet another DC-DC converter to find space for ... hmmm ....