Steve Herbert-mattick, art editor
One of the first areas to suffer in winter is fingertips. Which pair of heated gloves will keep you toasty?
I have rubbish circulation, heated grips don’t really help and I don’t wear leather. Come on Five HG3!
ANYONE WHO RIDES deep into winter will know just how unpleasant cold fingers can be. Not only is it hugely distracting, it can cause problems with operating the bike’s controls. By this point, you need to get them warmed up to stop the situation getting worse.
Winter gloves can help to keep the warmth in but generally, they do this by increasing the insulation between your hand and the cold outside. This can affect your feel for the bike and give a disconnected sensation when riding.
Heated grips can also to alleviate the problem but generally, they warm the palms of the hand while the fingertips and the back of the hand remain cold.
As we saw in the January 21 issue when we tested cheap and proper
heated vests, heated clothing can offer a massive benefit in comfort and safety — by helping you keep concentration as well as warmth — but without the bulk of lots of thick layers. And the same is the case for gloves — a pair of heated gloves could help keep your hands warm whatever the weather outside.
Heated gloves are generally either powered by a hard-wire direct to the bike’s battery or by separate batteries — or both in many cases. We decided to test a range of battery-powered gloves so we could assess their performance in a range of conditions that included away from the bike. It also means that they can be used off the bike as well as on, while some people prefer not to be tethered physically to the bike.
So, into the freezer once more…