Heated grips or winter gloves?

PCeeeee · 28-09-2019 2:02pm #1

On my ~1hour commute to work the other morning I felt my fingers getting cold. Not bad but it was only 8deg or so setting out.

So I'm looking at heated grips. Or winter gloves. Or both?

I suppose I'm wondering would my Richa Street-Touring do me for the whole year if I had heated grips? I won't ride in the frost but do intend to bring the bike any day it's not filthy.

Wonda-Boy · 28-09-2019 2:26pm

Heated grips are great, especially the oxford sport series but contrary to popular belief they do not heat you fingers too well. Ideally a set of hand guards to deflect the wind is ideal but if you feel the cold then a set of x-fit winter gloves and grips is the best combo (apart from the old farts telling you about courier muffs!)

What I mean about the x-fit gloves (traction fit) is that they are contoured and not just big fluffy gloves that you loose all sense of tactile feedback from the controls.

I swear by the Held Air & Dry series. While they are not 100% winter gloves they will do you in all but mental winter days. I have had two sets of them over the last 6-7 yrs and they are absolutely brilliant in conjunction with either the heated grips and or hand guards.

As for huge big bulky winter gloves I am sure the lads might tell you as I never went for them as I dont like the lack of feel from them. But maybe a set of Gerbing heated gloves?

Sonics2k · 28-09-2019 2:38pm

Heated grips and a good pair of gloves are the way to go. I really miss the heated grips on the Deauville, even if I had them set to 50% my hands were really warm

Jimmy Bottlehead · 28-09-2019 2:45pm

Heated grips are absolutely wonderful but I'm curious what winter gloves people recommend? It's no craic having cold wet hands and facing into a chill wind in December.

Max Headroom · 28-09-2019 5:45pm

Muffs.....best thing for me..coupled with heated gloves theres nothing toastier...others would be more worried about the "look".....;)

Cork Trucker · 28-09-2019 6:05pm

Has anyone ever had an issue with the Oxford heated grips coming lose after a while?

ZX7R · 28-09-2019 6:29pm

Max Headroom wrote: »

Muffs.....best thing for me..coupled with heated gloves theres nothing toastier...others would be more worried about the "look".....;)

Same as muffs heated grips and winter gloves hands even sweat most of the time

fleet · 28-09-2019 6:37pm

Max Headroom wrote: »

Muffs.....best thing for me..coupled with heated gloves theres nothing toastier...others would be more worried about the "look".....;)

Muffs all the way.
They keep the wind off, and primarily the rain.
Totally unsexy, but I'd never commute in Ireland again without them.

If you have gloves but they get wet then they lose heat quickly, slide on the controls and feel awful... muffs prevent this.

Muffs keep the wind off enough to ride 30 min without heating most days of the year, but heated grips are luxurious. I never had heated gloves, but I think I prefer the option to change gloves that heated grips provide.

One word of caution to the rare idiots like myself who ride in all weather: heated hands gave me a false sense of confidence on icy mornings. Just beacuse your digits are toasty it doesn't mean your Dunlops are.

ZX7R · 28-09-2019 6:43pm

fleet wrote: »

Muffs all the way.
They keep the wind off, and primarily the rain.
Totally unsexy, but I'd never commute in Ireland again without them.

If you have gloves but they get wet then they lose heat quickly, slide on the controls and feel awful... muffs prevent this.

Muffs keep the wind off enough to ride 30 min without heating most days of the year, but heated grips are luxurious. I never had heated gloves, but I think I prefer the option to change gloves that heated grips provide.

One word of caution to the rare idiots like myself who ride in all weather: heated hands gave me a false sense of confidence on icy mornings. Just beacuse your digits are toasty it doesn't mean your Dunlops are.

That is very sound advice , nearly got caught out in the past because of this.
Over 20 years riding all weather's also
Bike is my only transport

thos · 28-09-2019 7:37pm

Heated grips.

Tried Keis heated gloves, found they still let air in, my Rocha arctic gloves were better.

PCeeeee · 28-09-2019 7:41pm

Thanks lads. Great advice

zubair · 28-09-2019 7:48pm

You'll need both, that's if you plan to ride in temps as low as 0. Heated grips and winter gloves are a must IMO. The Oxford grips are the best aftermarket unless your bike has a factory option which are good too, I can vouch for the Honda and yamaha heated grips. Oxford are cheaper typically and I wouldn't hesitate to get them.

I use the richa cold protect goretex in winter, they're probably one of the thinnest winter gloves going and are plenty warm in very low temps when combined with heated grips. The richa artic is also a good option, they're WP but not gore. I know wonda loves his Held AnD, I have a pair but I only use them in summer, there's no liner in them so I wouldn't recommend them for early morning winter commutes. I'll just add that I've been through a lot of winter gloves and so far the richa cold protects are probably the best, that said i have yet to find the perfect glove.

Max Headroom · 28-09-2019 7:58pm

I tried my mates bike with heated grips before I bought them..but didn't...I found they only heated my palms..and only if I held on completely...if I covered the brake , as I normally do my fingers were numb before long....
Honestly man it's muff all the way...I sometimes only wear my summer gloves with them...

zubair · 28-09-2019 8:08pm

Max Headroom wrote: »

I tried my mates bike with heated grips before I bought them..but didn't...I found they only heated my palms..and only if I held on completely...if I covered the brake , as I normally do my fingers were numb before long....
Honestly man it's muff all the way...I sometimes only wear my summer gloves with them...

Yes the heat spread isn't perfect on grips and like you said, if you cover the brake you'll have 1 cold finger. There's no doubt muffs are the perfect solution, but it's like drawing a moustache on the Mona Lisa. Heated gloves are the next best thing but are stupid money for a decent set and gloves wear out a lot faster than grips.

Max Headroom · 28-09-2019 8:27pm

TBH if the lad is commuting I'd hope he's thinking of comfort over looks....few years ago hand guards were laughed at..now everyone has them....make sense...

conor2469 · 28-09-2019 11:44pm

I am going to echo what some of the guys above have said. I have oxford hot grips and last winter with winter gloves I found that my knuckles and fingertips still got cold, for this winter I'm buying a pair of muffs

arybvtcw0eolkf · 29-09-2019 12:50am

Muffs, muffs, muffs... All bloody day muffs.

Muffs and heated grips and you're laughing.

They look pig ugly but biking in winter isn't about looks, its about keeping warm, dry and upright!.

Muffs

CJhaughey · 29-09-2019 8:39am

It comes down to safety, cold fingers don't work very well, slowing reaction times and if you are trying to apply front brake and your fingers are like sausages just out of the fridge you can see what happens next.
Having the sexy bike sliding down the road next to you isn't a cool look anyway

SmartinMartin · 29-09-2019 8:47am

Having tried heated grips I've since settled on a set of heated inner gloves. Absolutely brilliant, they heat all the fingers and it means you can use the one set of gloves all year.

zubair · 29-09-2019 10:31am

SmartinMartin wrote: »

Having tried heated grips I've since settled on a set of heated inner gloves. Absolutely brilliant, they heat all the fingers and it means you can use the one set of gloves all year.

I have heated grips but would be interested in what inner gloves you use. How thick are they? Could you wear them with summer (WP) gloves? That would probably be the perfect solution for the OP.

SmartinMartin · 29-09-2019 10:44am

They're not thick at all, and yes I've worn them under summer gloves. The summer gloves are slightly large on me, say half a size, and everything fits nicely at that.

Zebbedee · 29-09-2019 10:58am

fleet wrote: »

One word of caution to the rare idiots like myself who ride in all weather: heated hands gave me a false sense of confidence on icy mornings. Just beacuse your digits are toasty it doesn't mean your Dunlops are.

+1

zubair · 29-09-2019 11:09am

CJhaughey wrote: »

It comes down to safety, cold fingers don't work very well, slowing reaction times and if you are trying to apply front brake and your fingers are like sausages just out of the fridge you can see what happens next.
Having the sexy bike sliding down the road next to you isn't a cool look anyway

A bit drastic

Max Headroom · 29-09-2019 11:14am

zubair wrote: »

A bit drastic

Not really...its much the same with any cold part of your body..you can spend a time concentrating on it more than whats happening around you...

galwaytt · 30-09-2019 10:28am

Max Headroom wrote: »

Not really...its much the same with any cold part of your body..you can spend a time concentrating on it more than whats happening around you...

Indeed: how does your body know it's 'hurt' - it lets you feel pain. Ditto for cold. It's a signal there's 'stuff' going on externally.

Breezin · 30-09-2019 11:53am

Air-cooled engines on an accessible naked bike are, I imagine, better for a quick warm-up at traffic lights. Also, clapping hands briskly together. Not only does this drive the cold away, it's also useful for maintaining all-important alertness. All free.

I post this after viewing the astonishing pricing of winter gloves online.

SmartinMartin · 30-09-2019 12:34pm

Make sure if your buying glove liners that you get the ones that connect to the bike electrics, not the battery-operated ones. These are the ones I have, can't recommend them highly enough :

https://www.thevisorshop.com/Mobile/en/Gerbing-12V-Heated-Glove-Liners/m-m-22791.aspx?PartnerID=16&gclid=Cj0KCQjwz8bsBRC6ARIsAEyNnvpsGWFCM6iFvx19k6j4QmlT0L47qdXTiulRVFD5DTr0OYh9DFMRaw4aAoUtEALw_wcB&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Ireland

Max Headroom · 30-09-2019 1:24pm

Muff said...soz..Nuff said....

listermint · 30-09-2019 4:46pm

If the wind isnt deflected away from your hand then all the heated grips and gloves in the world wont make you finger tips warm.

I have heated grips, good gloves and handguards on the bike and it would still be cold in the lower temps 6 Degrees and so. - its the wind scooping around the handguards.

I find my setup fine and i only get uncomfortable cold if its 1 or below.

If you want ultimate solution then you have to get muffs. I wont because i dont like the look or the feeling of not seeing my controls. (thats just me)

But they are the best solution if you want the top solution. My one is a close second though

Jimmy Bottlehead · 30-09-2019 7:55pm

Xzavier Eager Fishnet wrote: »

Muffs, muffs, muffs... All bloody day muffs.

Muffs and heated grips and you're laughing.

They look pig ugly but biking in winter isn't about looks, its about keeping warm, dry and upright!.

Muffs

Muffs?

Muffs.

Muffs...

Have had heated grips a few years now and they're an absolute godsend. But I've finally cracked and ordered a set of muffs from Aliexpress (to see how I fare with them) and I'll pick up a pair of Richa Cold Protect after Zubair's recommendation above. The reviews echo what he's said about them.

ZX7R · 30-09-2019 8:27pm

Muffs muffs muffs

Heated grips or winter gloves?

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