Pogies have been mentioned multiple times above (by me and others), so we have the general base covered. We just didn’t list the specific brand name that you mention. I firmly believe they are the best solution for the coldest of conditions.
My bad, I didn’t realize pogies were bar mitts.
1 Like
This has been tremendously helpful!
Sounds like I’ll be looking into
- Pogies
- Layering
- Leather
- Keeping limbs warmer.
- Reducing heat transfer from cold metal/plastic at hand contact points.
1 Like
Looks like a solid summary list to me 
I rode last weekend. -8F at the start of the ride. Pogies are great for those temps (even my cheap bar mitts version). But may be overkill for the temps your wife will be riding in.
A pair of ski gloves is probably a good option if not using pogies. Recommend a style that has inner liners and an outer shell. Can replace the inner liners with a cold weather cycling glove. Use the cycling glove for the higher temp range. Add the shell for the lower temp range.
2 Likes
Absolutely gorgeous shot of the river.
2 Likes
To which I’d add:
- Keep well fed and hydrated.
1 Like
There is also a big difference in dry cold vs high humidity cold, and actual rain/snow.
Dry cold, you can probably ride without gloves (or with thin gloves of your choice).
Humid cold, but no rain, you’ll need some sort of glove, but they don’t need to be waterproof, so breathability is better. That increases your glove options a lot.
Cold with rain/snow - that is the difficult bit, you’ll want waterproof and warm. This I think is where the lobsters and pogies come into play.
2 Likes
Of course! Sacrosanct in my book. 
1 Like
I took my first fat bike snow experience today (23 miles of awesomeness, much better than the trainer), and wore my Swix cross-country biathlon arctic mitten gloves. They have a trigger finger, that worked well. Temps were between 10 and 20 Fahrenheit this morning in Leadville, speeds up to 20ish mph. I’ll probably wear them again, they might have been too warm for a sweetspot workout!
1 Like
The best winter gloves I have found are 45Nrth. I have the Sturmfist 4 and can’t say enough good things. I did a 4 hour road ride at 19 degrees and 3 hour mountain bike ride at 20 degrees this weekend and toasty. I use them with the merino liner.
Mike
1 Like
I’ve said it sixty four times if I’ve said it once… windproof means as much or more than insulation when it comes to gloves. I’ve yet to try pogies, but with good treated-leather my hands are usually good into the single digits F (riding wind rather than true bluster). My summer clearance purchase will be pogies because they’re almost all windproof, but some of my favorite shoulder-season gloves are leather “work” or “search” gloves with more than a years’ worth of mechanic’s grime plus a light coating of mink oil on the wind-facing surfaces.
1 Like
Ultra endurance, you need a liner shell setup
Black diamond grid liners are the only liners I’ve found worth a damn. Change them out every 45min. MidWeight GridTech - Black Diamond Gear
Less material to hold water, lets air move around the glove to keep cold bits warm, structured so they don’t just compress a bunch of insulation together (crushed insulation is not insulating), and they space off the shell material so you don’t lose as much heat conductivity.
Shell - I’m using these 2-sizes from my ‘fitted’ size Windstopper Race Tracker 3-finger - Red Three-finger | Hestra Gloves
I’ve found looser cuffed gloves stay warmer than elastic cuff as they don’t cut off blood flow. Same with the shell, plus looser fit keeps conductive heat loss to a minimum.
Awesome looking glove.
Noted!
Both excellent points. Thank you for the recommendations as well.
Question here. Do you mean that you buy them 2 sizes larger than your fitted size? If so, wow, hadn’t considered sizing up, but that’s a great idea for minimizing conductive losses while allowing for a liner inside, and still avoiding crushed insulation.
Second question: when you change the liners out every 45min… are you putting in a new liner every 45min or are you swapping through another recently used liner in a liner rotation of sorts? How many pairs of liners are you carrying?
1-2 sizes so you have space with the liner. The downside is that you have more area to warm. WIth the mitten area, you’ve got the palm warming the fingers. You also want your hand insulated from the handlebars somehow as your bike is effectively a giant heat sink (cold sink) - either a mesh layer under your bar tape, MTB grips, foam padded gloves. The bigger gloves are effectively mini-bar mitts. The 3-finger gloves have less seams, so less air leaks.
The liners… you need to get the liner into the wind for it to dry. If your bar bag has a mesh area, that will dry them. I don’t think a 2-set rotation will work. The powergrid gloves are less likely to freeze than wool one before they dry because they hold less water.
1 Like
I’ve used mountaineering gloves <edit - Black Diamond Glissade gloves, made with Thinsulate, pertex shield and a synthetic leather palm, rated for -15 Celsius> in a descent where I reached about 60 km/h, and it was about 5 degrees celsius at the top. According to the wind chill charts I found it must have been like 0 degrees Celsius on the way down. I was fine (no feeling of windchill at all), others in the group not so much. Those gloves cost about 45 euros now. The only gripe is that the mountaineering gloves aren’t really designed to grip the hoods, so depending on the sizing , they might be a little bit uncomfortable. Go for mountaineering gloves with the desired thermal rating, but also with a little bit of stretch.
Yesterday it was -3 Celsius when I went out of the door, and the Gore bike wear winter gloves <edit - I think they are R3 Windstopper gloves> did fine. It was that cold only for the first half hour or so. The rest of the day I rode in temperatures about 10 degrees Celsius. As for shoes, I used summer shoes with Sealskinz windproof socks. I love those socks, they keep the windchill out and they have some wool for thermal isolation.
For winter urban riding , I love the Black Diamond Mont Blanc gloves. I have ridden them to shreds. They look good, cost less than equivalent bike gloves, and they aren’t bulky at all. I like how mountaineering gloves have this clip to keep the gloves together when you take them off , whereas the cycling gloves don’t. I will get a new pair when this one gives up.
1 Like
Love my Castelli Espresso gloves. Ill take ‘em down to about 25-30. Much below that and its a day on the trainer for me!
Even on those 25 degree days, I often find myself unzipping them a few miles in to get some airflow.
1 Like
Impressive. I have never had that experience, that’s for sure!