Winter glove redesign... ideas wanted

Amen to that^

somebody up there^ mentioned palm padding. I don;t know whether you felt it relevant scott, having used them, but as you say all people are different.

I don;t know if you got any nerve-associated numbness from these gloves, but I would recommend careful palm/heel padding design, in all cycle gloves, that allow for the nerves below the centre of the palm just near the wrist, by perhaps a clear unpressured channel in between pad on the lover part of the thumb, and opposite pad/heel area from the wrist to the little finger. Make sense? The physio on JackT's resonance podcast mentions this area in the recent show about wellbeing for cyclists. If the glove doen't allow for this area well, ask them to have a think about it. Numb finger syndrome, obviously exascerbated by poor fit or handlebar coice, nonetheless can easily set in for most of us if the paddding design is wrong. It's, apparently, all about nerves. The physio guy interviewed posted an offer for consultations on here, could be helpful.

Padding is another tricky area...i personally don't like too much padding...especially on a winter glove which is already bulkier.
The glove doesn't have any padding as such on the palm, it has reinforcing/grip sections...double reinforced on thumb and fore finger.
Again...some prefer padding, some prefer less.

Another suggestion of mine is to make the thumbs a tiny fraction longer...i think almost no gloves allow for the way a thumb pulls tight when your hands are against the grips/hoods. It can often make quite a difference to whether you get cold thumbs or not.

I punch the fingers out of my gloves with long fingers. Most gloves are too small. Not sure this can be worked into glove manufacturers production though.

My two smallest fingers are always the first to go cold (the outside two.. i know i am from Somerset) then the tip of my thumb

I don't like the padding, to much bulk is a distraction, it also has potential to get wet sweat/rain and then even colder.
#1 priority is keep them dry, then warm

thumbs should defo be a bit longer as scott says, once you grip the bars, the thumbs get pulled tight.

the sizing on these is pretty good actually in that they offer a lot of sizes and include the lengths from wrist to finger tip.....made it really easy for me to get the right size.

basically looking for something thin, flexible, waterproof, windproof, and heated,with a slighlty longer elasticated cuff which can be tucked into sleeves

i don't care if it costs £70+, if it lasts a good few winters i will buy it

£70 notes... shit that shop had a large shop window

Right, back to bags before Rik catches me on here!

Thanks for the feedback and ideas...keep it coming. :)

shooting gloves have a little slit in the right index finger (the trigger finger) so that you can keep them on while you're firing a gun. your finger pokes through. also very useful for changing tracks on an ipod or dialing on your mobile. often wondered why more glove don't have this.

these are the dent ones. they have velcro that hold the glove finger back for you.

Oh Teddy..
You are suggesting cycle gloves that allow you to use your phone and shuffle your ipod.. we are not in old st now my friend

I think he's suggesting the use of a shotgun. But the kickback would surely throw you off balance and cause you to crash.

Reading it again i think you are right. maybe Teddy has some anger issues we need to talk about

One of the main principles of warm gloves, is that there should be a gap between the tip of your fingers/thumb and the end of the glove, as it is this space that creates the warmth. When i worked i teh ski industry, one of the most common problems was people complaining of cold hands, primarily because they had mistakenly bought a tight glove thinking it would be warmer.

Being a motorbike rider i can tell you that the only way i have ever found of having trully warm hands, without resorting to bulky gloves, is to use muffs:

shooting gloves have a little slit in the right index finger (the trigger finger) so that you can keep them on while you're firing a gun. your finger pokes through. also very useful for changing tracks on an ipod or dialing on your mobile. often wondered why more glove don't have this.

these are the dent ones. they have velcro that hold the glove finger back for you.

Good thinking - North Face actually make a glove called the Etip with a silver element in the tips that allows you to use touch screen devices, like the ipod

Personally speaking i'm not a fan of anything that encourages cyclists to pay less attention to what they're doing...not a fan of cycling with headphones on or texting/calling while riding...but that's a whole other discussion. :)

One of the main principles of warm gloves, is that there should be a gap between the tip of your fingers/thumb and the end of the glove, as it is this space that creates the warmth. When i worked i teh ski industry, one of the most common problems was people complaining of cold hands, primarily because they had mistakenly bought a tight glove thinking it would be warmer.

Being a motorbike rider i can tell you that the only way i have ever found of having trully warm hands, without resorting to bulky gloves, is to use muffs:

Pogies are great...i'm gonna make some when i get my next snow bike. :)

Me too - but i have the northface glove and use them under the muffs on my Motorbike - there good because when i stop to answer my phone i dont have to take my hands out the gloves.

Also aent a lot of cycling gizmos going touch screen?

Personally speaking i'm not a fan of anything that encourages cyclists to pay less attention to what they're doing...not a fan of cycling with headphones on or texting/calling while riding...but that's a whole other discussion. :)

cyclists will still use mobile phones (lights, gamins, etc) though. not necessarily while peddling.

I spent £45 on a pair of gore gloves earlier this winter and my fingers still hurt in the cold (last night for example) so i'd certainly be up for getting a pair of heated gloves next winter, especially if they are slightly more bike friendly.

for me they'd need to be waterproof, have a snot patch, be reflective and have the kind of sleeve / cuff thing discussed above so there wouldn't be a naked spot for the cold to get in. that's all a winter glove needs to do to tick my boxes. being able to turn them off easily would also be an advantage. Obviously the smaller the battery bit the better. I'm sure it would be miles more expensive but something small, flat and light like a phone battery would be preferable to AAs.

I'm also now going to get me some heated inner soles after having some real problems (infected chilblains in case anyone wants a grim image) with my toes this winter.

i always liked the idea of these rather than using batterys use a sustainable source of fuel and quite an elegant solution

a pocket on the back of the gloves into which something like this could be slotter

a thought on the warming issue ... if there was one ?

@scott's reply about padding. Yeah, granted some don;t like padding... I was not really saying 'get loads of padding' so much as saying 'make a pressure relieving area where the nerves are by padding where the nerves aren't, making those the contact points, and relieving any pressure on the nerve-areas.

Another suggestion of mine is to make the thumbs a tiny fraction longer...i think almost no gloves allow for the way a thumb pulls tight when your hands are against the grips/hoods. It can often make quite a difference to whether you get cold thumbs or not.

This is a really good point, something about the amount of pressure on the thumb pads means the thumb of most gloves isn't long enough.

I like the silver-tip idea, just for aswering your phone or what have you.

i always liked the idea of these rather than using batterys use a sustainable source of fuel and quite an elegant solution

a pocket on the back of the gloves into which something like this could be slotter

a thought on the warming issue ... if there was one ?

Only problem with that Dicki is that it will only heat one area and means that area will be uncomfortable too...the gloves have elements in each finger and the back of the hand which don't restrict movement.
The current lithium battery packs are only half an inch thick by two inch by two and a half inch so aren't that cumbersome.
They can be recharged too which obviously uses electricity but is better than using disposable batteries.

oh and Dicki...the specialised radiant has a hand warmer pocket on the back if that's any use to you?

I looked at buying a pair of those Blazewear earlier in the month but couldn't find them in stock anywhere. I like the idea of the terry cloth and reflective bits to make it more cycling friendly.

I ended up buying a pair of Hestra gloves that were targetted at arctic explorers apparently. They seem to do the job okay but I still have to wear liners on the really cold rides. I'd love good heated gloves.