Cold Weather Glove Guide
It’s common wisdom among motorcyclists that when the temperatures drop, the hands—always, the hands—are the first thing to go. But with the right gear, the ride doesn’t have to end.
We’ve got a whole gamut of winter glove options to keep you riding year-round, but finding the right solution first requires understanding the problem at hand—Puns!—illustrated here by a wind-chill chart for motorcyclists.
At the store the process of picking out gloves starts with the same litany of qualifying questions: Where are you riding, and for how long at a stretch? How far into the “off season” are you looking to go? Do you have other lines of defense on your bike, like heated grips, or hand guards? What's your experience riding in cold weather? And, ultimately, what’s your personal pain threshold? Because the rider who grew up skiing in New England is going to have a different take than the California transplant going into *her first East Coast winter.
That last part of the puzzle can be subjective and tricky to ascertain. But we've got options to cover any combination of answers.
Depending on what gear you're starting with and how far you're looking to go, we can start adding precious degrees of warmth with motorcycle specific glove liners (heated, or not), and from there we can bump up incrementally through a range of quality options from short-cuff
*We can say her because we stock a small collection of proven women's specific motorcycle gloves, and in our gen-pop glove catalog we support full size runs down to XS or XXS in certain Lee Parks models, and our own D3 Moto deerskin gloves—which are all great 3-season options; or more with the right liners and cockpit accessories..
// STAGE I: Conventional Cold-Weather Gloves
This trio of urban oriented cold-weather options from REVIT (above) offers a great range of choices for urban or lighter-duty around-town riding. They all follow a similar "form factor" -- with an armored shell, waterproof membrane, and, with the Hydra and Boxxers, a knit cuff to fit snugly under your jacket sleeve.
The overachiever of the bunch is the Kryptonite GTX 3, which sports a Gore-Tex waterproof credentials and 3M Thinsulate insulation. If you're looking for a more classic leather aesthetic, the Boxxer H20 is worth a look. And the best bang-for-your-buck option is the Hydra H2O line (also available in a women's version) which sports good insulation and a waterproof membrane in a comfortable textile chassis that won't break the bank.
Racer is a brand best known for their great-fitting summer street gloves, but the Austrian brand's Multi-Top WP Short is an all-star for crap-weather riding. It's got light insulation, a wind/waterproof membrane, and no shortage of protection, with carbon knuckle and finger-digit protection, and genuine Knox palm sliders.
Also worth considering: Alpinestars Corozal DS (now on closeout, pictured below). The short-cuff Corozal is a waterproof (by way of a Drystar membrane) and insulated sport option that's easy to get on and off and works with absolutely any jacket.
If you've got heated grips and hand guards, and/or Hippo Hands (see below) installed your bike, you might well be able to skate by with something a little lighter duty. Our favorite in-between option is the KLIM Vanguard Short.
This is, hands down, the warmest, comfiest, and most feature-riddled glove we've ever carried. And it better bet, as this behemoth is priced at a precious $250/pair. With a double-strap cuff, fleecey interior, and optimized 3M insulation to keep you warm without insulating you from the your own heated grips.
It's a lot of glove, but surprisingly easy to move with, unlike some less capable, bulkier options we've seen elsewhere on the market.
Throw in admittedly gimmicky windshield wipers and ice scrapers built into the fingertips, and KLIM's industry-leading touchscreen-friendly fingertips, and the Badlands GTX Long is pretty unbeatable. Unless you go up to a heated option. But with good hand guards and heated grips, heated gloves may not be necessary with these gloves on your hands.
// STAGE II: Nuclear Options
If you’ve found breaking point with conventional winter warfare, it’s time to consider the big guns: heated gear.
We break heated gloves down into two broad categories: "Wireless" 7-volt options, and more involved 12-volt options, that plug into a harness attached to your motorcycle's 12-volt charging system.
We have looked at all the various 7-Volt options available, and boiled it down to two quality options.
One from Klim in the Gore-Tex Hardanger gauntlet; and another in the Highway 21-brand Radiant Heated Gloves.
The Radiants have been longtime best-sellers, and promise 3M insulation, waterproofness (albeit lacking Gore-Tex guarantee), and a classic leather look available in black or brown.
TLDR: Go with the KLIM. Genuine Gore-Tex waterproofing, quality KLIM construction and product support *(even the batteries come with a 2-year guarantee), and now with a very reasonable price tag of $229.
The Klim Hardanger gloves use leather (goatskin) for reinforcement at the knuckles, the body of the chassis is made from a lighter weight textile material that's going to offer a bit more dexterity than the full-leather Radiant option.
If you like the leather look, the Radiant is the way to go. If you are going to prioritize dexterity; and want the security of a 2-year guarantee on the batteries (vs 1-year for the Radiants) -- then the KLIM's are worth the coin.
*We looked at (very briefly) and passed on Alpinestars nice looking but overly priced (almost $500) option. We also looked Gerbing's new 7V option, but found it to be extremely uncomfortable, with a ridiculously large battery.
Even without the power turned, on, these puppies are plenty warm on their own thanks to 3M Thinsulate insulation and a Hypora waterproof membrane layered under the full leather construction.
We've found the battery design to be diminutive enough to not cause discomfort, and extra batteries are readily available to extend your range.
We’ve also got 12-volt options that plug into your bike direcetly and se the excess electrical capacity being generated by your 12-volt charging system. Choose from the shorter 12-volt Gerbing Hero or the burlier Gerbing 12-volt Vanguard gauntlet.
Or new this year, the company now offers 12-Volt Glove LIners, too.
These 12-volt gloves won’t run out of power until you run out of gas, and they can be paired with heated jacket liners and controlled with a dual-zone thermostat to dial in just the right amount of heat to keep you comfortable and in control, no matter how low the mercury drops.
BONUS STAGE: // Glove Liners
We stock the full range of Klim glove liners, which are logically named for their corresponding level of thickness and girth, from 1.0 to 3.0. (EDIT: we dropped the 3.0's which were just too thick for most applications)
Besides the obvious benefit of adding a few degrees of warmth and insulation, glove liners can also actually make it easier to slip on your existing glove, which can get tricky when you’re dealing with any degree of moisture and a built-in waterproof membrane.
Besides the Klim Glove Liner 1.0, shown above, which is silky thin and presents the best chance of fitting inside your existing regular glove, we also stock its two older siblings.
The Glove Liner 2.0 features Polartec Power Stretch material that insulates the wearer from the cold while also dispersing moisture across its 4-way stretch fabric.
We also have some 12-volt glove liners the plug into an existing 12v heated jacket setup, or can be used on their own.
// STAGE III: Run for cover
One sure-fire way to evade the ugly numbers on the wind-chill chart is to evade the wind altogether. You can do this by leaving the bike in the garage and taking the car or train, or by investing in a surely dorky, but sure-to-work motorcycle hand cover.
We carry the full lineup of Hippo Hands products, which install quickly without tools, and shield your paws from the elements.
The new-and-improved "G3" version of the largest Alcan model now comes with a full sleeve gasket, even further blocking out the possibility of a backdraft.
Even the Hippo Hands Backcountry model, nominally designed for enduro or dirt bikes, will do a great job of blocking the wind, and comes in about 2/3 of the size of the winter-cheating Alcan model.
Depending on how far your'e riding, and whether your bike has heated grips, riding with Hippo Hands means you might even be able to get away with summer-weight gloves, even in the dead of winter.
Questions? Comments? Call or come by the store, use the chat widget on the right-hand side of this page to start a convo, and/or shoot us a note at support@uniongaragenyc.com.