Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
I'm hardly breaking new ground here by recommending the Pearl Izumi AmFib Lobster Glove. Talk to most cyclists who've been riding in seriously cold weather for a long time and these will come up. The reason they are so well known and loved comes down to what it takes to keep you warm. You can make exceptionally warm five-finger gloves but after a certain point, the price starts to really jump. As for how well they last, mine still look nearly new going into their second winter season. I like that they are washable (I can't stand stinky gloves and the resultant stinky hands), so I wash them fairly regularly on a delicate wash. When I'm in the drops I'm definitely a two fingers on the bars, two fingers tugging the brakes kinda guy, and asking around, I'm not alone, so if you're the same then transitioning to using just an index finger might be a stretch. Part of what I like is that they are warm and comfortable. I love the way Sportful adds so much silicone grip to the palms of their gloves. A big consideration though is that all gloves fail. Coming home with four or five pairs of bulky gloves that are soaking wet is a hassle. You also have to own them and good gloves aren't cheap. Just so I'm clear though, the Sportful lobster gloves still leak. For some reason Sportful didn't tape all the seams and water will work its way through. The advantage is that even when water comes through, there's no insulation to hold that water. Of course that also points to the other negative of the Sportful Lobster gloves, you will need another layer inside of them.
These gloves are very light in weight and offer great warmth while riding on cold nights and mornings. The gloves are sealed very well with neoprene cuffs and Velcro straps to keep the wind and water outside. Lobster gloves” is actually a trademark of Pearl Izumi. That’s why you don’t see many others advertised as lobster gloves. Typically, they are called split-finger mittens, which is a generic term.Too loose or too tight gloves can be uncomfortable and the material can bunch up. This can cause your problems while riding and will change the feel of wearing a glove. On dry winter days, I find these really effective in keeping my hands warm, happily managing fairly long rides (up to 2.5 hours). I wore them this weekend (~5-7 degrees C) and my hands overheated! The Eddie Bauer Guide Pro Smart heated gloves aren't a cycling specific pair. Don't let that dissuade you though. The Guide Pro Smart heated glove is a serious deep winter option even without the heating elements so there's a good amount of padding on your hand anyway. I do wonder if these were designed by cyclists if someone might have tried to slim them down a bit but it’s not a terrible trade off given the use. More importantly, these gloves work better than any other set of heated gloves I've tested.
Assos is second to market with a game changing product for those who ride in cold rain. Given that no glove is truly waterproof, the best you can hope for is warm and wet. Neoprene gloves will keep you warm even when wet but if the outside air is too cold then they need protection. A shell glove provides that protection but keep in mind, you won't be able to use a shell on its own. Not only would it not provide much warmth but the Assos RSR Thermo rain shell gloves use a five finger (standard glove) design that's sized perfectly to fit over the top of standard gloves in the same size. Without something as a liner, you'll swim in these gloves. Winter cycling gloves, such as pogies or split-finger mittens (like Pearl Izumi’s lobster gloves), take the dexterity offered by typical gloves and combine it with the warmth offered by mittens, and the result is something that looks like a lobster’s claw. But the real benefit is how the gloves keep your fingers close for warmth but still give you some level of dexterity (for braking, shifting, etc.). The inner doesn't want to come out with your fingers when removing the gloves, either, which is a trait similar gloves can often like to annoy you with. Warm winter riding gloves: The Planet Bike borealis gloves cover three seasons in one glove. Ride All winter, early spring, and late fall with a weather resistant outer shell over top of your fleece gloves.
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Polyester liner enhances warmth and repels water to keep you dry and comfortable in hostile conditions. There's another thing to consider about these gloves though. If you ride where it rains and it's near freezing, like it is most of the winter in the US Pacific Northwest, then the Castelli Diluvio gloves are the other half of your winter riding system. Pair these with one of the shell options here and you can happily ride all day in heavy rain and temperatures just above freezing. With the shell protecting these from the wind and cold air, your body can heat up the water exactly the way neoprene gloves work in warmer weather. You'll be wet but warm and you won't need to change gloves every few hours. It's a serious game changing option. I didn't phrase the question asking "do you need more than one pair of gloves for winter riding?" That's because you absolutely do, the question is only how many do you need? You could think about it from the point of view of changing conditions. The longer you ride in the winter the more gloves you are going to add to your collection. Throughout the winter the temperature changes a lot and there are gloves available for very small differences. From this point of view, most people will want something from the early season section plus something from the all-around section. Rain and deep winter gloves are more specialised, so you’ll have to decide if you are willing to ride in that kind of weather.
On a road bike, in most circumstances, the GripGrab gloves are perfectly fine; there's a little bit of relearning to do as hand dexterity is obviously compromised with your fingers being both separated and bunched together, and it might feel a little odd initially, but you get used to it. Lobster gloves keep the fingers together to enanche warmth. They are not the most comfortable but can be lifesaving in colder climates. Wind and Waterproof fabric are designed with a perforated internal membrane that keeps the elements on the edge. Windproof fabrics are designed according to the volume of air passing through 1spm of the fabric. Castelli often makes use of Gore-tex fabrics and then builds products that are similar to Gore Cycling but with a performance twist. That is the case here as well and the Castelli Espresso GT gloves use a traditional waterproof Gore membrane just like the Gore C5 gloves. The two gloves also share similarities in weight and use but Castelli focuses on hard and fast performance riding.Some lobster cycling gloves keep index and middle finger together separated from ring and pinky, which are also together, another type keeps the index alon and the remaining three fingers together – the choice between these two types depends on the type of handlebar and brakes you are using: for drop bars you’ll need the first type, while the second version is perfect for flat bars. Mittens/Mitts Another great attribute is the accuracy of the fit. I frequently have trouble with the fit of gloves. I'm perpetually right on the line between small and medium and tend to have to use a medium even though it's a bit big. Pearl Izumi gets the medium just right and the fit feels perfect. Although there is some inherent leeway in the design, my fingers come right out to where you’d expect and there’s no tightness between the thumb and forefinger. Everybody will need something different when it comes to fit but these are true to size as compared to the fit guide. I wore them on Tuesday and at the end my hands were really wet, not that it was raining but because they don't appear to be breathable.
These aren't bargain basement pricing but there's nothing warmer at this price level. Pearl Izumi doesn't cut corners to get there either. The lobster glove design pairs your first two fingers and your last two fingers for warmth at a much lower price. It's still easy enough to handle braking and shifting, and there's even touchscreen compatibility, but it does require a little bit more thinking about it at first.. While lobster gloves are a cross between normal gloves and mittens, the new Pearl Izumi Inferno gloves are a cross between lobster gloves and regular gloves! You can see the 2-finger design below: With the mercury hovering between 10 and 3 degrees, my hands felt perfectly snug and temperate. Cold arctic winds nagging at the outer fibres never gave rise to chill, or sogginess at the other extreme. Persistent showery rain also had little effect, and formative impressions were generally favourable. I've ridden 40 minutes or so in some persistent rain and though the outer shell turned soggy, the inner remained dry to touch. The sensible cuff design hasn't permitted any to be blown inside either.But my tatty flat-barred town bike with old rim brakes definitely needs a lot more ooomf on the levers than one finger can provide, and it's at least a two-finger stopping machine, so having to brake with all four fingers of the GripGrab gloves felt very strange and having just a thumb wrapped round the bar certainly made control nervous. Padding on cycling gloves can sometimes create pressure points. Pearl Izumi does a good job of keeping it low enough profile that it's unobtrusive but nice to have (Image credit: Josh Ross) Verdict
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