Cold-weather cycling can be every bit as pleasurable as the fair-weather counterpart, but nothing can bring a winter ride to an end faster than numb hands. Here are some strategies to help avoid that.

Who likes bicycling with cold hands? Not me, and not you either, I’d be willing to bet. Not only can cold hands be painful, but they are unresponsive. Working shifters and brakes when fingers are numb is dangerous. But finding a way to keep hands and fingers warm and supple on cold rides isn’t as easy as simply keeping them warm. Warmth and dexterity must be reconciled. Mittens are the enemy of dexterity, while gloves don’t always manage to keep the hands warm in slicing cold winds. I’ve always favored gloves, but they’re not as warm as mittens. There’s more. A fabric’s ability to keep hands warm is a function of the thickness of insulation, yet if insulation is too thick, dexterity is hampered and it’s hard to get a solid grip on the bars.

So clothing hands for cold weather is a trade-off. What’s it to be, gloves or mittens? That depends. I prefer insulated fleece gloves for sub-freezing conditions…

…though I’ll use mittens on my mountain bike, where I don’t require the same fine dexterity to operate the grip-shifters. If the gloves don’t keep my hands warm, I wear windstopper gloves as liners inside the fleece gloves. Here are the “naked” windstopper gloves:

They don’t appeal to you? Then how about a middle way? Lobster mitts provide the best of both gloves and mittens. Your index and middle fingers slip down into one wide slot, and ring and pinkie fingers slip into a second wide slot — that’s a picture of Farwell’s lobster mitt at the head of the article. They’re windproof and fleece-lined, which makes them good on their own in cool conditions, and for colder weather, a wool or fleece liner glove improves insulation.

The downside? You can’t wear mittens inside lobster gloves, and even more important, finding reasonably priced lobster mitts has become difficult. But keep your eyes peeled. I got a pair of unlined lobster mitts for less than USD15 on sale through Nashbar Bike a few years ago. They’re lightweight, windproof, and can be tucked into a corner of my handlebar bag, right next to toe-warmers, just in case I need them.

The bottom line? Numb of painful hands can ruin a cold-weather bike ride, so it pays to give plenty of attention to keeping them warm. With a mix of insulating and wind-stopping layers, it’s possible to find a solution for every condition. Your hands and fingers will thank you.

This article is an update of one originally published on 31 December 2009.

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