The quality of materials and construction should always be a priority.Ĭuffs: Look for long cuffs on gloves, too. The best heated gloves are made of a range of fabrics – both traditional leather and modern composites – that combine comfort with armor. Protection: First and foremost, let's remember that the main job of any motorcycle glove is to protect your hands in the event of an accident.
Liners are perhaps better suited for use inside ski or winter sports gloves than for motorcyclists, but they are a consideration if you're particularly fond of your regular gloves. Liners can be extremely thin, but whether they fit depends on the type of glove you usually wear.
Heated glove liners: These are designed to fit inside your existing gloves. Some long-distance riders love them, but most riders prefer gloves. You also need to remove mittens to do anything that requires any dexterity. However, many riders find mittens cumbersome, particularly riders who normally only use a couple of fingers on the brake or clutch lever. Heated motorcycle mittens: The advantage with mittens is that they keep four fingers together, which means body heat is shared and your fingers stay warmer longer. Prices are comparable to any premium-quality motorcycle glove.īottom line: If you have to ride in situations where your hands will get cold and stay cold for extended periods, heated motorcycle gloves will keep you warm and alert, You're not just more comfortable, you're better able to cope with the conditions. Heated motorcycle gloves are bulkier than some lightweight summer or racing gloves, but micro-thin cables, heating elements woven into the fabric, and the fact that they need less insulation means most heated motorcycle gloves are no bulkier than unheated winter gloves. Most heated gloves are no thicker than most unheated gloves. While modern unheated winter gloves can be very good in wet weather and offer good protection from the cold on short trips, eventually the chill will get through them.
Your hands will get cold in unheated gloves. Quality heated gloves of this type should warm your hands adequately for at least several hours at a time, and do you really want to be riding longer than that in subzero temperatures? It means consistent warmth and comfort no matter how far you ride.Ĭordless battery power is improving all the time. After that, plugging yourself in is no more difficult than plugging in a navigation system. Textiles like Gore-Tex and Thinsulate provide high levels of weather protection and insulation without the need for heating elements.īottom line: If you only take short trips, or if you have the luxury of choosing whether to ride your bike or not, high-quality unheated winter gloves are perhaps the more convenient choice.įitting the cabling for 12-volt heated gloves is a one-off task. The run times of batteries are often criticized, or the batteries don't produce sufficient heat, or they only hold enough charge to warm the gloves for a couple of hours. Though the wiring is basic, some riders simply don't like this kind of complexity or the idea that they’re somehow attached to the bike.īatteries: The issue with small lithium-ion batteries in the gloves themselves is perhaps more mental than physical, but that doesn't lessen the impact. This means either a cable or batteries.Ĭable: The cable attaches to your 12-volt motorcycle battery and has to run from your bike, up through your jacket, and into your gloves. Whether motorcyclists need heated gloves is an argument that's been going on since heated gloves were first introduced, and it doesn't show any signs of letting up! No wonder your hands get cold! Key considerations If it's only 20☏, then at 55 mph it feels like -3☏. If it's 30☏ outside and you ride at 55 mph, windchill means it actually feels like 11☏.