Ask Bostonist: Gloves For Winter Bicycling

Thanks for the tips on biking in the winter in boston. I'm outfitting myself with gear, but my gloves for biking are sub-par...do you have any suggestions?

Bostonist has often found that our hands and feet are the weak points in our winter biking preparation: There are a million coat options, many of them good, and practically everything these days is made of some space-age polymer that wicks sweat, traps heat, and serves up delicious piña coladas. But extremities need to be kept warm and dry and not be so swaddled in fabric that important tasks (like walking and nose-picking) are impeded. This is especially so of the hands, and especially when cycling: Dexterity is needed for applying brakes, digging in pockets for keys to operate our lock, turning up the volume on our iPod to drown out the shouts of angry motorists, making cell phone calls, and more. The problem is that there is an inverse relationship between the warmth provided by gloves and the ability they allow to move fingers: Mittens are warmest, but not so good for playing the flute; close-fitting cloth gloves are best for handling change and picking one's nose, but aren't much warmer than no gloves at all. As best Bostonist can tell, there are two good solutions to this problem: Two layers of hand protection (like this), and "lobster" gloves (like these).

Each of these methods has its advantages: The two-layer approach, which Bostonist currently favors, is warmer and provides more options: When mornings are punishingly cold but temperatures rise significantly during the day, two layers can give way to one. Additionally, a close-fitting liner is usually better for handling small things than the fat fingers of the lobster glove. The only problem is that you always have to take off the outer glove before handling things. The lobster gloves, though less versatile, have the advantage of simplicity: One layer means less fumbling with an outer layer, less stuff to lose, and less bulkiness. Bostonist has tried both, and we think the key is to make sure the gloves you buy are (a) waterproof and (b) long enough that when you stick your arms forward to grip your bicycle's handlebars, your tender wrists won't be exposed to the elements. We used to own the lobster gloves by Pearl Izumi and were quite satisfied with them. Most area bike stores carry them (or you could go with the military suplus "trigger finger" style). We currently have fleece glove liners made by Burton and waterproof shell gloves made by DaKine. Frankly, though, the brand hardly matters - we have the gloves we have now because they were on sale at Ski Market. We've used cotton work gloves as liners with excellent results, and those can be found at any drug or hardware store.