Living in Colorado, I cycle year-round and only stay off the roads when it's too icy. Otherwise, I am on my bike. My annual cycling mileage hovers around 7,000 miles/year. Protecting fingers and toes is serious business. To deal with sub-freezing temperatures (32ºF/0ºC) prior to this, I was wearing Pearl Izumi Winter Gloves, and, if super cold, I was also using Rock Bros. Bar Mitts. The bar mitts were effective, but there are some limitations with the way your hands are "captive" in the bar mitts. The PI gloves by themselves were only good on their own down to about 40ºF for more than an hour, so I needed something to keep my fingers warm for more than an hour when temps fall below freezing w/o adding the bar mitts. I had experience with SealSkinz when my buddy bought me some of their shoe covers in 2019, before we, self-supported, circumnavigated the Netherlands. They were the best fitting, most waterproof shoe covers I had ever had, and I wore the heck out of them. So when I saw the solid reviews on these gloves, and they were less than $100, I had to try. First the BAD - they have zero touch capability so forget about grabbing and operating your phone at a stoplight, or, even worse, swiping across your Garmin screen to change views. Nope, not going to work anything of the sort. Also, the fingers of the gloves that fit me are a bit long and floppy, longer than they need to be. But it's said a looser fit like this helps keep fingers warmer than if they fit tightly. The long fingertips make it a bit tricky to grab and operate a zipper, or to grab and pull a sleeve cuff after you put on your second glove. Now the GOOD - they are warm, warm warm, and it's a first for me, after trying other glove options. It's my first split-finger glove I have ever tried, to be fair, so I suspect some of it has to do with the clever design. I've read split-finger or lobster-styles are a step up from traditional 5-finger gloves. I just got these in late 2021 and have ridden with them down to 20ºF for 90 mins ... my fingertips caught a slight chill after 30mins, but this is such a BIG step up from my other gloves, where I lost all fingertip feeling after 15mins in the same temperatures. I found shifting and braking to be normal and natural, with no issues (my winter bike is Shimano 105 mechanical). I was worried about this and it turned out to be a non-issue. Nicely done, SealSkinz.
