Winter gloves/lobster claws

I have sensitive hands. I have a little arthritis and sometimes raynaud's syndrome. For every day, I usually wear only mittens, as gloves usually make my fingers colder by isolating them. I also can't take tight squeezing at my wrists.
I tried and took back a lightweight pair of cycling gloves that my fingers froze in at 40 degrees. I wanted lobster claws like my friend's Pearl's, but the new model of Pearl Izumis had tight wrists. for $60, I didn't want to start snipping the elastic. They sold me a different, not cycling specific pair but they have no padding in them and make shifting and braking difficult.
Any other brands anyone can recommend that are not wrist-tight, and don't impede handling? Thanks.

how about gore or louis garneau?

(my lobster claws are PI and not tight :confused: and VERY warm!)

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Originally Posted by bikerbarb

I have sensitive hands. I have a little arthritis and sometimes raynaud's syndrome. For every day, I usually wear only mittens, as gloves usually make my fingers colder by isolating them. I also can't take tight squeezing at my wrists.
I tried and took back a lightweight pair of cycling gloves that my fingers froze in at 40 degrees. I wanted lobster claws like my friend's Pearl's, but the new model of Pearl Izumis had tight wrists. for $60, I didn't want to start snipping the elastic. They sold me a different, not cycling specific pair but they have no padding in them and make shifting and braking difficult.
Any other brands anyone can recommend that are not wrist-tight, and don't impede handling? Thanks.

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bikerbarb - you could check out specialized. Someone on this forum recomended the BG gloves and I really like them the wrist area seems a lot more comfortable than my PI gloves. They have a winter range that you could check out. :)

Barb: you could also buy the non-cycling gloves you liked that kept your hands warm and then wear your padded cycling gloves under them. I actually have 4 pairs of winter cycling gloves, long-fingered Specialized BG gloves in a light-weight material, heavier Canari LF gloves, heavy wind/water proof Avenir gloves and the PI Lobster Claws. I only wore the Lobsters a couple of times last year coz they do keep my fingers warm. I also have a pair of polypro liners that I can wear under any of the gloves as I reach the "end" of their temp range. (I pick my clothing based on 10 degree increments so at the upper end it may be a tad warm, at the lower end it may be a tad cold but for the most part it's Just Right for that temp range.)

My friend's Pearl's weren't tight either, but an older model that had a sweater cuff on the bottom. I offered buy the new gloves and trade for his, but he said, "now that you point it out, these are tight on the wrist", and didn't go forthe deal.
I liked Craft Lobster thermal gloves I saw on the Terry site, which even had liners you could wear w/o the top,but alas, they are all out of anything bigger than a small.
The specialized look interesting, and the Louie Garneau, but I'm leery of ordering off the web w/o trying sizes. I have spent a small fortune sending things back. (I actually have a pair of shorts to send back to Terry that have an extra lump of chamois and look like something is sticking out of my behind?%*$!)
Anyway, I"m digressing.
I probably need to call around to my LBS and see what they have and try some. Or break down and pay for the Pearls and get out my seam ripper--which I hate to do to expensive gloves. sigh.

Just an idea but it might work. I came up with this solution for my friend Petunia when she had a bum thumb last winter, was wearing a brace and couldn't use gloves.

Try your regular cycling gloves, then over that a thin pair of mittens (or thick depending on what you can use) and then, a windproof shell mitten. If you look at many backcountry glove "systems" you see a laying approach just like we take with jerseys and jackets. They'll have a thin liner glove, a thicker glove or mitten, and then a windproof mitten-like shell. You may have to experiment to get the layers right and you probably want to size up to be sure nothing is too tight.

Also, I wonder. Does PI make a straight mitten? I know they made an uninsulated windproof glove last year.

do you think I'd be able to manipulate the shifters/brakes with mittens? I find the ski lobsters to be clumsy for shifting, which is why I'll probably take them back to REI.

I can't really comment on the bike gloves thing (just throw the woolly or fleece gloves on over my bike ones - what can I say, I'm cheap...), but in my snowboarding experience I found my mitts (which, alas, died due to the kind of significant structural integrity failings only brought on by old-age) were much easier for manipulating bindings and such than the gloves I replaced them with. Just less bulky I guess. The mitts were certainly much easier to get dry!

When I'm riding in the winter I'm usually riding either a MTB or hybrid with flat bars and barends so I can't comment on shifting and braking in mittens on drop bars. Braking is unaffected, and any shifting done with the thumb is fine. It can be difficult to fit the mittened fingers between the brake lever and bar to get to the other shifters so I usually let go with the opposite hand, reach under the bar and use the other thumb to do those shifts. Of course if it is slushy it is all irrelevant because the ice build up means you can't shift anyway. Who said you had to spend money to get a single speed bike?