Newbies--wear gloves!

[TrekTheKaty]

The only problem I had riding last winter was my hands getting too cold. I think I had the beginning of frost bite once! So, no expense spared--I just bought the Phantom Gloves by Gore (I got them from Terry--www.terrybicycles.com/detail.html?item_no=1352&c=Accessories).

We've had a few 45 degree mornings here, and they're great! If I could just figure out how to buckle/unbuckle my helmet and zip/unzip my jacket with gloves on

[RoadRaven]

I don't have specific recomendations, WildHawk, but like CunninghamAir, my partner's hands get frizzed on frosty mornings.

Sometimes when he knows his gloves wont be enough, he wears bread-bags over his hands gloves while he descends the 10kms down to sea-level and into sunshine (much of that 10kms gets no or little sun during winter).

[vinbek]

I wear gloves to protect my hands, to change flats and to wipe my nose.
If you have ever changed a flat, the last bit of tire to push back onto the rim, needs a good stiff push with the palm of the hand. I ride 20cm tires and the bead is very tight on the tire. I could not get my tire back on the rim without the use of the palms of my hands. And the terry at the thumb is for wiping the nose - which I need in cold weather.

[TrekTheKaty]

Oh, yeah! I forgot--"and to wipe your nose!"

[CommuterChick]

I went to an REI seminar the other night about women and bikes, and the pro rider's constant mantra (other than clean your bike) was WearGloves WearGloves WearGloves , fullfingered only. Everything she demo-ed about repairs came with "see? aren't you glad you're wearing gloves?" And now with this thread about accidents I'm rethinking my approach.

But for those of us who are saving pennies or still shopping, my stay-warm-in-winter fix with what I have on hand is

1. light glove liners, I've had them for years for xcountry skiing
2. fingerless padded bike gloves over the liners
3. if it's really cold I then put something like a good waterresistant glove (or even mitten would work!) over that. I now have some Mountain Hardwear windstopper gloves that I use here and for skiing that are perfect.

In Colorado I like this approach because at 7am I may need this, along with tights and wool socks, but at 4:30 I may need shorts and a T. So my gloves come in layers too.

But there's probably a flaw here for the accident concern, so I will be looking for other gloves as well, there are Christmas wish lists after all.