Cool Wings - product review

[bmccasland]

To me an 80 degree ride would be a COOL ride, or a right-comfortable-ride. What I want to know is will they do me much good in a 95 degree ride with high humidity? I can see the logic of keeping the blaring sun off your skin, but I really don't want to be the experimental guinne pig for high temp high humidity.

I've been thinking the opposite direction, and wondering about the mesh jerseys that are in the Terry catalogue.

[Blueberry]

To me an 80 degree ride would be a COOL ride, or a right-comfortable-ride. What I want to know is will they do me much good in a 95 degree ride with high humidity? I can see the logic of keeping the blaring sun off your skin, but I really don't want to be the experimental guinne pig for high temp high humidity.

They did for me. The MS ride last year was about a 105 degree heat index (actual temp about 95). I don't know that I was cooler than others, but I certainly wasn't hotter. I rode the next day without them (since they could have walked on their own - they do tend to stink), and think I was hotter.

CA

[OakLeaf]

Yes, 80 degrees really wasn't the temperature I had in mind when I ordered these, it's just as warm as it's been lately. Not really being acclimated to the heat, it felt pretty warm. And as I said, I was sick of having the things sitting unused in my cycling pack!

[witeowl]

OK, I got mine, and I'm a bit disappointed. First, I listened to those who said that their cooler was too small, so I went ahead and listened to my gut and ordered a large (my measurements said a medium). They fit well.

93 degrees today, so it seemed a good time to try them. I put them on and instantly felt hotter; kind of stifling. I figured that maybe they'd work better when on the move. The stifling feeling stuck with me, even when coasting downhill. In fact, I was noticing that I could feel the breeze through my jersey better than through the coolers! Finally, I took them off and felt instantly cooler. Not a lot cooler, but enough. It was wonderful to feel the wind on my arms again.

Here's my hypothesis: I live in the desert. Any sweat on me is nearly instantly evaporated (well, until I really start sweating, of course), so my body can keep itself pretty cool despite the heat. (The benefit behind the old cliche of, "Yes, but it's a dry heat.) So, the way I figure it is this: In the low humidity, my body is better able to cool itself down. In higher humidity areas, the humidity is a detriment, and the arm coolers help overcome that problem. But here in the desert, they don't help at all. That's my hypothesis, anyway.

In any case, I'm stuck figuring out what to do with these things. TE doesn't give refunds for "useless in my region", so I wonder if De Soto would be willing to give a refund. I could hold on to them for any future trips to higher humidity areas... Oh well, live and learn.

Glad they work for the many of you who love them!

[uforgot]

Witeowl - I live in high humidity and thought I was nuts. I had the same experience as you. I felt so much better when I took them off. I have had them for quite a while, way before this thread even started. Not sure what the difference is, but the things were just miserable on me, and I tried them several times in different situations, I even tried them when I mowed the grass on the riding lawnmower.

They do fit nicely and don't slide down though.

[OakLeaf]

I will say that once they become waterlogged, either by sweat or by rain, they're no longer effective. From that, I'm pretty much convinced that they work by increasing airflow.

I'm still bemused by the way that the gripper is bigger than the sleeve part, though. Maybe I just got a defective pair.

[witeowl]

@uforgot: Well, it blows my hypothesis out of the water, but I guess it's worth something that I'm not the only person they don't work for. I wonder why we're different? Shame it took $30.00 to find out. I wonder how they'd do as lightweight arm warmers???

@OakLeaf: Saturation definitely wasn't a problem. Since there's virtually no humidity here, it takes a lot before I'm dripping sweat, and I can't recall ever sweating so much that my arms were damp here in the desert. (In higher humidity areas like San Diego, yes, but not here in the desert.) About the gripper: I'd suspect a defective pair. The top part for me is just a natural finish to the shape, which does slowly increase from the wrist up. It's not significantly bigger.