Cool Wings - product review

[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.

[OakLeaf]

@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.

That's what I mean, though - if humidity is so low that your sweat is already evaporating as fast as you can sweat, then increasing air flow won't increase evaporation, or cooling.


ETA - just out of curiosity, because mine are wearable, but if they're defective I think I'll exchange them: survey for anyone with the arm coolers - how much bigger is your bicep than your upper arm where the grippers are supposed to ride? As well as I can measure myself (in approximate riding position, with some tension in the bicep but not a lot), it should only be 6-7 mm.

[witeowl]

That's what I mean, though - if humidity is so low that your sweat is already evaporating as fast as you can sweat, then increasing air flow won't increase evaporation, or cooling.

Right, that's exactly what I was trying to say with my "doesn't work in the desert" hypothesis. But then uforgot shattered that.

[Biciclista]

except it is also reflecting the sun OFF of your skin which contributes to your feelings of comfort.

[Fredwina]

I also have the Arm Coolers live in the desert!
I'm going with the air flow theory. when I'm moving, they are noticeably cooler. Standing around, I want to peel them off right away!
Have the leg coolers, but haven't tried them, since my recumbent wants to give me a permanent chainring 'tat

[supercutie]

I just bought the De Soto Cool Wings - it was either Cool Wings or the Canari Cool Max Long sleeve jersey - but I decided the wings would give me more options, in the event I wanted to lose the extra layer I could just stuff it in a pocket. Plus the Bolero styling looked a lot more comfortable than the arm tube styling of Arm Coolers.
I'm in southern AZ where the temps are a 'chilly' 80 over night and 100-107 daytime, plus it's Monsoon Season so we have humidity ( 20-35%). When I got the Cool Wings I modeled them for my husband, we were standing outside at the time (106 in the shade), and as soon as I put them on they cooled my arm. (even my husband, who had to try them too, noticed a difference) I wore them this past Sunday on a 36 mile ride that took us 3 hours to complete, hole in tire = changing tube and repairing tire. They WORKED! The only time I thought they might not be 'all that' was while climbing a challenging hill in open desert. But once I was over the strenuous bit I was fine and figured I'd be feeling the heat no mater what I wore.
As for size... I decided on a medium. I have tiny wrists and the well developed upper arms of a 47 yr old woman who is also living with the reality of saggage.
I wore the Wings over a sleeveless jersey and had no issues with gaping at all. I did have a bit of skin showing at the glove line but that is only because I can't stand anything around that part of my wrists. All in all, a hit. Now I'm thinking about that Canari jersey again... any input on that?