09 March 2010

Glove story: Warm hands in winter


Just in time for the finish of the coldest English winter since blogging began comes a new product to keep cyclists’ hands warm.

The BarBra (right) from Canada is the bike version of those grand muffs used by motorcyclists - a snip at £30, including shipment by dogsled from the Yukon.

It isn't the only way to keep hands warm. The ETA article on it helpfully suggests an alternative to the BarBra: heated gloves.

But what other, more practical, ways are there for cyclists to keep hands warm in freezing weather? Here’s some Real Cycling suggestions.

• Vigorous hand exercises to buses and taxis that cut you up

• Keep hands in pockets at all times

• Stay close behind lorries to get benefit of warm exhaust fumes

• Make fire of fixed penalty notices you got for pavement cycling

• Carry mug of tea in each hand

• Stay in bed

5 comments:

  1. The last suggestion sounds the most useful to me. :-) Thank god it never gets that cold here that you would need one of those muffs. There are not very aero.

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  2. Cover hands with grease from chain.

    Extend handlebars so that they reach inside your coat.

    Wrap hands with used inner tubes.

    Encase hands in actual bra.

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  3. Thirty quid!

    Get a pair of those tiny 'magic gloves' from a pound shop and wear them under your normal gloves. Works for me.

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  4. I thought that was why people rode around with phones against their face...?

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  5. Luckily I was unemployed for most of the winter, so I can testify that the last solution works well.

    I have also attempted to warm myself at the exhaust grill of buses-- unfortunately it doesn't seem to work that well. Or at least, I don't remember any occasions when it worked well.

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