I couldn’t understand why my wife insisted I rode to Ipswich, and back, in the pouring rain.
It turned out she too had read about heated gloves in our newsletter. Without my knowing, she’d arranged with Orwell to buy me my choice of heated gloves for Christmas.
I went with a pair of Gerbing gloves, leaders in heated clothing.
I chose XRL Heated MicroWirePRO gloves, priced £169.99. They are the longer-cuffed, gauntlet version of the XR gloves. Both are heated direct from the bike but the XRL gloves can also use an optional one, two or three-amp rechargeable lithium battery pack for up to eight hours of heat. This is ideal if you have more than one bike or want to wear them to keep your hands warm at an outdoor event.
I have Oxford heated grips, which take the edge off cold hands, but can’t keep the end of fingers and back of hands warm on long rides. This is where heated gloves are a winter winner.
As I said earlier, it was pouring with rain that day, about 5C and windy, and 55 miles later my hands were warm and dry.
The gloves have three heat settings – 33%, 66% and 100% - selected from a push button on the cuff and easy to change on the move. I didn’t need more than the middle setting. Pretty impressive given the exterior of the gloves were very wet and cold when I got home.
The split Y-lead running to each glove goes down the sleeves of your jacket and plugs into the connector conveniently protruding from under the tank so it can be tucked out of sight in summer.
The heating elements have a lifetime warranty while the Thinsulate insulation and brushed lining allow them to be worn as ordinary gloves when conditions are warmer.
The gloves also have a visor wiper and touchscreen pad on the index finger so you can still operate a sat-nav.
See our full range of gloves at orwell.co.uk/shop