Handske's New Winter Gloves Are A Winner

 

By Alan Snel of Bicycle Stories and author of Bicycle Man the book 

It's the second week of February and depending where you are bicycling you will need a top pair of gloves to keep your fingers warm while also exhibiting a quality of nimbleness to change gears and apply the brakes.

I'm happy to say I have found gloves that I will use for every bike ride when there's a chill in the air, which happens here in the western suburbs of Las Vegas near Red Rock Canyon where morning temperatures are routinely in the high 30s during the winter months.

The company is Handske and the El Paso, Texas-based operation has come out with an outstanding new cold weather glove that retails for $54.99 -- a $5 increase over a previous winter model. But keep in mind the new glove has an updated water resistant top fabric. 

I like the gloves a lot. First, the design is attractive and my hands were warm when I used them for an early morning walk. Later in the day when I was cycling, the fingers were nimble as I easily shifted gears on my road bicycle on the famed Red Rock Loop outside Las Vegas.

None of Handske's gloves use velcro and the wrist cuff makes a tight seal to not allow any cold air to creep in.

It's a tight fit, but only at the beginning. Owner Sem Gallegos recommends stretching the cuff and I found as I wore the glove throughout the day it did allow for a more elastic touch to slide the hand in while following up with a nice tight seal.

Here's a Q and A I had with Sem:

Bicycle Stories: What was the philosophy of not using a velcro wrist band?

Sem Gallegos: We are not a fan of velcro, it wear fast and no longer functions correctly, secondly when washing with like items, it gets stuck to other clothing and can damage it. And lastly, but using neoprene cuffs, the is just the right amount of stretch to fit nice and snug over wrist, and this material does not wear to the point that it looses its dexterity. Running it as skin tight as possible traps more heat. Also some velcro closure are either too bulky or wrongly placed, that it causes discomfort in the wrist.

Bicycle Stories: There is nice padding in the palm. Is it similar to the padding of your summer gloves?

Sem Gallegos: The padding is similar but since the winter glove is heavier weight, the padding is also slightly thicker.

 

Bicycle Stories: With a nice snug wrist fit, how did you come up with the proper sizes for people with so much variance in wrist sizes?

Sem Gallegos: The fit is based on the on a research and feedback from people using other brands. Taking all that information we apply it to our philosophy of how we think a glove should fit for the ultimate comfort and performance. Along with this, constructing using the correct materials to allow some stretch for accommodating as many different sizes as possible in our 5 size offering. 

Specifically to the cuff, we chose neoprene to allow stretch while maintaining its dexterity. After a few uses the gloves will stretch so this I why I encourage people to stick with the typically size over upsizing even when it fits snug on the first try. I also recommend that user do some pre stretching if they prefer the same fit of several uses on the first try. How? Warming up the neoprene by the means of steam or some warm water to soften the glove, and put the gloves on for about 5 min to stretch them (mold to you hand).

 

Bicycle Stories: The gloves are so light, yet so wind resistant. How did you make the gloves this light?

Sem Gallegos: Hand and finger dexterity is the top priority. So the challenge was making a glove thin enough to still offer bar and shift lever feedback but not too much that it compromises warmth. I fell we accomplished that simply by using the correct type of materials and fabrics to avoid having to build a bulk glove. Keep in mind these gloves are not mad for deep Fargo North Dakota winter, but it does cover the bases for a lot of regions that have spells of cold weather and riding outside is still an option. 

Bicycle Stories: What it is your glove company like and do you sell other products?

Sem Gallegos: We launch in October of 2017 initially on Kickstarter and since then have been focusing on perfecting the glove, while adding cycling apparel from top to bottom, except socks! And this year in an effort to showcase our artists, we launch a custom paint program for cycling shoes, and sunglasses. Now we don’t manufacture our own shoes (yet) but we source shoes from all the trusted major brands. Sunglasses we do manufacture, and you can request the raw color white, choose for our seasonal designs, or from a full custom design (coming spring 2022).  Lastly! We love art so our designs are not just plug and play, we take pride in creating an artistic image and story from the view of the artist themselves.