Oxford Hothands v. Heated Grips

[Herb]

I have used Oxford Hothands overgrips for several years. They seem to work fine and were the right price, but I commute year around and the tips of my fingers are my achilles heel(what a metaphor!) on this 30 minute commute.

Anybody have experience comparing to real heated grips. Will real heated grips make much difference?

Also, I'm thinking about new winter gloves. Anybody try these or have another excellent idea. http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-gloves/hein-gericke-pathan-gloves/

I presently have Orina 118 gloves that are fine but as above... the finger tips still get numb on really cold mornings.

 

[RapidRobert]

I use a similar product on my NT, Herb - mine are Warm Wraps from Aerostich - and they work great, getting very HOT. On my palms. I, too, get cold fingers. Now prior to the NT I owned a couple of BMW's with factory heated grips, and while they worked well (their main advantage being that they were 2-stage operation, i.e. high and low settings, as opposed to full-blast-ON or off for the Warm Wraps) I got cold fingers from them also. Can't speak to the Honda heated grips, but I can't see how they'd be any more effective than the BMW product. I've found that if I relax my grip on the bars a bit, I can roll off my pams and wrap my fingers around the grips better. That helps a bit with the icy fingers.

You might try gloves lined with Outlast or a similar phase change material (PCM) to help distribute the heat in the gloves more evenly.

 

[karl]

Herb to get warm in cold weather you can't beat something like this:
http://motors.desc.shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=motorcycle%20handlebar%20mitts&_sacat=&_odkw=&_osacat=0&bkBtn=&LH_TitleDesc=1&_trksid=p4506.m270.l1313&_rdc=1&clk_rvr_id=267874816136
real men don't worry about looking dorky. Frostbite is not a joke. Any heat source works like a charm inside these. Ask the folks that ride snow machines.

 

[Rich]

Herb to get warm in cold weather you can't beat something like this:
http://motors.desc.shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=motorcycle%20handlebar%20mitts&_sacat=&_odkw=&_osacat=0&bkBtn=&LH_TitleDesc=1&_trksid=p4506.m270.l1313&_rdc=1&clk_rvr_id=267874816136
real men don't worry about looking dorky. Frostbite is not a joke. Any heat source works like a charm inside these. Ask the folks that ride snow machines.

Handlebar muffs can work fabulously. Years ago I used the original Hippo Hands on my V45 Sabre. Amazingly ugly, but having built-in semi-rigidity, vinyl covered and coming well up the forearm they were great, even to single-digit (Fahrenheit) temperatures. This in the days before heated grips and other riding gear. I used to use them even into the late spring in Colorado to protect my hands even from hailstones.

 

[Bear]

I saw those in the Dennis Kirk Catalog. So far I have been OK with silk glove liners. Thanks for the Heads Up on those. I guess that the only drawback is that it is hard to wave at people. The Honda Wind Deflectors also help.

 

[RedLdr1]

I guess that the only drawback is that it is hard to wave at people.

Many years ago I saw an article advising against using those covers due to the significantly increased risk of broken arms / wrists. The issue was they can "trap" your hands / lower arms in an accident keeping you with the bike or snowmobile... That made sense to me so I never used them when I lived in a colder climate.

Down here you would really look a tad "dorky", if not certifiably , with those on your bike...

 

[mikesim]

Regarding gloves, I bought a pair of Tourmaster Winter Elite II gloves and couldn't be happier with 'em. I've rode down to 27 degrees with 'em and my hands are still comfy. I may look into some silk liners for really cold weather tho'... I hear they are the "bees knees".

Mike

 

[Herb]

Karl,

When it comes to dorky practical.... I've pretty much done it all. I already have a pair of Polar Hands. http://data.cyclegiant.com/pgroups/3893_image1.gif
Here's my problem with them, they are not rigid and when I get to a certain speed they push back on the brake lever and engage the light. They do work, however, but having the brake light on makes me nervous.

Thanks Rapid Robert for the comparison of a hot hand over grip type product and regular heated grips. I suspect that I'll stick with the Hothands until they die. I'm now focused on better gloves and maybe figuring out some way to use my Polar hands so they don't press on the brake lever. Ideas?

 

[bicyclist]

Karl,


Here's my problem with them, they are not rigid and when I get to a certain speed they push back on the brake lever and engage the light.

Herb take a look at the Hippo Hands blog site. People have posted up pictures of various solutions to the problem.

http://hippohands.com/WordPress/

The idea is to put the muffs over a set of hand guards such as barkbusters or to make a simple bracket which will keep the muffs off the levers.

 

[Phil Tarman]

I've got an ST-riding buddy who has heated gloves and Hippo Hands. He says he's never had cold hands.

 

[charlie b]

I will be trying heated grips this winter. if they don't work it's heated gloves for me.

 

[karl]

There are two things going on here, Airflow cooling your fingers and circulation pumping warm blood out to your hands and feet. I have some TA50 trigger finger mitten shells that I wear over winter gloves to cut the breeze and use a heated vest with collar to keep my core temp up. Turning up your vest to keep your hands warm seems counter intuitive until you think about how your body cools itself.
A cold weather helmet liner and glove liners go a long way here as well. I like the hand guard under the mitts. Don't want to disable the brake lights.

Have done the frost nip number myself, still have all my fingers and toes and plan to keep them. The absence of heat can be a real *****. Be careful. My goal is to enjoy my ride. Whatever gear takes me there works for me.

 

[elizilla]

Heated grips are great, but they don't keep fingertips warm unless you can keep the wind off your hands. I tried heated gloves but found them too bulky - I am going to try again, though - there are a couple of brands of heated glove liners now, and paired with the right overgloves or mittens they may work out.

I've ridden a friend's bike with the hippo hands and they kept my hands warm but the fabric was always fighting to squeeze the brake lever and it made things awkward. When I had the DL1000 with its big handguards I always thought I should make some hippo hands that fit over them, but I never did. Maybe I'll get that done on the Super10. The other thing I would like to try, is to make some accessory shields for the handguards that would block more air.

But in practice, what I do is wear mittens. Heated grips work great with mittens. There are cheap abrasion resistant mittens at the ski stores, sold for using on rope tows.

 

[Herb]

Herb take a look at the Hippo Hands blog site. People have posted up pictures of various solutions to the problem.

http://hippohands.com/WordPress/

The idea is to put the muffs over a set of hand guards such as barkbusters or to make a simple bracket which will keep the muffs off the levers.

I'm going to try this solution to keep the muffs from depressing my brake lever. Seems like it should work the muffs with heated grips take care of my finger tips on my commute. I'll report back the result.

 

[Herb]

I'm going to try this solution to keep the muffs from depressing my brake lever. Seems like it should work the muffs with heated grips take care of my finger tips on my commute. I'll report back the result.

Whoops, here's the link. Thanks to our British friends.
http://www.deauvilleuk.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=12610&p=99393&hilit=Muffs#p99393