5 MIN READ
Which is the warmest; winter gloves, heated gloves or heated grips?
Quality winter motorcycle gloves are essential for maintaining control over your motorcycle. When are winter gloves no longer sufficient and when is it best to opt for heated gloves or heated grips? We've figured it out for you.
Warm hands have more control
During the winter months, it’s important to wear a good set of motorcycle gloves on the bike, as cold hands lose feeling and responsiveness. Heat retention is essential to maintain the feel with your bike and to be able to respond in time if necessary. Therefore, buy good winter motorcycle gloves from RAD that match your riding behavior to stay warm and safe during the winter.
Winter gloves and heated gloves or handlebar heating?
Depending on how sensitive you are to cold, you may want to follow the next rule. Warm motorcycle gloves protect your hands against the cold during 1 hour rides at temperatures between 0 °C and 5 °C. If you expose yourself to even lower temperatures or spend more time on the motorcycle, you lose heat and it is advised to wear heated motorcycle gloves or use handlebar heating.
Protection against wind and cold temperatures
Winter brings us cold wind, rain or snow. Every glove manufacturer knows it, and that’s why all winter gloves are waterproof. Wet hands cool down even faster and we obviously want to avoid that. Each brand has developed their own waterproof membrane or works together with Gore-Tex, the absolute pinnacle in waterproofing. Resistant to the highest water pressure and equipped with the best breathable properties so your hands don’t start sweating with additional cooling as a result. If you want the best winter gloves, opt for Gore-Tex winter gloves.
GORE-TEX® winter gloves with Gore™-Grip Technology
If you thought Gore-Tex gloves couldn’t get any better, you’re mistaken, because now there’s Gore-Grip. A new way to incorporate the waterproof membrane into the gloves. Standard winter gloves are equipped with protective materials, a waterproof membrane, and a thick thermal lining. These are fastened together at the fingertips and sewn at the edges, making it sometimes feel like you’re wearing a glove inside a glove. Especially if you put your hand in the glove with clammy or wet hands after putting on your other motorcycle gear, this creates an unpleasant feeling. If you do this too often, you can even pull the thermal lining out of the glove over time. It also reduces your feel for your motorcycle. By laminating these 3 layers together, you get a winter glove that feels compact and gives you more grip on the bike. A pair of top winter motorcycle gloves with many benefits.
Add heat with heated motorcycle gloves
When we reach freezing point, winter gloves are no longer sufficient. Heated gloves have become very popular in recent years and the range is growing. At RAD, you can buy heated gloves from Held, Bering, Macna, and REV’IT!.
In heated motorcycle gloves, heating elements in the form of heating wire are incorporated. This covers your hands and fingers to warm the outer side of the hand. Heated gloves come standard with rechargeable batteries. You can easily tuck them away in the cuff at the bottom of the wrist, so the battery is as much out of the wind as possible. You can set the heating level of the heated glove in different positions. The warmer the setting, the faster the battery will drain. Keep this in mind!
RAD tip: Don’t forget to maintain the batteries by charging them outside of winter. This prevents them from losing their charge, power, and quality.
Can you connect heated gloves to your motorcycle battery?
Electrically heated motorcycle gloves from Macna can be connected to your motorcycle battery with the help of an extra cable. In this way, you no longer need to worry about the rechargeable batteries that come with the gloves. This will put extra strain on your motorcycle battery. Don’t forget to disconnect the cable when you get off the bike. Curious about which cables or extra batteries are available? You can find them in the motorcycle gloves accessories.
Warm your hands on the handlebar with handlebar heating
Heated grips warm your hands from the inside of your hand. Keep in mind that heated handlebars work best when the heat can penetrate through the inside of the gloves. Some riders combine heated handlebars and handguards with mid-season gloves or light winter gloves to feel the heat even better.
Handlebar heating offers several advantages over heated gloves. For instance, you don’t need to charge batteries and the handlebar heating is connected to the battery and possibly even the ignition of your motorcycle. This prevents them from heating when the engine is off. In addition, they are equipped with a protection so they don’t drain your battery. If they notice there is not enough power, the heating automatically turns off.
The Warmest Combination
Combine heated gloves, handlebar heating, and handguards to protect your hands from the wind and keep them warm both on the inside and outside. This way, the cold has no way of reaching your hands. Better heat retention ensures that the batteries of your heated gloves last longer.
The best winter gloves
We highlight some winter gloves and heated motorcycle gloves, of which we are convinced are a top choice. The following winter gloves are recommended and deliver what they promise.
GMS Vitoro WP
Competitively priced and waterproof winter gloves
REV’IT! Hydra 3 H2O
Affordable waterproof winter motorcycle gloves. Ideal for wet and cold rides
REV’IT! Livengood GTX 2
Semi-long waterproof winter glove with Gore™-Grip Technology
The best heated motorcycle gloves
The following heated motorcycle gloves are the best-selling models of 3 brands that we are sure offer quality.
REV’IT! Liberty H2O
The best-selling heated gloves, batteries included
Macna Foton 2.0 RTX
The 2nd best-selling heated gloves, with touch tip and visor wiper, batteries included
Held Inuit
Long heated gloves with D3O knuckle guards and 4 heat settings, batteries and charging cable included
The best handlebar heating
The following handlebar heating from Oxford is available in the following styles, each with their own handlebar length: touring, sports, adventure, retro or ATV.
HotGrips™ Premium Touring
Heated grips for touring motorcycles with five heat settings
Depending on the temperatures you are facing or the budget at hand, you can opt for winter gloves, heated gloves or handlebar heating in the winter, combining them to your heart’s content for a warmer result. You can come to RAD to buy a pair of gloves that will make your rides comfortable in the coming winters. Feel free to visit our stores or contact our customer service for more information about all our motorcycle gloves.
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Nathan is our webshop employee who is ready with advice and assistance to help customers. When he is not answering customer questions, he writes helpful texts and blogs for the RAD site.
[…] Your hands maintain control over the motorcycle, but keeping them warm during the winter is a challenge. Fortunately, you can read all about it in our “winter gloves and heated motorcycle gloves” blog. […]