18 replies to this topic

[dmmsta]

After a bog aweful ride in this morning - having to stop to thaw pinkies as I couldn't operate I took the plunge and purchased a pair of Gerbing XR-12 gloves.

 

These are the gauntlet type, so lots of coverage (approx 25cm top to cuff).

Ride home was without power (not fitted yet), and although they are quite bulky the general feel was good.

I do have a little niggle that the XRS-12 varient might have been a better buy, as they are shorter, to allow for in-sleeve wearing, but I'm happy with what I have - only slight issue is my ex-Police HiViz jacket has tight cuffs and I normally wear gloves over bike jacket under HiViz.!

 

Looking forward to cosy fingers through the cold months!

 

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As promised (if a little late) here's my initial review of the gloves.

 

Notes:

• My commute has three main parts - ~15mls "B", and small "A" roads.  ~10mls M20, ~15mls into London (mostly filtering)
• For the first & last part of the journey I only needed 25%, I turned it up to 50% before the motorway stretch expecting windchill
• Thursday was a little warming on the way to work, but only by a couple of ^oC

 

 

Pros:

• Complete journey to & from work on Thursday WITHOUT ANY numbness in hands.
• Although the initial feel was quite bulky by the time I'd got to work on Thurs they felt very natural, and I wasn't aware of any significant loss of control feel compared to other winter gloves I've used.
• No clamy hands at all
• Control unit is easy to use - as soon as you plug into the bike you get 25% heating (Blue LED), a simple press takes you to 50% (Green LED), another press and back down to 25%.  You have to press & hold to get to 75% and 100%, however I doubt these would be required in UK use.
• They feel like they will work well in the interim period between the freeze & summer gloves well - with no power hook up needed.

 

Cons:

• Still not sure if the XRS-12 would have been a better choise with their shorter cuff.  The XR-12 are VERY MUCH gauntlets, and although they fit well over my Rukka jacket (and have a nice neoprene drawstring gather at the end of the cuff) getting my hi-viz winter bomber jacket over the top is a faff - This said it does give me a very good rain barrier
• Cable routing is a bit of a faff.  The cable from controller (which sits at waist-ish height) to glove connectors obviously runs via jacket sleeves.  So with the gauntlet style the cable has to come out your jacket cuff, and back up the outside of your sleeve a little to then connect into the glove.  It takes a couple of attempts (unless you're lucky) to get the glove on and the cable in a comfortable position though I do think this will just become natural with prolonged use.
• Panel of material across the palm area sits a little funny for me - again I think this will settle as they are still pretty much brand-new.

 

Overall:

• The Pros by far outway the Cons.
• If I didn't have them I would be in pain either during on at the end of each commute this time out year.
• I will say that I did still feel the cold on the journey, but by NO means as bad as before, and I would liken it to the cold you fell when holding a pint...so absolutely more than bareable.

 

If I remember I'll add longer-test comments in a couple of months.

 

Here are some photos...(as we all like photos)

Neoprene Drawstring Cuff:
 XR-12_Cuff.jpeg   158.17KB   0 downloads

 

Overall Length:

 XR-12_Length.jpeg   134.67KB   0 downloads

 

Length Indication (arm bent to show distance to elbow):

 XR-12_Length_Wearing.jpeg   83.62KB   0 downloads

 

Glove Palm (you can see the section I mentioned earlier):

 XR-12_Palm.jpeg   174.27KB   0 downloads

Edited by dmmsta, 12 November 2016 - 08:25 pm.

[muddy]

How much? Have you got heated grips as well?

[Matlock]

I've got a Keis heated jacket, a fantastic thing on a cold commute. I'm thinking of buying the matching gloves to keep my digits warm too. Heated grips just don't cut it when it gets close to zero.

[dmmsta]

How much? Have you got heated grips as well?

I paid £160 (in store) can get them for £150 online
They come with wires for battery hook up, but there are optional batteries that fit in the cuff.

I used to have heated grips but not since the bike change. Grips are OK, but don't really cut it when it's trés cold as the important bit is to tops of your hands.

Reviews say the high setting is TOO hot, with some people claiming blistering - however the control unit doesn't allow accidental setting above 50%.

I'll let you know how I get on Thurs morning as I'm off tomorrow

[Catteeclan]

Mandi has some of the inner gloves and she's had blisters. Def need the controller or she needs to know when to turn them off.

[ChrisG]

You need a nice warm muff.

 

 

How much hassle is it to run the cable and plug in the gloves?  My heated grips seem to have blown their fuse again, which suggest they might have a bigger problem, but in general I find heated grips with handguards to keep the wind off the back of my hands do a reasonable job.  An electric jacket to keep the body temperature up also makes a hell of a difference to the extremities.

[Matt101]

I have the earlier G3 and they are still going after about 5 years. Great gloves

[dmmsta]

I have the earlier G3 and they are still going after about 5 years. Great gloves

Do you use anything to waterproof them?

 

Shop I got mine from suggest Nikwax Glove Proof but if you (or anyone) has a better suggestion...

[Matt101]

That's exactly what I use. Seems to work fine. Make sure you work it into the seams though. And preferably dry overnight

[dmmsta]

That's exactly what I use. Seems to work fine. Make sure you work it into the seams though. And preferably dry overnight

Cool

I've got some Lidl waterproofer for now until I can get some Nikwax...

[Robodene]

I got freeezing cold on my last ride so am thinking about a heated vest.

[ChrisG]

Used my heated jacket at the weekend for the first time in ages, toasty.  Still not got round to fitting the PWM to allow me to turn it down a bit if I get to hot

 

Mentioned my home made heated jacket in reply to someone on my local IAM clubs facebook site and got asked to update the writeup and submit it as an article for the club magazine.

[fixitsan]

Used my heated jacket at the weekend for the first time in ages, toasty.  Still not got round to fitting the PWM to allow me to turn it down a bit if I get to hot

 

Mentioned my home made heated jacket in reply to someone on my local IAM clubs facebook site and got asked to update the writeup and submit it as an article for the club magazine.

 

 

I'ld be interested to read that Chris

[ChrisG]

Original's in the knowledgebase http://www.carpe-tdm...showtopic=20311

[dmmsta]

I paid £160 (in store) can get them for £150 online
They come with wires for battery hook up, but there are optional batteries that fit in the cuff.

I used to have heated grips but not since the bike change. Grips are OK, but don't really cut it when it's trés cold as the important bit is to tops of your hands.

Reviews say the high setting is TOO hot, with some people claiming blistering - however the control unit doesn't allow accidental setting above 50%.

I'll let you know how I get on Thurs morning as I'm off tomorrow

 

I've added a review to the intial post - to make it easer for readers in the future.

[Matlock]

I've got a Keis heated jacket, a fantastic thing on a cold commute. I'm thinking of buying the matching gloves to keep my digits warm too. Heated grips just don't cut it when it gets close to zero.

Thanks Dmmsta, good review. Well I got my Keis heated gloves, tried them once and sent them back. They were unsatisfactory for several reasons:

• The fit was weird, fine across the palm, but the fingers & thumbs were too short. So short I couldn't use the clutch or brake effectively.
• I was going to change for the next size up, but thought I'd try them out for warmth first. There not very warm and certainly no heat at the fingertips, which is where I wanted the heat.
• Finally, something I thought might be an issue anyway,the cabling from the jacket was bent at some extreme angles through the "storm cuffs" on my HG jacket. Continued use would have certainly broken the wire. And the larger than average cuffs were a tight fit under the jacket.

So, not a great experience for me with this product, so it's back to heated grips for now. 

Edited by Matlock, 02 December 2016 - 01:17 pm.

[dmmsta]

Thanks Dmmsta, good review. Well I got my Keis heated gloves, tried them once and sent them back. They were unsatisfactory for several reasons:

• The fit was weird, fine across the palm, but the fingers & thumbs were too short. So short I couldn't use the clutch or brake effectively.
• I was going to change for the next size up, but thought I'd try them out for warmth first. There not very warm and certainly no heat at the fingertips, which is where I wanted the heat.
• Finally, something I thought might be an issue anyway,the cabling from the jacket was bent at some extreme angles through the "storm cuffs" on my HG jacket. Continued use would have certainly broken the wire. And the larger than average cuffs were a tight fit under the jacket.

So, not a great experience for me with this product, so it's back to heated grips for now. 

The Gerbings have a wire inside the cuff for connection which is a faff but less stress on wiring IMO.

Perhaps try the XRS-12 in store somewhere - as the shorter glove allows for easier under jacker fitting...I've not had any issues with finger length (ooh matron), and although they don't heat the tips it's not noticable at all - and I used to REALLY suffer with white finger before!

 

I wouldn't write off the heated glove product totally, just try a different brand...???

[muddy]

The Gerbings were a bit too expensive for me, so I looked and found these.http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/201696676855
The Exo2 Stormguards.

I haven't wired them up yet, but tried them out on my battery charger last night. There's no regulator, that can be ordered separately, but the gloves gave a nice warmth on the top of the hands. Finger temp wasn't that warm, so I'll have to wait for a cold day to try them. They are very well made though and are marketed as waterproof. For £ 70 even if the heating wasn't so good, they are a well made pair of winter gloves.

[dmmsta]

The Gerbings were a bit too expensive for me, so I looked and found these.http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/201696676855
The Exo2 Stormguards.

I haven't wired them up yet, but tried them out on my battery charger last night. There's no regulator, that can be ordered separately, but the gloves gave a nice warmth on the top of the hands. Finger temp wasn't that warm, so I'll have to wait for a cold day to try them. They are very well made though and are marketed as waterproof. For £ 70 even if the heating wasn't so good, they are a well made pair of winter gloves.

Depending on the output the regulator might be an idea.

 

The Gerbings cope with average cold mornings on 50%, I've had a couple of mornings that needed the next level, but had to turn down again once I was filtering as they were just too warm - god knows what 100% is like