Categories: all aviation bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater

Tue, 29 Jan 2008

Of snow tires and winter gloves

The crazy winter weather has brought us a few days of maybe-snow, which have prompted me to load the snow tires on the bike again. This second take on them has been interesting.

Now that I know what to expect, they're not as hard to ride on as I'd first thought. They're definintely more resistant to going forward. I probably drop two or three miles per hour off my average speed while I'm using them. The weirdest thing is the way they feel riding on dry pavement (which is pretty much all I've done -- thanks Seattle weather!).

The studs make an odd gravel-crunching noise as I ride along, and I can make them noticeably louder by pedalling hard, or braking aggressively. What gets really strange is going around a corner. There's a lean angle that's about comparable to my comfortable turn rate where the tires seem to shift, and get squirmy. It's almost certainly the point at which the tire rolls over onto the row of studs, so that there's more metal hitting the ground. There's no evidence of slipping, but it's a very disconcerting feeling.

These things all combine to make me want to get the tires off as soon as possible. As I thought the first time, I'd leave them on if there were any reasonable chance of encountering ice, but given the mid-30s and higher temperatures Seattle usually experiences, they're an unwelcome distraction.

A few weeks ago, I stopped into REI, and looked over their selection of cold-weather gloves. I first selected the Novara Cold Front gloves, attracted to their cold plus wet claims. They felt a little strange (oddly slippery, with a slick, smooth fabric), but I bought them.

I rode away from the store with my new gloves on. Within a couple hundred feet and a couple disgusted glances at my hands, I turned around, locked up my bike again, and returned the new gloves. They're constructed with multiple layers (inner, gore-tex or something like it, and outer), and each layer feels squidgy against the next. The end result is that it felt like I was grabbing the handlebars through a layer of wet hair gel. It wasn't exactly slippery in the sense of losing my grip, but it felt like I had a very tenuous connection to the bike. Very disconcerting.

In exchange, I grabbed the $10 cheaper Novara Headwind gloves. These are made with a thin layer of neoprene over the top, and a thickish layer of leather for the gripping surface. They didn't feel like they'd be quite as warm, but there was no doubt that they'd feel much more secure.

I rode off, and was sufficiently satisfied that I made it past my first U-turn location. However, I quickly realized that these new gloves, while nominally designed for cold weather, were noticeably less insulated than the old, falling apart pair of Activa gloves I was trying to replace. That's not very helpful.

I haven't returned them, and may not. For all that they're less insulated, they're still decent gloves, and will be useful. A large part of the year sees temperatures between 40 and 60 degrees, and these are the perfect gloves for that temperature range. They're also nominally somewhat more waterproof than the Activas, which are definitely not waterproof. The one time I had the misfortune of riding in on a really cold and wet day with the old gloves on, my hands were frozen solid.

Someone (I can't remember who it was now, maybe my friend Josh) said they have a coworker who swears by alpaca-wool gloves for winter bicycling. I'd have to find the right gloves to believe that. As much as I want my gloves to keep my hands warm, they also need to protect me if I fall for any reason. I think I'd be more inclined to look into lightweight motorcycle gloves for serious winter bicycling. I'm fond of wool, but abrasion resistance isn't really one of its strong points.

Posted at 19:24 permanent link category: /bicycle

Categories: all aviation gadgets misc motorcycle theater

Written by Ian Johnston. Software is Blosxom. Questions? Please mail me at reaper at obairlann dot net.