Right now I'm running just the Symtec grip heaters (set on high) and using unheated gloves. I have the OEM handguards on to ward off the wind. So far so good, though it's not perfect. For instance, my thumbs have been getting cold, but when that happens I just try to press them against the grips. Certainly beats no heat.

 

Right now I'm running just the Symtec grip heaters (set on high) and using unheated gloves.

How bulky do your gloves need to be? I have a nice leather gloves that works down to the low 50's. Would that be good enough with just grip heaters, or do you still need the overly bulky gloves?

 

Would really like to hear from people running one or the other, but not both.

The consensus seems to be electric gloves below 30 degrees F and grips above. If you don't ride much below 30, grips are the better choice.

I've had just gloves on some bikes and just grips on others. Current ride has both.

 

Currently have heated grips, leather insulated gauntlets and handguards. Have ridden at close to freezing temps but not below with little problems except for a cool thumb.

 

I'm interested in this question aswell. My current thinkng is heated gloves with the handguards I have presently as right now I am fine with just handguards to around 6 degrC. On the off chance that I ride cooler then I'd rather just wack on the heated gloves, rather than have larger grips, big switch attached to my bars all year round. also back of hand...the technology seems to be getting better.

 

I can give a good report as I have both Gerbings gloves and heated grips. Using ONLY heated grips my hands can get a little cold on the outside area, my palms stay fairly warm. Using JUST the heated gloves my hands are COMPLETELY warm always. The gloves don't draw much power, about 2 or 3 amps.

 

I've got OEM heated grips. They're great until the temp drops to freezing. I have some pretty frozen fingers after an hour of riding, and that is with a decent pair of gloves. The skin on my palms actually burns from the grips, but the fingers still freeze.

Think of the heated grips as a 3-season solution. If you want to ride in the serious cold, though, go with the heated gloves. (They're next on my list.)

Having said that, I love the grips for the cool fall evening return trips when I'm wearing summer gloves.

 

I use both. I keep saying this but if you're going to spend the money on the gloves, spend the extra 35 for the grips as well.

Everybody is different and has different threasholds to cold. the guy I ride with wears summer gloves with a liner, I have heated gloves and grips and sometimes my hands are still cold!!!!!

Grips are SO cheap and easy to install it's worth it to get them, believe me you won't regret it. As some have said the grips are a two/three season solution, for ME to be truly warm I use both when the temps drop to the low 40's/high 30's and below.

Good Luck!!

 

Heated grips justified ?

I have had questions about heated grips and gloves as well.

I've ridden in near freezing temps with $10 gloves purchased at the local Farm supply store, and were more concerned with my legs & neck than I was with my hands--and I don't even have hand guards on my bike. I'd probably want heated vests and clothing before gloves/grips.

I even wonder if I would need heated grips/gloves on a trip to Alaska via the midwest in the summertime, which I'd like to do someday.

I also wonder about any additional wiring needed to support the grips. I think some people run heavier guage wire or even install a fuse box for heated items since they seem to draw significantly higher amperage than say GPS, radar detector, etc. However, I'm not sure if they have to for just for grips.

I'll probably do some searches on that if I find my Alaska run requires it--if I ever find time for such a fantasy run, that is. Otherwise, I'm not crazy enough about winter riding to need to install that stuff. Besides, I only had to shut down for 3 months last year and really wouldn't want to have been out on the slick roads during that time anyway.

 

... more concerned with my legs & neck than I was with my hands

I learned something on my last cold weather ride. You can take a towel and lay it over the front part of the saddle and it will block a lot of wind that comes up between your legs. It's not the end-all solution, but it helps get you down the road.

 

Gotta start worrying about power output from the stator. Start running lights, vest, grips, gloves and electronics and your gonna crap out. I have been running heated grips and I just switched to Gerbing heated gloves and like the gloves better. But in modreate cold the grips work good. But in the extreme cold gloves are the bomb.

 

I have heated glove liners (a Gerbing product, which unfortunately it seems they don't make any more), which I wear with TourMaster Winter Elite gloves. My hands were prefectly comfortable at 28 degrees (the coldest I've ridden in). The always-available heat from grips would be convenient, but if you've got the gloves, you'd probably never need additional heat from the grips.

 

On a trip to Alaska, I'd have both gloves and grips, if you have a failure of one or the other you are in better shape. It also would be easier to stop and replace the gloves if you had to.

 

The message I'm hearing is gloves are for serious cold weather riding and grips are more of a nice to have feature. The ideal combination is to have both, but if you could have only one, get the gloves.

I just ordered the Tourmaster Synergy gloves. They are lower wattage than the Gerbing and a lot less expensive. I know Webikeworld didn't like them, but all the owner reviews I've read have been very positive. I ordered from a place that has a good return policy and no restocking fee. I'll try them in the house before installing and if I'm not happy I'll send them back and get the Gerbing.

 

I have Symtec grip heaters, and love them. At some point, I will pick up some heated gloves, but in the meantime, the heated grips are good. Even with the OEM hand guards and thick, winter gloves, my fingertips get cold, what with covering the controls and not being in contact with the grips.

Perhaps the biggest benefit to grips over heated gloves is that no matter where I am, no matter when, if the weather turns cold, I always have the grips with me, ready at the flick of a switch. I would not likely have the heated gloves with me all the time.

Stan.

 

Dirt Dad,

I live over near Annapolis and I took a 50 mile ride Saturday. I've also been investigating electric gloves, grips, socks and vests. I wore a decent pair of gloves Saturday that cut the wind really well and my hands didn't get cold till about 35 miles had been covered. I rode for 20 miles the week before and those gloves gave out in 10 miles (ski gloves) so these worked a LOT better!

I had been thinking about the hard-wired type of electric gloves but in reality, I doubt that I'd be riding any further then 100 miles or so.

The hard-wired gloves seem to run around 250 to $300 once you include the reostat or heat-troiler, harnesses etc. Which sure seems like a lot of money and it limits their use to your bike only.

I'm going to look at the battery powered type cause while they only last 3 hours or so, being I covered 50 miles Saturday in an hour and a half, 3 hours of good warmth should work pretty well for me. AND, the cost is anywhere from 30 bucks to $70 and for 200 dollars in savings, I could buy a heck of a lot of batteries. With the battery type, it also allows me to use them for other things besides riding my bike. The manufactures of the battery gloves claim 3-7 hours of use but I've got to think that reality in cold weather is going to be 3 hours max. I just want to find some that have the wire running along each finger and hopefully, over the back of the palm as well.

I have a great pair of lined thermal pants, a pair of thinsulated Timmys (not timmys but similar to timmys) and I wear a wool sweater and a nice lightweight thermal jacket and a scarf wrapped around my neck to prevent the cold air from blowing up my full faced helmet and I was warm as a bug in a rug except for my hands as I wrote about above. So all I have to do is to figure out how to keep my hands warmer and I'll be in fine shape for the winter. I've also rotated my hand guards to better cover my hands when I ride and they are a lifesaver for cutting the wind!


This is a good thread with lots of input!

Jeff

 

I live over near Annapolis and I took a 50 mile ride Saturday. ...my hands didn't get cold till about 35 miles had been covered.

I had a similar experience Saturday (I'm on the other side of DC from you). First 30 minutes were fine, last 30 were getting painful. I was wearing First Gear winter gloves, liners and rubber gloves. Very bulky and it still didn't last very long.

...The hard-wired gloves seem to run around 250 to $300 once you include the reostat or heat-troiler, harnesses etc. Which sure seems like a lot of money and it limits their use to your bike only.

The pair I just ordered comes in at $135 for everything. Don't know if they will do the job, but it's worth a try. I'm usually limited to my Strom, but you're right, when I have to take out the wife's S50 to warm it up every few weeks the gloves won't do much for me then.

...I'm going to look at the battery powered type

I wanted to do that too. I'd be completely happy with a 3 hr batt life and then throw in another rechargeable if they die (I just ordered battery socks with that intention). The thing I didn't like was the inexpensive battery gloves aren't really built for the crash. I like the idea of leather sliding on pavement more than fleece on pavement. That probably sounds a little paranoid, but I've had good gear save my bacon in a crash once before.

 

I do not have heated grips. I do have a pair of Gerbings gloves (with a jacket) I bought last year, but rarely use them. Between the jacket, hand guards and my winter gloves (Powertrip insulated/waterproof), my hands seem to stay pretty comfortable down to freezing or slightly below as long as my core temperature stays warm (hence, the jacket). Much colder than that, and I'm not as likely to be riding anyway! But on the occasion that I do, the gloves are nice to have. I doubt heated grips would add anything for me.

With that said, if I were doing an Alaska or x-country trip, I'd probably leave the gloves at home and install grips just to save on bulk and extra gear..

 

I have heated grips and I'm Ok with my Tourmaster winter gloves until the temperature drops below 25F, then the tips of my fingers get painfuly cold.

For the past two years I'm thinking about getting a pair of heated gloves and I'm finally giving in, I'm going tomorrow to get me some Synergy gloves. It was 15F on my way to work this morning!

I was in the store today and the Synergy gloves don't look bad, I think if I can keep those finger tips just a tad warmer (and with less bulk) I would be very happy.

 

I bought a pair of the Synergy gloves. So far so good, but I haven't ridden below 41 degrees with them yet so I'm withholding judgment. At that temp I've only set them on the lowest setting and it's been no problem. Well made and nice lining. I'll write more when I try them in some cold temps.

 

Well.... I got the heated gloves.

I wore them on my way back, just the gloves no connections, just to have an idea.

Temperature was around 40-43 F they feel warm to the point that I decided to turn the heated grips off and stick my hand into the wind to see it my hand got cold. They felt warmer than the Tour Master Cold-Tex gloves I was wearing on my way to the store, this is a good sign.

I also like that they are no bulky like the Cold-Tex it is nice to be able to push the odometer button with the gloves on.

A couple of things could be improved on the gloves:

1. The connectors are too long (3.5" connected) and are a little hard to hide away, shorter connectors would be a lot easier to tuck in.

2. The controller is attached to the Y-cable so stays on the jacket side when removing the gloves, and the cable is a little too short making a little hard to hide the right hand connector. A little longer cable and a plug to disconnect the box when not in use would be nice.

I like to tuck my gloves under the sleeves of my jacket but with the long connectors and the box on my wrist it is impossible, so the gloves have to go over the sleeves.

I tested them in my garage with the bike off and I could feel the warmth after a couple of minutes. I don't foresee any problems with the engine running and if necessary getting a boost from the hand grip heaters.

Overall I think they'll do their job without any problems. The price is right and the convenience of having toasty finger tips offsets the inconveniences of the connectors and like anything else it is a matter of getting used to them.

I will post a follow up after a real test in the cold.