Gear

Buyer’s guide: winter gloves

Choosing a glove to beat the wind, wet, and cold

Liner glove

Winter gloves come in many shapes and sizes, and are designed to stave off wind, rain, and cold
A lightly padded palm and a padded handlebar tape offers a cushioning ride without loss of 'feel'
Neoprene gloves, like the Endura Nemo pictured, offer insulation and waterproofing
Gore's Windstopper fabric, seen here on Castelli's Chiro Due glove, is among the most effective
A liner glove is typically fleece lined and slender enough to fit beneath an 'outer' glove
Castelli's Prima glove, made from synthetic Coolmax fabric, is a contemporary example of the classic knitted glove

Liner glove

In the very coldest conditions, one pair of gloves is sometimes not enough. Enter the liner glove. Slim enough to fit beneath either a windproof or waterproof outer glove, the liner is typically made from a fleece-lined, Roubaix-style fabric.

It’s a simple design, almost by definition, but better examples have silicone print to prevent the finger tips from sliding against the outer glove when you reach for your STI levers. Typically, liner gloves are slender items: one bulky glove stuffed inside another would be unnecessarily clumsy, says Hilton-Foster.

Fit is a key consideration if you’re choosing an outer glove with a half-a-mind to pairing it with a liner glove in the depths of the season. The outer glove doesn’t necessarily have to be a size larger than your usual, says Hilton-Foster, who recommends making a fist to check the glove has sufficient stretch to move freely across the knuckle.

There’s little point in making this test with the liner glove, however: it’s likely to be made from lycra and will have a natural stretch. The key is to make sure that your outer glove has enough ‘give’ to accommodate the liner.