Keeping your hands warm when riding during the current cold snap can be difficult, but one solution is to use an underglove, like these from Velobici.
Velobici is a Leicestershire-based company specialising in knitwear and these gloves are part of the PBP Collection. PBP refers to Paris-Brest-Paris, a randonneur run every four years where participants are required to ride 1,200 unsupported miles within the 90-hour time limit. According to Velobici, the PBP Collection “is all about style and comfort.” So how do these gloves fight on both fronts?
Style? Well, there’s not a great deal to these gloves, to be honest, although you don’t want there to be much to an underglove. They’re seamless, which produces a neat (and comfortable) finish, while the Velobici logo on the side of one of the gloves is a smart but understated touch.
Comfort? That’s the key to a glove that’s going to largely be hidden beneath another. These gloves are manufactured from a merino-mix (42% merino wool, 51% polyester thermo-cool, 4% nylon and 3% elastane), with merino and polyester thermo-cool the key components. The merino wool is soft next to the skin and retains warmth even when wet, while the thermo-cool technology is said to evaporate moisture more quickly than other traditional materials. Both fabrics combine to make up an underglove which provides an effective additional layer to beat off cold weather.
Another benefit of wearing undergloves is the ease at which you can slip your hand back into the outerglove after, for instance, a cafe stop, avoiding the hand vs sweaty liner struggle that most riders will have fought when riding through winter.
Anything else? Only one size is available, which is a touch too big for my relatively small hands, but there’s plenty of stretch in the fabric for anyone else. The gloves are also machine washable at 30 degrees, and they’re made in the UK, which is a nice touch. Retail price is £20. Cheaper undergloves are out there, but these do a very good job.
