Customer Reviews

Planet Bike Borealis Fall/Winter Full Finger

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Pros:

At a bit over $20 and free shipping with my Amazon Prime membership (or even with shipping) this is the best deal in winter cycling gloves. Finally, Amazon sells something for cycling that's got the quality we avid cyclists are looking for--and at a great price to boot.

Excellent dexterity--no problem working all those little shift levers, buttons on electronics, tools, keys, or even ripping open a Clif Bar. I have no doubt I can do road/trail side repairs without taking my gloves off as I had with gloves I previously owned.

FINALLY someone thought to put reflective piping on winter cycling gloves. It's bad enough nearly all winter cycling gear is black in color (like we want to be stealthy?) without forgetting to include those essential reflective materials on every item when they know we'll be riding in the dusk and dark with the shorter Winter days. Flashers on your bike just aren't enough to make you recognizable as a cyclist in the dark--you need to make the rider visible as well. I've noticed that when I signal with my hands while wearing these gloves, the response from drivers is far better than with my other--non-reflective--gloves. They even thought to put a reflective stripe on the forefinger (but not the middle-finger, hmmmm).

While I would go with 'lobster' gloves for warmth, these 'half lobster' hands allow for greater use of those two essential digits without sacrificing the necessary amount of insulation. Plenty warm (actually hot in a New York autumn).

The cuffs on these are the best I've seen. You can close them down right to the skin or over the cuffs of your jersey so they really lock out the cold. Most winter sports gloves come with knit cuffs that just don't cut it like these do.

Terry thumb and forefinger--something that's missing on most winter sports gloves--is great for wiping your lenses or nose.

Con (not really): Too hot if you're on the move in autumn. You generate so much heat riding a bike that it becomes a matter of cooling yourself down. I'll still need a lighter pair of full finger gloves for all but late autumn. On the other hand, I much rather be too hot than too cold. You can do something about being too hot, or just sweat it out, but once you're cold it's time to get indoors. In comparison to Pearl Izumi lobster gloves though, these are much better in this respect for cycling.

If you stop a lot--which I don't recommend in the cold--then these are fine for autumn, but if you're constantly on the move you might want to keep these in your jersey pocket until December and wear a lighter glove in the meantime.

BOTTOM LINE: Great deal on performance and function. Cheap, warm, functional, and not overinsulated such as--for comparison--the Pearl Izumi Cyclone Lobster or half-Lobster gloves. Having used both now, I'd say that even if Pearl Izumi could match the price, I would still choose these Bike Planet gloves.

These gloves are awesome once you get them on. They're cozy and warm. The four finger thing makes perfect sense -- it keeps your two smallest fingers warm together without sacrificing any utility. I feel like a crazy crab-clawed guy when I'm wearing them too.

But BE CAREFUL WHEN TAKING THEM OFF. There is a warm inner liner that is not attached to the outer shell. It's very easy to pull the fingers of the inner liner inside out. Once you've done this you can't put the gloves on until you straighten them out, which can be _extremely_ difficult. "How hard can it be to turn a glove the right way round? Trust me -- when there's a shell in the way, it gets tricky. I recommend chopsticks if you do find yourself in this bind. Last winter I left these on the shelf for about 6 weeks even though they would have been the perfect warm glove because I couldn't get them on!

First, I'll start off by saying that I'm living in west central Wisconsin, and I have been biking about 3 miles round-trip to class almost every day this winter. I will also preface this by saying that I may have Raynaud's disease, which causes lack of blood flow in the extremities in cold weather, so basically any gloves that I have worn in <20 degree F weather have not kept my hands warm. That being said these are definitely the best ones I've owned for biking. I also have a pair of leather gloves and a pair of wool gloves/mittens that have 40 gram thinsulate lining. In comparison to those, the Planet Bike gloves are not as warm when you aren't moving, but once I'm riding the wind resistance of the Planet Bike gloves keeps my hands noticeably warmer. Despite this the gloves are not as water resistant as I was hoping for. Its been raining the last few days and the palm of the glove gets pretty wet quickly.

Here is a rough temperature breakdown of the gloves on my 1.5 mile rides
<0 degrees F - My hands go numb and freeze
0-15 degrees - hands still get really cold, just not as fast
15-20 degrees - the gloves keep my hands warm enough for that ride, I can still feel them when I get to class.
20-35 degrees - Gloves are perfect, my palms get a little sweaty but my fingers are warm enough
up to 45 degrees - the gloves are a little too warm but still useable

As with other reviewers, in found the lobsterness is an asset, but I found the index and middle fingers tight in design, which was just enough to affect circulation in the gloves; when i would sweat, thing fingers would be both wet and with poor circulation and would get cold enough to affect my grip on the handlebars. A removable lining would be great, as they stand, they take a bit longer to dry. if you slip your gloves off in the cold to do some work, you end up putting them back into damp, confined 'sheaths'..the velco also has a tendency to bite and induce pilling on the synthetic, 'spandex' like material that makes up much of the glove (especially the spacing fabric between the 'male' and 'female' pads of velcro at the wrist). some integrated palm padding would be good; as is, it's just thicker material, and not actual padding.

I paid more than $25 for these gloves, so I am unfortunately going to have to make due with them. For those who are considering them, heed the follow SERIOUS drawbacks:

1. They will not keep your index fingers or thumbs warm in the low 20's, if you are traveling with any amount of speed.

2. Even while your fingers are cold, your palms will be sweaty, which will make the liner of the gloves extremely moist.

3. The liner is not completely removable, so the only way to dry it is to pull it out, reversing the fingers. If you do this, you will face 10-20 minutes of wrangling when you try to put the gloves back on, while you curse and end up using a twig, a pen or a chopstick to try and get the fingers of the liner back into their places. Even after doing this, it will probably feel like the liner material is "bunched up" and not completely arranged properly inside the outer shell of the glove.

I commute on my bike. These gloves have literally made me late on cold days when I simply could not get them on properly. They might be the most frustrating article of clothing I have ever owned.

They are, however, warmer than a regular set of non-cycling gloves. So there is that.

Yes as stated they do work well in the fall. but as for anything below 40F with wind. they just don't cut it. There's always wind here in germany when I ride in the winter which makes these gloves unusable until the weather warms a bit! I read the other reviews and thats why I bought these gloves. I was even sucked in by the pics lol! they are pretty though. Anyways look for somthing warmer if you can!

A friend of mine has the opinion there are two types of people: those who run hot and those who run cold. The guy who posted a picture standing in a temperature of 0 degrees? He must run hot. I've worn these gloves during several of my 20min rides to work and my fingers start going numb in any temps below 30F. I guess I run cold.

I was going to return them but decided to keep for the warmer rides home and for fall/spring since they do allow decent dexterity and are otherwise well constructed, although complaints about the inner liner have some merit.

I did a lot of research and found most winter gloves to be in the $70 range. I have had these for a month, they are exceptional. Great fit, keep warm, and great price.

Only downfall I have is that they take a good 2 days to dry out, depending on how wet they get. Keep them over a vent for the next day's ride and you will be fine.

These are adequate for the fall but I bought these with the intention of using them in the winter <35 degrees but they do not work. The tips of the fingers are freezing numb by the time i get to work, and my commute takes about 30 minutes. The gloves are also poorly designed the inner layer is extremely difficult to place back after you pull them out of the shell. I think the best thing to do is to get a pair wind proof goretex gloves shell and a layer like polartec.

I read the review about them being too warm for a lot of situations and also the review that the inner glove can get easily turned inside out.

When I first put these on I thought they were like gloves I had before, i.e. the inner glove was partially sewn into the outer glove, so inseparable. Took my hand out and tried to put them back on. No way that was going to happen, the inner liner was completely inside out and totally resistant to being put back in its proper place!

Then I realized the inner glove and the outer glove are two separate pieces. Problem solved. When pulling off the glove, first pull of the outer section. Then pull off the inner glove. No problemo, they are simply two separable pieces.

The weather a bit too warm for both sections? Then just put on the outer glove. On a very cold day, put them both on.

Problems solved and for the money, I am a happy camper.