Cold fingers on a ride can be a real problem and have a way of making even the most fun rides less enjoyable. Keeping your digits warm is essential for controlled braking, pain-free shifting and generally improving moral when out on your bike.
If you’re anything like me you’ll just layer up and brace yourself against the cold rather than fork out the £30 – £50 odd quid some retailers ask for their winter gloves. However, when the Planet-X gloves came on sale for just £5 I simply couldn’t let them go! Here’s how I found them:
Planet X WindProof Gloves
I ordered these gloves back in September in preparation for the cold winter ahead, however they took a full month to arrive to me. They took so long in fact, that I had forgotten that I’d ordered them at all! Needless to say, I wasn’t best happy that they took that long and emailed Planet X who stated that the order claimed it may take 28 working days to deliver my order. No apology and frankly, a ridiculous waiting time in this day and age. Especially when the product is in stock!
The product itself if very impressive though. When I first started using them the temperatures hadn’t yet fallen and I found the gloves to be very warm, however the second that it was cold they worked brilliantly. Being lined they keep your fingers nice and toasty, allowing you to be quick on the brakes or the shifters and they truly are windproof!
Whether you’re at the top of the mountain in a gale or hamming down the downhill in a chill, the wind simply does not get to your fingers. I was amazed by this fact, because you simply don’t expect a £5 product with shoddy delivery and customer services to actually work!
The only real downsides I found to these gloves are that they aren’t waterproof, which means you get very cold hands if it rains, and they tear easily, which I found with a rather minor crash. However this is easily solved with a pair of latex gloves inside and not crashing (easier said than done.)
Overall
These gloves work well at keeping your hands warm in dry, windy conditions but they aren’t great if it rains. The grip is good but as the gloves are quite chunky you do lose a bit of flexibility and practicality off the bike when fiddling around and with your kit.
For just £5 you can’t argue with the product although it isn’t going to last you forever. After just 3 months using these the textured grip is already beginning to wear away, but that isn’t the thing that would put me off buying them again. The product is good, its Planet X that would make me question return custom, but if you’ve had different experiences then this is one hell of a purchase!
