Cycling in freezing cold weather?
Here are the 8 best winter bike gloves and mitts for road cycling, MTB, commuting, bikepacking, warm, windproof, touch-screen friendly [Updated 2022/2023]
Choosing the best winter gloves for cycling requires you to consider a few factors.
Whether you’re cycling home to work, on long Sunday rides, or for multi-day bikepacking adventures, your winter bike gloves need to be windproof and waterproof.
The choice then varies depending on the type of winter in which you ride your bike, more or less cold, more or less humid, and so on.
In this article, we offer you a list of the best winter cycling gloves for different categories.
Some models are unisex while others have a version for men and one for women, generally, only the size changes, and sometimes the cut is slightly different.
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How we compile our gear guides: during the almost 10 years of cycloscope.net our team personally tested dozens of similar pieces of gear. For what we can't test personally, we involve other people in the cycling community to give their feedback and opinion about gear they have used. Our decade-long experience in bicycle touring enables us to find the key cons and pros of every product we mention.
The 8 Best Winter Cycling Gloves in a nutshell
- Yobenki Winter Gloves
Best Touchscreen Friendly - Castelli Estremo
Best for very cold winter/sub-freezing temps - GORE WEAR C5
Best Waterproof Winter Gloves - Giro 100 Proof
best lobster gloves - Alpinestars Cascade
Best for MTB - UNIGEAR winter gloves
Best lightweight gloves - Velotoze Waterproof BIke Gloves
Best for Bicycle touring and Bikepacking - Bar Mitts
Best cycling mittens for freezing weather
The 8 Best Bike Gloves for Winter – Compared
1. Yobenki Winter Gloves
Best Touchscreen Friendly
- Windproof and Waterproof, not for heavy rain.
- Touchscreen friendly.
- Non-slip palm.
- Materials: 88% Polyester, 12% Elastan.
- Weight: 60 gr – 2,10 oz.
These multisport winter gloves are equipped with a conductive fabric on the index and thumbs, allowing you to use your smartphone, GPS or any other touch device without having to remove the gloves.
The silicone print on the palms effectively increases grip strength by not letting your hands slip. The waterproof TPU membrane protects from rain but only from light rain.
They keep hands warm down to a minimum temperature of -5C/23F. Last but not least, the aesthetic aspect of these winter gloves is very pleasant.
Economical product with an excellent quality-price ratio.
2. Castelli Estremo Winter Gloves
Best for very cold winter/sub-freezing temps
- Synthetic Leather
- Hook and Loop closure
- Windproof
- Closure: hook-and-loop cuff
- 1-year warranty
- No touchscreen-friendly
- Weight: 9.28 Ounces
Castelli winter gloves are perfect for those who live in very cold weather or are particularly cold-sensitive. We would have loved to have them when cycling in Finland, instead we purchased them later and never really used them under the conditions they are made for, except for a few times in Italian winter.
They kept our hands warm without making them sweat thanks to the fleece lining. Your hands will be completely protected from water and wind, making these gloves ideal for a long ride in any bad winter weather.
The grippy and durable fabric for the palm and fingers offers excellent feedback for control, accurate shifts, and confident braking. The palm is also treated to a vibration-dampening palm for reduced fatigue on those longer rides.
Five different sizes from X-small to X-large.
3. GORE WEAR C5 Winter Gloves
Best Waterproof Winter Gloves
- Unisex
- Waterproof and Windproof
- GORE-TEX Active Technology
- Thermal interior, Synthetic leather on the palm
- Breathable
- Weight: 4.8 Ounces
From weatherproof gear leader GORE here are the best cycling gloves you can get if waterproofness is your primary concern. When testing the GORE WEAR C5 we found them extremely grippy, warm, and with a snug fit.
These unisex GORE Wear gloves are the ideal companions for sporting activities in cold temperatures.
The GORE-Tex Active technology makes the gloves waterproof, windproof, and perfectly breathable, no more sweaty hands.
7 sizes are available for men and women.
4. Giro 100 Proof Gloves
best lobster gloves
- Temperature Rating: 20 to 30 F/ -6 to -1 C
- Recycled/Repurposed Material
- Closure: hook-and-loop strap
- 1-year warranty
- Unisex
- Touchscreen friendly
- Waterproof
- Reflective
When the temperatures drop below freezing, before you’ll need proper mittens, lobster gloves are the best option to keep your hands warm without giving up completely the freedom of movement.
Lobster gloves keep index and middle finger together separated from ring and pinky. This allows trapping more heat than regular gloves while maintaining more dexterity than mittens.
The Giro 100 Proof are our personal pick when it comes to lonster-style gloves for winter cycling. The outside of these gloves is made of a one-piece, seamless OutDry waterproof membrane, while the inside is Polartec Power Fill (80% coming from post-consumer recycled materials), AX Suede Echo Diamond Grip, and deep-pile fleece.
5. Alpinestars Cascade
Best for MTB
- Weight: 2.89 Ounces
- Conductive fingers
- Hook and loop grip
- Syntetic and Neoprene material
The Alpinestars Cascade Pro Gloves are specifically designed for MTB riders, allowing maximum control and grip for you to go on technical mountain bike trails with confidence.
A slim but durable single-piece synthetic suede palm provides the grip and sensitive bar feel you need when piloting your bike down the steepest of chutes while keeping bulk to a minimum.
Dexterity is vitally important for both bike control and braking and to this end, the Cascade Pros feature an innovative stretch insert between palm and thumb for increased mobility and this works alongside the pre-curved finger shape to reduce fatigue and enhance comfort.
6. UNIGEAR winter gloves
Best lightweight gloves for mild winters
- Minimum Temperature: 5℃
- Weight: 2.4 Ounces
- Water Resistant
- Touch Screen on Both Hands
- Anti-Skid
- Multisport gloves
If your area’s winters are generally mild but you still need some protection (thinking Mediterranean climate), these lightweight cycling gloves by UNIGEAR are a great bang for the buck.
I purchased them for a winter in my hometown in Sicily and was quite happy with them. They are cheap but quite effective in mildly cool days, the breathability is ideal, the grip is steady, the finger mobility perfect, and they are touchscreen friendly.
The lowest temperate resistance is 5℃, so not they are not meant for extreme cold weather.
7. Velotoze Waterproof Gloves
Best for Bicycle touring and Bikepacking
- Reflective logo
- Waterproof and Windproof
- Material: 95% Neoprene, 5% Nylon
- Unisex
- Temperature Rating: -5 C in dry, sunny weather to 15 C in wet, rainy weather
- Weight: 3.53 Ounces
Waterproof, windproof performance neoprene keeps your hands warm and dry. The glove is made from a stretchy, flexible material and uses blind stitched, sealed seams for a comfortable fit.
They are designed for -5 C in dry, sunny weather to 15 C in wet, rainy weather. Windproof materials keep your hands warm on cold mornings or in winter.
The neoprene keeps hands dry, extended cuff fits under the jacket sleeve to keep water out. The reflective logo helps to be seen in low light conditions.
Very sturdy, versatile, and durable, they’re great winter gloves for long bike touring trips.
8. Bar Mitts – New Entry!
Best cycling mittens for extremely cold weather
For those who suffer the cold more than average, or for the real die-hards riding in extremely freezing temperatures, the cycling mittens by Bar Mitts could be the answer to the freezing hand problems.
The mitts let your hand free inside them while completely sheltering your knuckles and fingers from wind, rain, or snow.
The closed cell construction of the 5mm thick neoprene contains air bubbles providing outstanding insulation, while the mitts are attached safely to the bike’s handlebar through a velcro. If it gets too hot, you can open a from zipper letting some air circulate.
The hands can be taken out very quickly in case of need, so no need to worry about safety. The Bar Mitts are available in flat bars, drop bars, bar end, bullhorn, and even chopper bars versions.
What to consider before buying your next winter bike gloves
- Type of fabric. There are many waterproof fabrics, the best known is Gore-Tex. If you live in areas where winter is dry then you can opt for cheaper, but very warm, merino wool gloves.
- Touch screen. Some winter cycling gloves are equipped with touchscreen technology that allows you to use your mobile phone or GPS without having to take off your gloves.
- Handlebar type. The winter gloves specifically for cycling have an ergonomic design on the padded part. These pads are placed in the area where the most pressure is exerted. Racing handlebar gloves may prove uncomfortable for a flat handlebar and vice versa.
- Average temperature. It seems obvious but it is not. The temperature during the winter varies, wearing gloves that are too heavy or too light could limit the use of the product to a few days a year. Pay attention to the guaranteed temperature or consider buying different gloves for the different phases of winter.
5 different types of cycling gloves
Not all cycling gloves are created equal, each type of glove has it’s own use and you should be aware of it when purchasing the best cycling gloves for your needs.
Half-finger/fingerless
These kinds of gloves leave the fingers uncovered, their main function is gripping and wrist protection more than keeping your hands warm. They are not suitable for winter cycling
Full finger cycling gloves
These are the standard, regular gloves with full protection and grippy fabric on the palm side. Most of the time you’ll want to wear full-finger cycling gloves when cycling in winter.
Mountain bike gloves
MTB gloves are similar to regular full-finger gloves but usually offer more grip than road or gravel gloves, and added knuckles protection in case of falls or when hitting tree branches or similar obstacles.
Lobster Gloves
Lobster gloves keep the fingers together to enanche warmth. They are not the most comfortable but can be lifesaving in colder climates.
Some lobster cycling gloves keep index and middle finger together separated from ring and pinky, which are also together, another type keeps the index alon and the remaining three fingers together – the choice between these two types depends on the type of handlebar and brakes you are using: for drop bars you’ll need the first type, while the second version is perfect for flat bars.
Mittens/Mitts
Although mittens is a term often used to refer to fingerless gloves, here we’ll use it for full hand protectors that get mounted around the handlebar, and where the riders slides his/her hands in.
These are amazing for colder weather and especially useful for commuters and cycle tourers traveling very cold regions.
Gearing up for winter? Check these!
- 12 best winter cycling jackets for all budgets
- Bib tights & winter pants for cold-weather cycling, compared!
- 7 best gloves for cycling in cold weather
- 11 best cycling overshoes
- The safest cycling helmets in the world
Looking for Inspiration?
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