Glacier Glove Super G Race Gloves.

GLACIER GLOVE SUPER G RACE GLOVE REVIEW

Words: Carsick John

It’s rare that something as mundane as a pair of gloves can get you emotional, but the moment I first saw the Super G Race Gloves by Glacier Glove I had a rush of emotions, mostly: hatred, fear and panic.

Most of my mental vitriol was directed at the outrageous look of the gloves which is somewhere between serial killing toxic avenger and fetish scuba diver.

In Glacier Glove’s own words, “This glove is the best race specific glove we have. Good for cold and wet racing or extremely hard efforts in the cold and wet.”  So these gloves are squarely aimed at the racing and endurance set and not your casual trail rider. With this in mind I donned exhibit A & B and headed to the woods.

On the bike the Glacier Gloves have no issues with warmth, but feel on the grips is slightly compromised.

It was minus 10 degrees and 5 minutes into the new Ice Age when I set off on the first (and in my mind only) test ride, safe in the knowledge that with temperatures this cold no one would be outside to see me wearing the gloves.

My riding buddy Edam (not his real name) was the benchmark for the test, wearing a pair of standard long finger gloves and a growing sense of humour, referring to me as ‘Marigold’ for the duration of the ride.

We set about our mission, which was a chilling 10km loop of single track. Once riding, the added wind chill took less than a minute for all of our fingers and thumbs to be completely cold & frozen.

After less than 10 minutes on the bike however, the gloves started to kick in and a small miracle happened, my fingers came back to life and the threat of frostbite disappeared.

OK, they are a little odd looking, but if you suffer with cold hands then you won’t be worried.

Not so for Edam’s fingers in the standard gloves, which remained firmly frozen for the whole ride and which still struggled to hold a pint even after we’d decamped to the warmth of the pub.

I wouldn’t say these gloves are exactly warm in this kind of temperature but the Glacier Glove is definitely effective against the cold and a massive improvement on frozen digits.

There is a slight draw back to the neoprene material however, as even though these gloves are claimed to be super thin they still feel bouncy when you ride, the 2mm thick neoprene making even the thinnest grips feel spongy and big. They also have a tendency to give you a strange sweaty palm feeling, but that’s still a small price to pay if you ride regularly in the cold and wet.

Intrigued by these ugly yet highly effective gloves, I decided to go Eskimo and see what kind of temperatures these gloves could take on.

Finding myself a frozen lake I made a small fishing hole with a hammer and plunged my Glacier Gloved hands into the abyss, whilst timing the whole sorry episode.

The result was quite amazing.

Initially I thought the whole event would be over in 15 minutes, but not so. Even with prolonged plunging into the frozen water my hands never got cold, wet or frozen. They really do work.

Surprisingly, Carsick John had to abort this part of the test not due to frostbite but boredom – his fingers were neither cold nor wet.

For me the conclusion of this test is clear, do not judge a book by its cover. Whilst these gloves will scare passing strangers and get you untold grief from your riding chums they’re highly effective against extreme cold and wet.

The Glacier Gloves are clearly not for everyone, but as they’re aimed at racers, who should be caring more about function than form anyway, they have to score very highly. Of course they would fair well for those who aren’t racing and simply need to keep their hands warm too, it’s just a matter of taste as to whether you’d feel good riding in them regularly.

For me emotions run high with these gloves but after the test I have nothing but warmth, love and happiness towards ‘The Marigolds’.

Available in sizes S to XL, the cost is £49.99 and not surprisingly they are…in stock.

Extremely effective against cold and wet.

Turn your grips into spongy tubes.
They make you look scary.

Price: £49.99
More info: Glacier Glove Super G Race Glove
UK distributor: 2Pure

Is this what you looked like when you were out on the trails last weekend? Our ride involved a lot more stopping, clearing packed snow out of cassettes and tyres and definitely more time spent upside-down.

Winter is here. So too is the rain and mud we associate with it. Make sure you prepare your bike properly and you’ll find yourself much more inclined to get out riding. Photo: Billy Thackray

The trouble with riding through the winter, with all that mud, rain and potentially ice and snow, is the damage such conditions can do to your pride and joy. However, with a few precautions there’s nothing to stop you smiling right through the winter and enjoying every muddy mile of it.

Keep it clean!

An obvious one this, but it needs stating. Mechanical parts on a mountain bike don’t take too kindly to being caked in mud and still asked to work flawlessly. Metal and water don’t mix, but regular and thorough cleaning will prevent rapid deterioration.

Use the time cleaning your bike to carefully inspect it. There’s a lot more wear and tear on the many components of your bike in winter. In particular, pay attention chain, cassette and chainring teeth, cables, brake pads, bottom bracket and headset and pivot bearings. Spot any potential problems before they become a bigger issue during a ride.

Tyre choice

Lightly treaded tyres might be great in the summer but show them a bit of mud and they’ll hoist up a white flag and surrender. Now is the time to invest in some tyres better suited to the muddy conditions of the winter. We’re not going to start making tyre recommendations here, we just don’t have the space to get into this debate.

Onza Greina tyre – perfect for muddy trail riding. Click over to our tyres feature to find out more…

So have a look at our roundup of the 13 best mud tyres here.

If you’re still unsure, a good place to start is to see what local riders are using, or ask a club or bike shop in your area. There’s nothing like local knowledge to find the best tyres suited to the particular demands of your nearest trails.

Tyre pressure

Along with tyre choice, tyre pressure is hugely important when tackling inhospitable terrain. Generally you want to go with a little less air pressure to provide you with more traction when it gets muddy. Like tyre choice though, it can be dependent on your local terrain. Do you ride somewhere rocky or rooty? And the tyres you choose will influence the pressure. Our advice is don’t be afraid to experiment until you find a good balance.

Lube your chain

Choose a lube designed for wet weather conditions, as any oil can quickly and easily be washed off the chain when riding through deep snow and slush. To ensure your bike runs smoothly, make sure to lube the chain before and after each ride. There’s a huge choice of lubes but generally a wet lube will be better suited to riding in mud. If it’s dry and frozen a dry lube will work well, but dry lubes need more regular application.

With all the mud and water getting at your drivetrain, it’s more important now than at any other time of the year to keep moving parts well lubed. Photo: Billy Thackray

Mudguards

There will undoubtedly be a lot of mud and crap being thrown up into the air and much of it will land on your body, which (as anyone who has experienced this will know) is very unpleasant. So stay warm and dry with a decent front mudguard. It’ll remove the need to scrape grit out of your eyes on a regular basis if nothing else.

Okay, so we know they’re unfashionable and all, but a rear mudguard can also provide a good first line of defense against the slop coating you from head to toe. We’d certainly always step out with some sort of front guard at the very least.

All that mud build up isn’t going to help matters. Wash your bike regularly to at least get the big chunks of mud off – it’ll save weight on the bike and make the ride more fun. Be careful though: viciously blasting at bearings with a jet-wash will flush all the grease out. Photo: Chris Jackson

Avoid rust

Treating those components likely to rust quickly with a corrosion preventative such as ACF50 will make sure your bike lasts the winter, and that under the encrusted dirt lies a gleaming, unsullied machine just waiting for the restorative flush of hot, water and a decent, bike-specific, cleaning agent.

Carry your essentials

Having a mechanical is bad enough at the best of times, but when it’s pouring with rain and your toes are frozen, it’s the last thing you want to deal with. Make sure to carry all the essential tools and spares you need to keep your bike rolling on a ride. At the very least carry a spare tube, decent pump, tyre levers if you need them, and a high quality multitool with a chain breaker. Other things to consider are spare brake pads, as all that grit and water will wear through quickly. A spare mech hanger and a few spare chain links can be a good move too; mud has a tendency to crunch drivetrains…

Feeling the cold? Check out our recent Essential Guide to base layers here.

As conversations about what bike to ride for any particular conditions go, this is a pretty good one. BBC Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton is aiming to be the first person use a bicycle to travel to the South Pole, a 500 mile (805km) slog across the most inhospitable land on Earth. And that beast pictured above is her chosen steed!

With the famous Iditabike, an event that forces competitors to cycle through similarly frozen conditions with snow, ice, frostbite and snow blindness regular obstacles to success, there’s no shortage of suitable bikes and equipment.

For her challenge, Helen will use a bike for stretches (along with snowkiting and walking) and has opted for a specially-built Hanebrink, designed in the US by Dan Hanebrink and Kane Fortune. They’re no strangers to developing custom bicycles for such conditions as the Blue Peter presenter will face, with 10 years of experience behind them.

They first designed an polar bike 10 years ago when NASA aerospace engineer, Dan Hanebrink was approached by an Arctic explorer looking for an alternative to skis that could take him and his equipment across the icy terrain of Antarctica.

Hanebrink created the “Ice Bike”, with no plastic parts and used super fat 20x8in low-pressure tyres to increase the surface area massively. Tubeless tyres will allow for lower pressures, and have a high degree of flotation to keep as much of the wheel above the snow and ice as possible, preventing them from sinking into the snow.

The bike pictured has been built as light as possible and weighs 40lb (20kg), which is just as well as Helen will be dragging some 13st (82kg) of supplies and spares on a sledge.

The presenter, who last year completed a 2,000-mile kayak trip along the Amazon for Sport Relief, has already been hit by bad weather and the start of her challenge has been delayed. She had hoped to start on 1 January, but is now planning to leave today.

“People keep saying a bike shouldn’t be able able to make it to the South Pole, but that makes me even more determined,” she says, speaking from Antarctica.

“The biking is going to be really tough. What I like about this challenge is that 90% of people know what it’s like to ride a bike, so will be able to relate in some way to what I’m doing.”

www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16345232

Helen’s Polar Challenge Diary