The best cool-weather bike gloves

In the bike store last winter trying to pick out a pair of bike gloves, I was so conflicted that I finally picked this pair because of the word “Salsa” written on the back. Given the dearth of opportunities to dance the salsa, and my lack of desire to eat salsa, my life was looking pitifully salsa-less at the time, and I thought having “Salsa” written on the back of my hand would console me.

The cyclist / salesgirl who sold them to me also influenced me heavily because she said she didn’t get too hot in them. Cycling has the effect of making you rip off all your clothes if they’re not right. And by ‘right’ I mean they don’t cook you on the inside. Without all this specially designed gear they’ve invented, cycling would be a purgatory of constantly taking off and putting back on.

Even gloves can make your whole body feel too hot. If you take them off though, your hands freeze at the same time that your body’s overheating. I’m afraid that if I let my hands get cold, the arthritis that has been trying to get them will win.

Another feature of these gloves is that I can easily unhook one of them with my teeth and pull it off, without having to stop my bike. That is crucial since I need a bare hand to fish out a handkerchief every ten minutes -- another biking issue I’ve been meaning to complain about.

I would not recommend Salsa gloves for intensely cold climates, but for our Oregon winters and cool spring and fall mornings and our cold rain, these are perfect. I do not wear them only for cold protection, but for the padding in the palms and the protection of my hands in case I fall. These have Kevlar in them, a very tough material.

I keeping saying ‘these’ but what I really mean is 'it', since I’ve lost one of them. I just called the store asking if I could buy just one new glove, and they said no.