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Whilst I try to avoid riding in the coldest weather, Spring or Autumn in Japan can see me out in low teens or single digit temperatures. In that weather none of my existing gloves are up to the task. I turn on my heated grips which are a great assist and of course these conditions are why I persist with a big touring bike but even using glove liners the one area I tend to suffer is my hands. Not any more.
These are the Tourmaster Cold-Tex 3.0 gloves. They are some serious winter gear with twice the DuPont Thermolite Plus insulation to the rear of the hands others fit and polyester fleece lining elsewhere.
The gloves are a mix of 600 denier textile and goatskin leather. There is padded knuckle and padded palm but the protection is light compared to a regular riding gloves. Partly a more economical design but also winter gloves by their nature are bulky so this keeps the glove from ending up being unwieldly items to try ride with.
There are touchscreen overlays on the thumb and index fingers but honestly trying to use a phone with any glove is not easy but with winter size gloves it is another level awkward again.
So how bulky are they? Well no denying they are much larger than regular gloves but then they are actually not difficult to use. These gloves offer full range of movement and are very light so in my opinion it is just a matter of realising your can’t have a thin glove that is warm like this and getting on with the job. I don’t view them as my main gloves I will be riding in all day, rather they are a specific tool for limited use on tour with my intermediate lined leather gloves being my primary with these reserved for tougher conditions.
Warmth wise they are excellent. The 200g rated insulation on the back of hand is a seriously good response to cold. In single digit temperatures that easy defeat my other gloves my hands remained warm.
They have waterproof breathable barrier but Tourmaster doesn’t specify what that is and I have no real test on this so far (I will update later). Others report they stayed dry a few hours of rain with them. I predict like all my existing waterproof gloves they will have the same limitations of Gore-tex type liners and after a few hours start to get clammy or if removed in cold conditions be at risk when inside cools of dampness entering from the outer layer if that is soaked. I will give full break down on rain performance once I encounter that on tour in my long term follow up I do on any purchase.
I got the gloves for $59US from Amazon USA and international shipping was free!
If you are not aware Amazon has shifted to offering in house global shipping on some items. You can find many things now ship international for a low price or even free. I can even get bulky items like a new jacket from USA to Japan shipped free which is dangerous for my bank account (p.s this is logging in to my Amazon US account not my local Amazon).
Back to the gloves and that price I think represents superb value. They are very comfortable and construction appears fine and suitable for my task.
Update – well I really gave these a good test in wet and cold down to 3 degrees on my recent ride and they are hands down the best winter gloves I have ever used. No leaks and never cold.
Update no.2 – amazing gloves! I rode all day in temperatures from 2-6 degrees and in following days in drizzle 6-8 degrees light rain all day and in sleet 0 degrees hard rain. Never had cold hands and they have never leaked or become clammy inside. These gloves rival my flagship rain gloves from Held which cost five times as much.
