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review
2022 Sealskinz Waterproof Heated Cycle Glove.jpg£150.00
VERDICT:
Well made and pretty effective, but need more warmth in the fingertips – and more comfortable batteries
Warm
Easy to recharge
Good runtimes
Expensive
Heavy
Leather palm won't please vegetarians/vegans
Weight:
230g
Contact:
At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.
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The Sealskinz Waterproof Heated Cycle Glove is... well, you can probably tell. Each one contains a battery and heating elements, but the greatest warmth doesn't quite reach your fingertips and the heavy powercells are noticeable. They're very well made gloves and priced similarly to motorcycle versions, but as they're not massively better than a quality set of normal winter gloves, it's a hard sum to justify.
First things first – these gloves are £150, more than double the price of our luxury pick for the year, the £70 Assos Assosoires Winter Gloves. They're a significant investment, so realistically you are only going to be considering them if you suffer particularly from the cold – for example if you have Raynaud's syndrome, which restricts circulation to the hands – or you're doing very long rides.
Small battery packs on the wrists feed heated elements over the back of the hand and along the top of the thumb and each finger, and the gloves themselves use a three-layer bonded fabric, stuffed with Primaloft Gold insulation. Together it keeps rain out and heat in.
A simple button toggles between the three heat modes and off. It's easy enough to operate with the gloves on (luckily...) and the positioning on the back of the hand means it's accessible during a ride.
An off-bike test registered up to 42.6°C just under the main heated panel, dropping to just below body temperature (36.2) inside the fingertips. This correlates with how they feel when riding - my hands stayed warm for the most part, but my fingertips didn't feel quite the same benefits.
Riding with one heated glove and one regular (if non-cycling-specific) one – Sealskinz own Waterproof Extreme Cold Weather Down Glove – I actually found my fingertips felt much the same in both, even with the heated one on full power.
Heating aside (or off), these are still very well-made and warm gloves. The leather palm, whilst being non vegetarian/vegan friendly, is soft and pliable. The pressure dots at the bottom of each finger may help to relieve discomfort on longer rides, but some may feel that they are an irritant and that a wider padded section would be more comfortable than dots.
The cuffs make a good seal against the wind and are a reasonable length, while the neoprene gives them a little stretch. The inner layers are well bonded so the liner doesn't bunch or get twisted at the end of the fingers, but these things are relatively stiff; they are at least pre-shaped into a bar-friendly position.
The battery pack zips into the cuff and I found it constantly noticeable (they're 6cm x 5cm x 1.5cm), plus it makes watch-wearing very uncomfortable. The batteries give 5-6hrs on the lowest of the three settings, but for me that wasn't warmer than good thermal gloves by enough to warrant the use.
Instead I tended to use full power, then switch off to conserve battery when my hands had warmed up. They easily last two hours constantly on full, though. To recharge, you remove the battery and plug in with the supplied recharging cable.
> 25 of the best winter cycling gloves for 2021 — keep your hands warm and dry
There are small reflective elements for safety, and a nose-wipe for... well, wiping, but beware – as the gloves can't be washed, the nosewipe can't either. They also don't do touchscreens, as the fingertips are leather-covered and as we all know, cows are rubbish at working phones.
Value
What price warm hands? £150. That was simple. These seem to be the first cycling specific heated gloves, but comparable products for motorcycle use retail at a very similar price, so in that sense the price is fair.
Alternatively, high-quality 'regular' winter cycling gloves such as the DexShell ThermFit NEO (£35) or the Sportful WS Essential 2 (£50) cost so much less it's hard to justify this option when it's not transformative.
These may be transformative for you if you suffer greatly from cold, but otherwise they're only a little bit better than normal gloves for a lot more money. Also, if you're prepared to stop to unfreeze your hands, gadgets like the £25 Lifesystems Outdoor USB Rechargeable Warmer work very well and frequently double as powerbanks, too. And you'll still be spending less.
Overall
These gloves do what they set out to do - they're like touching the back of your hand to radiator, and they generally keep you a bit warmer. But as the significant heat doesn't extend to the all-important fingertips, they didn't quite live up to my hopes.
Verdict
Well made and pretty effective, but need more warmth in the fingertips – and more comfortable batteries
road.cc test report
Make and model: Sealskinz Waterproof Heated Cycle Glove
Size tested: Medium
Tell us what the product is for
Sealskinz says, "A technical beast of a glove, slip on a pair of Waterproof Heated Cycle Gloves and navigate the coldest and wettest weather with ease. So many not-so-good things can happen when you have wet and cold hands. Blisters, numb fingers, and frostbite to name just a few. Take on the coldest of days with a pair of Waterproof Head Cycling Gloves and stay protected and warm while out pedaling."
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
* Outer Layer - 50% Leather, 46% Polyester, 4% Elastane
* Middle Layer - 100% Polyurethane
* Inner Layer - 92% Polyester, 8% Aluminum
* Insulation - PrimaLoft Gold
Rate the product for quality of construction:
9/10
This is a well-made glove.
Rate the product for performance:
8/10
Heats your hands well, though not right to the fingertips.
Rate the product for durability:
9/10
Leather underside should wear very well.
Rate the product for fit:
6/10
Slightly too long in the finger for me - a function perhaps of unisex gloves, which tend to be modelled on male hands.
Rate the product for sizing:
8/10
I'm a medium in other Sealskinz gloves, and these fit well too.
Rate the product for weight:
5/10
Unsurprisingly the battery pack makes these noticeably heavy to wear.
Rate the product for comfort:
7/10
The weight and stiffness affects them – they aren't as comfortable as comparable 'normal' gloves.
Rate the product for value:
5/10
This is clearly the most you will ever spend on a pair of cycling gloves, but the build and performance earns it. If you suffer from Raynauds, the benefits may be invaluable.
How easy is the product to care for? How did it respond to being washed?
These can't be washed due to the electronics. This is an issue with the thumb, which has a typical nose-wipe but can't be cleaned.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
Warm up quickly and are appropriate for cycling, with enough flex to let you easily work the controls.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
The speed of heating and the duration of the output.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
The weight of the battery packs on my lower wrists. They also meant I couldn't wear an exercise tracking watch.
How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?
These seem to be the first cycling specific heated gloves, but comparable products for motorcycle use retail at a very similar price.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Perhaps... but they're very expensive
Would you recommend the product to a friend? If they suffered significantly from the cold
Use this box to explain your overall score
If you suffer from the cold to the extent that it stops you from riding, these gloves may well be a justifiable purchase. They're effective and well made. If the electronics could be removed to allow washing, and weight and flexibility could be improved, they'd score higher, but given their limitations the cost will probably feel prohibitive for many riders.
About the tester
Age: 38
I usually ride: Trek 7.5 WSD My best bike is: Turquoise Cruiser
I've been riding for: Under 5 years I ride: Most days I would class myself as: Novice
I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, general fitness riding, Leisure
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20 comments
The point has already been made, but it is worth repeating. It is pointless for a reviewer to test a product like this when they don't suffer from an abnormal sensitivity to cold. The fact that the tester compares them to a standard winter glove side to side and doesn't notice a difference is irrelevant and misleading. If your hands can cope with standard winter gloves at temperatures of 5 degrees and below, then this obviously isn't a product for you, and criticising it by way of comparison to gloves that are a 1/4 of the price is just silly. I have these gloves and they are the only thing that means I can ride outside when the temperature is below 5 degrees. No, they don't make you hands feel 'warm', but they do prevent them ceasing to function. I do agree that temperature at the finger tips could be improved. They are noticeably warmer from the second knuckle down to your wrist. The battery doesn't play nicely with a watch on, though it depends on the strap I found. I have an Apple Watch, and the metal strap was painful, but the sports band was fine. It is also more comfortable if you turn the battery through 90 degrees in its pouch. Dexterity on the controls is as good as any other 'winter' glove. If you suffer from loss of finger function in temperatures around zero when wearing non-heated gloves, these will mean you can ride, and that is well worth £150 IMO.
I get the vegan objection, but would vegetarians object to leather palms?
Well vegetarians would refuse to eat them if that's what you mean.
I don't think it's possible to get leather from the cow without killing it, actually I hope not as this would be a new level of cruelty
Unlike eggs and dairy
I would think that trying to get the leather without the cow being dead would end up looking like a cut scene from Hellraiser...
Edit: "cut scene" - that was unintentional
If it is too cold for Galibier Barrier gloves, -5C I reckon, should you be outside?
I've enjoyed riding at -30 °C, so yes.
wow you must be really amazing. Tell us more. Please tell us...thats amazing
I've done -13 last winter here in Scotland. -30 would be easy in a fair bit of Europe, and regular in northern US/CA. With the right tyres and gear, no reason not to 🥶
Even within sexes, finger length to hand girth ratios vary quite a lot. Long slender fingers on small palms or stubby fingers on square. My gloves are mostly too long in the finger to fit the spades the fingers are attached to.
I'm the reviewer and Sealskins M is the correct size for me for all the other gloves in their range I own or have tested, so no Lance, it's not a mis-sized glove choice, it was a direct comparison to their other gloves which fit me. Sealskins unisex/male S are too small for me, their Womens' M are perfect and their unisex M here were too long, but there's no Women's version, hence a fair comment about the unisex sizing.
As I've owned a pair of these for two years, I wasn't eligible to review them. So I offer my experience here for consideration.
As a sufferer of Reynaud's, these gloves are the *only* things keeping me riding in the depths of Scottish winters. Believe me I've tried them all - I have an entire shelf of gloves, at least twenty pairs up to and including lobster mitts and the awesome Dissent133 3-glove system. But these ones are a game-changer. I've been out on multi-hour eMTB spiked-ice-tyre rides in -13°C with 25kph windchill, with no cold-hands effects. Sometimes I'll layer a thin merino underneath for extra insulation, if it's real cold - but anything to about -5 is fine for me as-is. I use them all the time in winter for driving, walks, work outside the house etc.
I have a spare set of batteries (£30 Amazon) for really long rides.
The feel of the gloves is fine for shifting, Road or MTB. The Velcro cuff stitching starts to disintegrate after a few dozen rides, it's a weak design fault easily fixed by any good sewing machinist, but for the money you'd expect better. Caroline is right, anything larger than a Whoop band is uncomfortable to wear under the wrist area.
Even with all the shortcomings, if I lost these today I'd spend £150 in a heartbeat to replace them.
Wait, what? That's exactly who I'd want to hear from on a product.
Thanks for sharing your experience in any event. Can you say more about the fingers specifically? And any reason to believe that a design change may have contributed to the difference between your opinion and the reviewer's? I'd been waiting for this review to hear more about the fingers in particular, and it confirmed my suspicions--i.e., that warmth is missing precisely where it's most needed--but now you have me second-guessing.
They definitely help with finger warmth as having the veins in the body of the hand warmed mitigates heat withdrawal from the extremities of the fingers. In temperatures around freezing I would get pain almost immediately, even using expensive well-made lobster claws (Pearl Izumi PRO), and after an hour basically couldn't feel my fingers at all; in the Sealskinz, although you can't exactly fry an egg on my hands when I get home, as long as the battery lasts I have no pain and retain about 90% feel. A thin inner glove (I use Raynaud's-specific ones with silver thread for heat retention) helps enormously.
Thanks Rendel, that's very useful information. I believe all reviewers of cold weather gloves should suffer from excruciatingly cold fingers in temperatures around freezing; otherwise there's no way for them to know what the people most interested in glove reviews actually need. I had just about settled on some heated Hestra liners (they're outrageously expensive, but being able ride pain-free through the winter would be priceless), but I'm now giving the Sealskinz another think.
By the way, I too find my Pearl Izumi lobster mitts woefully lacking. In any weather cold enough to need them, they fail almost immediately and with a vengeance.
It's Road.cc policy - if you've purchased something you can't review it. Impartiality / confirmation bias / buyer's regret and all that.
I'm not sure why Caroline found the fingers lacking - they certainly don't feel as warm as the back of the palm area gets, but there's definitely heating going on.
I find warming the gloves on the radiator/ turning them on 10 mins before setting out helps hugely in extreme cold. Then as they settle to an outdoor operating temperature in the wind, you heart rate is up to cycling levels and the increased blood flow then keeps things level.
Thanks Mike, good to know. Perhaps the difference is that those of us who suffer from excruciatingly cold fingers don't require that gloves keep our fingers toasty, just free from pain.
Re radiators: I'm lucky that my most common cycling routes are dotted with radiator-equipped public restrooms. Taking the chill out of your gloves mid-ride is such a life-saver, though of course it would be nice to not have to stop to do it, nor to first suffer from the blinding pain that ends up forcing a stop.
Hmm, rather than futilely sharing my thoughts on that policy, perhaps I'll just say that I, and I suspect many others, would be quite grateful if any road.cc staff who have personal experience with a product under review would share that experience in the comments like this.
That's not strictly true, not sure who told you this Mike. We don't have a hard and fast policy on reviewing things you already own, it's on a case-by-case and in this case the product was specifically requested by the reviewer so the issue didn't arise anyway. You're right that we would probably avoid giving a product we've got in for review to someone who already owns that exact product to avoid potential confirmation bias, but if SealSkinz made a v2 you definitely wouldn't be barred from reviewing it.
The other reason is just practical - reviewers sometimes tell us they have bought something and ask if they can review it, 99.9% of the time we say no because everything has to go through road.cc Towers to be logged and photographed. I think there might have been some exceptional cases during lockdown, but usually them's the rules.
I concur that it's great you're sharing your experience of the product in the comments though, feel free to keep doing that
Hi Mike, I found the fingertip temp lacking and actually tested different areas with a thermometer to check what was going on. Back of the hands reaches 42+ whilst the fingertips only registered at 36.2 which was a little below body temp. This led me to believe that there was no effective heating stretching right to the fingertips and I came back from rides with that area turning numb.
I have these and I agree with most of the review, they don't provide the dream heating one would hope for but they are significantly better than any other similar product I've tried (tried three cheaper versions and returned before biting the bullet and going for these). With Raynaud's, they really are the difference for me between riding when the temperature's close to zero and having to stay home. I don't find the batteries an encumbrance, though I don't wear a watch and I could see how they'd clash. Re the "nosewipe" (I didn't realise that was its intended purpose, I've always used it for cleaning the rain off my glasses and it's very effective too!), obviously you can't put the gloves in the washing machine but they can be wiped with a damp cloth and detergent - obviously they are waterproof so external washing won't harm the electrics - so it's not right to say they can't be cleaned at all. When I was researching them several people said Fabreeze (sp?) dry fabric cleaner was a good way of keeping the insides fresh, haven't tried it myself.