| Author | Message | ||
     Ray_maines |
I went out for a few miles this morning to test my brand new Gerbing’s electric Jacket Liner, Gloves, and Dual Temperature Controller and here are my first impressions: It’s kind of a Good News / Bad News joke. The bad news is that there are yards and yards of wire to deal with. It’s nothing that three or four “Tie-Ties” wont take care of. When I’m on the bike it’s not so bad but when stopped for gas or lunch the wires would become a huge nuisance. More bad news, these gloves are BULKY. They would not be confused with sport riding gloves and you won’t be doing any cold weather track days with these things. The good news is that they really work and I was warm and comfortable. I got a Jacket Liner rather than a sleeveless vest because I wanted to keep my arms warm and they were not too warm this morning. The Dual Temp. Controller seems like a good idea because I can adjust the temperature of the gloves and jacket liner separately. “Adjust” is the key word here, it’s not just an “On/Off” switch. I had the gloves set so that the temperature of my hands was neutral, neither warm nor cold, and my upper body was just a little on the warm side and it felt great. So far, I’d give the system a seven out of ten. | ||
| Kevyn |
The alternative to heated gloves is, of course, heated grips... Thanks for the evaluation, I'm torn between Gerbing and Widder and the vest and jacket myself. I know I have good wind gear but the cold eventually wears through...that could be due to falling core temps and not being able to send warmed blood out to the extremeties. What say ye 'o' wisened weather riders of the www? | ||
| 99x1 |
A couple of years ago, I made a heated kidney vest of about 75 watts (10"x12" heating portion on my back only) - thinking that it would be comfortable and the blood flow would warm my whole body. I wore it for most of a cool afternoon (my back was sweating under the heater), and after taking it off and cooling down - my back went into painful spasms. As I work in a hospital, I asked a doctor about it - he laughed and explained "heat caloris" to me. It is common in elderly people who fall asleep on heating pads, and heaters have been used in murder cases to try and change the apparent time of death (rigor mortis). One probably can't get enough heat from most heated vests (122 degs F) at the muscle to cause spasms - but it might be best to wear something under the vest, and just keep it comfortable...... | ||
| Court |
My personal routine invloves: Long sleeved cotton-shirt (Team Elves seem wo work best) Widder electric vest (Gerbing is also highly regarded) Oil wool sweater (for really cold days, on moderate I may omit this) Aerostich (prefer single piece in cooler weather but it makes little difference) On moderate days, like today, I sometimes use the Aerostich heated fleece long-sleeve liner (which I totally screwed up on a best at Breckenridge that involved coming down the Bavarian Slide blindfolded - I lost the bet, long story)which does quite well in concert with heated grips. The purpose, in my mind, of heated gloves (I use Widder) is not to MAKE your hands WARM, but to KEEP your hands from feeling COLD. Yes, there is a difference. The vest provides a sensation of warmth. With the gloves, one day, I noticed that I didn't notice them. I quickly ALSO noticed that I could feel my fingers and although there wasn't the "warmth" sensation, they were quite comfy. Following this?......well, it works for me.  | ||
| Henrik |
I've been using a Widder System 2 vest for years. Well made, works great and doesn't look too dorky by itself. I'll be adding the Arm Chaps next season. They connect to the vest in a quite ingenious way - no wires - and give the vest a nice dual purpose. I also have heated grips, which combined with good core temperature will keep me comfortable in temperatures down to about freezing. Adding the arm chaps will just adds a level of comfort. Without them I need to crank the vest up a bit higher, making me sweat, in order to keep arms comfortable. I have a thermostat for the system. I made extension cords so that the thermostat will reach either my left thigh pocket or a velcro attachment on the rear of my tank bag. When I get on/off the bike the connector is right in front of me within easy reach. And the connectors that Widder use come apart nicely when I forget the wires and get off the bike without disconnecting . These connectors can be disassembled so you can repair the wiring on the road. Henrik | ||
| Dynarider |
No heated clothes here, but I do have a set of the wrap around grip heaters from aerostich. | ||
| Mbsween |
I use the aerostitch heated vest. Nice piece of gear, a little hot when you're stopped. I've ridden as low as 19 degrees F. Works great, doesn't do a damn thing for the face shield freezing up tho.... | ||
| Hippo888 |
I'd recommend Gerbings for the jacket liner. The liner, being a complete jacket, provides more warmth than a vest with "arm-chaps" because it keeps your armpits more insulated. The Gerbings also has a full length wired/heated neck to get warmth to all the blood vessels in your neck. I think the Gerbings gear uses more wire also -- much more heat. Compare the wattage ratings. In my cold-weather experience, poly-pro clothing is better than cotton. Cotton becomes cold when it gets sweaty, poly-pro doesn't. My usual gear (I've been commuting 70+ miles on my XB9S in the low 40's this past week): Poly-pro shirt w/sleeves and jeans covered by Gerbing's jacket and pants liners covered by a sweat shirt covered by an Aerostitch Roadcrafter. A scarf/wind triangle seals my neck. I'll add thicker socks and a balaclava when it gets colder. A thermostat is highly recommended because you can set the heat where you want it and avoid sweating. Keep the heated clothing as close as possible to your body and insulate above it -- keeps the warmth closer to your body and keeps it from leaching out. Wires -- Aerostitch makes tons of clips for organizing wires. Also helpful is the self-sticking velcro. I keep the thermostat velcro'd to my left thigh for easy reach. Heated gloves -- I prefer heated grips because heated gloves and winter gloves are so thick. I've found that if I can keep my trunk/torso warm, I can keep my feet and hands warm without resorting to super heavy gear. stay warm, Paul in MI | ||
| Aaron |
I use the Gerbing stuff, full sleeved jacket liner and gloves. Love it. | ||
| Buellish |
Ditto on the Gerbings.Gloves and socks.I would like to find a shorter Y harness for the socks, as Gerbing thinks my legs are 5' long. | ||
| Fireboltgeo |
I have worn the Gerbing heated jacket all last season and it is the answer to staying warm and extending the riding season here in central Ohio. My layering combo consists of a long sleeve t-shirt, a Harley fleece jacket over the heated jacket and either a rain suit jacket or the Buell touring jacket. I have found that if I can keep my torso warm, the fingers and toes aren't a problem. | ||
| Ray_maines |
I think I must have gotten in the last ride of 2003 in my part of the world about a week and a half ago on Saturday morning. I rode about 175 miles around the Hood Canal, in western Washington and was it ever cold! It was just barely above freezing and since then it's only gotten colder and the forecast for the next day or two looks even worse. Nobody is riding this week. It makes me appreciate the warm and dry winter we had last year and the heated clothing I was wearing. My new Gerbings heated jacket liner and gloves are the absolute cats meow. They aren’t actually perfect but it sure felt good to be warm. I don’t mean that I just wasn’t cold, I was actually warm. Like, almost hot. How cool is that! When the stuff was brand new I commented that there seemed to be lots and lots of wires hanging out of every place a wire could possibly hang out of and the gloves seemed overly bulky. Well, the wires are all still there, although once underway that isn’t much of an issue. I don’t know if I’m just getting used to the gloves or if the palm side padding is compressing, but they don’t seem as bad as when they were new. And it feels really good to be actively warm! |
