10-degrees and below

How to utilise heated grips


I've already outlined my tolerances; at 15-degrees I get, "chilly" and at <10-degrees I get cold.

On Phut-Phut, the naked-bike effect of even a balmy day could upset this rough guide but could be well-countered by the full Behring suit system fitted (outer, wet, and fleece liners). With Dilbert, we enjoyed mainly balmy warm weather and I recall only needing my fleece liner a couple of times through the Meon Valley. With Shadowfax, his protection is far superior but at 10-degrees my faithful old Ron-Hill tracsters loose their benefit beneath the Behring trouser outers and the fleece exposes its design floor of not covering the front 10% of the body.

At 10-degrees and below, the gloves struggle. At 7-degrees it's not wind chill that chills the digits low air temperature. It's not enough to freeze the flesh but sufficient to get a little uncomfortable.

So, with night-riding on headlamps and some concern over power-seepage it was with reservation I turned the heated-grips on for a spell.

The Oxford heated grips fitted to Shadowfax

Now, I've not had heated-grips before and I wasn't sure of their effect. Sure, they get hot and some warmth is logically going into the blood at the hands but the upper glove surfaces as well as finger-tips are not really benefited; they're still exposed to the cold but it just feels better with some heat getting into the gloves. I'm not disappointed, but it wasn't the miraculous burst of warmth I had expected. I'm a realist - particle acceleration is for the Cearn project - but this indicates only one thing to me; more expense of getting some winter gloves. My Richos were meant to be 4-season, too.

As an interim I have two options to explore. The first is to wear some really thin fluorescent RonHill running gloves as liners and the second is to adapt my riding position. This is difficult. Hugging the hand-grips with my thighs on one grip and chest on the other is okay, but getting my balance in the deeper bends is nigh impossible.

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