27 December 2007
In praise of ragg wool gloves
Posted by todd under: Gloves; Reviews .
The perfect cycling glove would be:
- Warm.
- Durable.
- Inexpensive. Especially if you lose gloves as often as I do.
- Reasonably good-looking. Or at least not ridiculous.
Ragg wool gloves meet all of these criteria, except possibly No. 2, plus they are easy to find. My wife buys mine at Meijer’s, for less than 10 bucks.
I’ve owned thick and thin versions of the gloves. The ones I have now are the thin ones. But the thicker ones worked down to about 10 degrees (I haven’t commuted in colder weather than that. For now, when it gets colder than 30 degrees or so, I switch over to some Army surplus trigger-finger mittens.)
My ragg-wool gloves have grippy black dots on them.
I have worn holes in ragg wool gloves, but the odds are much better that I will lose them before I wear them out.
The gloves are very warm, but they breathe well, and they feel nice on the hands.
Generally I don’t wear cycling gloves; they strike me as unnecessary complication. That being the case, and since I don’t ride just to be riding, for long distances, I don’t need gloves if it’s not cold, and I don’t need “cycling-type” gloves with lots of padding in them.
Cabela’s has a nice selection of heavier gloves; they’re also pricier. I like the looks of the ones that convert from mittens to fingerless gloves.
You can find some more ragg-wool gloves here, or check at Meijer’s or Wal-Mart. Look for them in the fishing/hunting department.
In fact, I almost ALWAYS wear one (while riding a bike anyway). (On the other hand, if YOU don't want to wear a helmet, I have no problem with it.) I don't remember what happened on this particular day. Fortunately for all of us it makes for a less-nerdly picture. My exceptionally talented professional photographer friend Charles Bertram took this photo.
I asked my 6-year-old son, Caleb, an avid bicyclist and artist, to draw a bike for me. I think he did a great job!
