After getting caught out by a low snow line on a recent gravel ride —and crying in my car afterwards as the fingers painfully came back to life—, I turned to Bar Mitts to see how these compared to the best winter cycling gloves. You still get the feel of your bike and the road, but your hands won’t freeze in the first few miles. I can now ride into single digit temps w/ just a windstopper weight glove underneath, even as far down as say -12deg at least.

And most of all, I really liked being able to use my hands to grab food or my camera without first having to pull off a big glove and hold it in my teeth.Additionally, the Bar Mitts themselves are easy to install and remove as temperature changes warrant. It's easy to operate trigger-shifters with these mitts; STI shifters are somewhat less easy to work, but can be used.

The design keeps your hands and bars completely protected from the elements and gives you better circulation. These are waterproof and wind-resistant neoprene pogies that attach simply to your handlebars via three Velcro straps. Like the original Bar Mitts the Extreme Bar Mitts are like mittens for your handlebars that stay on the bike.In addition, they are available in road bike versions, for either external or internal cabling, and come in three sizes. With Bar Mitts, you can easily access and remove your hands while keeping the mitts securely in place, thanks to the inside Velcro clinch that attaches around the handlebars. After chatting with them about their various models including versions for flat bars and drop bars with both internal and external cables, I decided to try both the mountain extreme and drop-bar extreme mitts which are the neoprene, fleece-lined mitts.