Went for an hours ride to test my new RST Paragon heated gloves and new seat from Saddlecraft so i thought i would share my thoughts. Firstly its a joy to have toasty hands when your ridng in winter. The gloves have 3 heat settings which are easy to adjust on the fly although the middle orange setting could have a better light. After a while i felt a little discomfort at the top of the nuckles on my left hand. Right was fine. When i took the gloves off you could see two grooves down my knuckles where the heat wires must run. Where you curl your fingers these must press in a bit. I dont know if this will be a problem as i only wore them for an hour or so. But my initil thought is they could do will more cusioning between the wire and inner layer esp where they curl around touch points. I do like them amd they are not too bulku or heavy with batteries attached. I prefer this to being connected to the bike as its one less thing to do when you mount/dismount. It also means you can wear the gloves off the bike lile watching my son play football in the freezing cold! The seat i had a gell pad interted and covered in alcantara. After getting a grey alcantara and sending it back Saddlecraft were very good and recovered it with black once they gpt spme in stock which took a few weeks. Love the seat, lools lovely and much more grippy than my old honda e comfort one. Comfort wise its a big improvement too. I would recommend this.
Thanks for the write-up, though I have a question - is there a big advantage of heated gloves over heated grips?
I used to have oxford heated overgrips on my old 929 blade. They used to just velcro over the top of the existing grips so you could easily take off in summer. I dont think they make these anymore. I was put off by heated grips as you need to replace the grip entirely.
very useful, after years of sitting on the fence because of the price, I am looking into these same gloves as mortals like me cannot afford gerbing + batteries interesting comment about the discomfort. MAybe with use, they get more flexible. Never keen on heated grip which primarily heats the inside of the grip. In my case, it is the top/ ouside that get cold and numb. I am also seriously considering a pair (amazon) for about £100 which I could use as general heated winter gloves with a different heating element routing
If you cover the brake and clutch lever alot grips are only going to warm your palms, glove will warm the whole of your hand.
Just an observation that couriers generally don't use gloves just those handle bar muffs, not sure if I'm comfortable with that!
its probably a bad habit but I always have 2 fingers covering the levers, tried holding the grips with whole hand just as racers do but it feels really weird!
I always cover the brake with my 2nd and 3rd fingers, while my 1st and 4th are around the grip. For the clutch I usually cover with my whole hand because it's quite stiff to pull. Luckily I can shift without using the clutch all the time on most bikes I have ridden.
Handlebar muffs are excellent in the cold. I used to struggle going between Bristol and Lincoln even with heated grips. Once I started using muffs I barely needed the heated grips even during the coldest months, you are talking grips being on the lowest setting and having to turn them off at times as they felt too hot. They look absolutely horrendous though!
I would say the heat from these gloves extends right the way down to the tips of every finger. Once the gloves have been on for a bit your entire hand is warm. Batteries should last around 4 hours on a single charge too.
Agree, I've come to the conclusion no glove on its own will keep you toasty, spent hundreds on gloves and non of them keep your hands warm for a few miles in sub zero at motorway speeds
Wore them out for a 40 min dog walk this eve and curled my fingers to replicate being on the bike. Got tram lines down my fingers where the heat wires go. Been in touch with rst as this is not right. Imagine the marks and discomfort after a few hours!
good point made by slick if you are not gripping the handle bar then heated grip will underperform. I have tucano heavy duty on my singl adv bike and frankly in terms of protection from rain, wind and cold, you cannot beat it. I wear normal hiking winter gloves under it. The only limitation is they restrict movement of your hand gestures/ speed and require a couple of outings for the brain to adjust. Some lighter version may not be windproof and unstable @ 90mph+ kirk, please keep us updated about RST's reply to your concern. I will be holding off till then
Will do mate. I have sent them back so RST can check them over. Initial thoughts is that the marks are from a manufacturing fault.
had the same problem , binned them and bought the ixon IIT-aso-evo https://www.ixon.com/en/products/it-aso-evo/
Really! Did you speak to RST about it? How do you find the ixon? as i may be looking for another set then.
No i did not contact RST , i´m not good with that . Pretty happy with the IXON the Clim8 app it´s great , plus the automatic switch on/off system when you wear them or took them off it´s really a PLUS point
Im dissapointed to hear you had the same issue as i was hoping it was a manufacturing fault. Crap if thats just how they are. They should not have made it to market. Will take a look at the IXON. Whats the battery life like on them?
