Mavic’s Vision range aims to increase visibility on dark rides. As well as Mavic’s
trademark yellow fl ash, the Vision Thermo gloves have refl ective bands on three of the
four fi ngers and a refl ective dart built into the back of the hand.
The outers have an in-built waterproof membrane and are DWR treated to repel water.
There’s a separate liner that’s pretty thick and so gives a good amount
of insulation. It does result in a bit of bulk between the fi ngers and makes
using the controls a bit tricky — although this is true of the majority of
winter gloves, not just Mavic’s.
There’s an extra-long cuff to the gloves, which can be tightened with a
Velcro strap. There’s also some elastic gathering.
The underside of the gloves, including the fi ngers, is made of a synthetic leather with
padding across the top and the bottom of the palm for a bit of cushioning from the bars. There’s
reinforcement in the high-wear area between the thumb and the index fi nger. We did
fi nd the palm material a bit slippery on the bars.
The Ekoi Heat Concept gloves include heating elements to keep your fi ngers warm.
These are powered by two thin battery packs in each glove that fi t into a sleeve inside the
underside of the cuff. A cable with a small plug connects them to the heating elements.
Unfortunately, you can feel the batteries digging into your wrists while riding despite
them having rounded edges.
Heat output is controlled using a small square button on the top
of the glove. Give it a long push and it turns on, while shorter pushes
cause the heating to cycle through four different target temperatures,
between 25°C and 40°C. The level of heat selected is indicated by the
colour of the button. Battery life is around two hours at the highest setting; fi ve hours on the
lowest. The gloves themselves are very well padded with a breathable waterproof membrane,
although Ekoi still says that you should switch the heating off in heavy rain. Ekoi also advises
against washing them.
If you plan to ride in -20°C they might be worth considering. But in the UK the cons
probably outweigh the pros.
Ekoi Heat Concept £124
6
Mavic Vision Thermo £50
We i g h t
138
gramsThe Santini Jess gloves are not so bulky that they impede hand feel, but there’s enough
padding that your fi ngers stay comfortable on colder rides. This is partly down to a very
effective windproof outer fabric.
There’s enough padding to retain hand warmth too. This covers the whole of the
gloves, including the fi ngers and palms, not just the backs. The palms
themselves are made of an anti-slip fabric. You don’t get any specifi c
padding for pressure points, but we found the Jess gloves adequately
comfortable on all but the bumpiest surfaces.
The cuffs are quite short, but have a tight layer of stretchy fl eece fabric
around the wrist and this kept the cold out well enough. In practice, there’s enough length
to cover the wrist gap to most winter jackets: we didn’t have any cold spots when riding and in
warmer conditions they also didn’t soak up sweat.
So the Santinis are likely to provide everything you need for winter rides in UK temperatures
without too much bulk, although it would be nice to have a little more padding under the
usual pressure points in the palms.
Santini Jess £39.99
We i g h t
58
grams8
http://www.zyrofi sher.co.uk
We i g h t
372
grams
(incl batteries)8
40 | December 7, 2017 | Cycling Weekly