Keis Heated Glove Liners (WIP)

payneib

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Background:
I ride all year, any weather. Settled snow is a judgement call, but anything else is fair game. I love my winter gloves, but below about 5 Celsius I need a pair of cheap woolen gloves underneath to "take the edge off" and below zero, it hurts, a lot. So I've decided to upgrade to something a bit warmer, that let's me keep the gloves I like.

First Impressions:
They're expensive. £70 RRP, fortunately I got them at the bike show with a discount. But out of the packet, the quality is good. Very well put together. I'd say £ for lb, they're worth the price so far (having not plugged them in yet).

Wiring:
It comes with two harnesses. A fused connection for the bike (fairly straightforward, ring connectors for the battery, inline bladed fuse, and the connector on the end for the gloves) and a "wonky Y" harness to go in your jacket.

I'll follow the instructions for now, which state:
Have the single leg of the Y hanging out the waist of the jacket, on the side the connection will be on the bike.
Have the shorter of the two long sections down the sleeve on that side.
Have the longer cable down the other side.
Jacket harness laid out:
aff0755ddaee7db227472d01b3a5b7e5.jpg

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I've put the harness between the outer jacket and the thermal liner. Simply to prevent me snagging it as I put the jacket on. You can see there's plenty of cable:
b33881c8d30b7ba430f9e27aa6a46c5e.jpg


Harness on bike:
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I personally would have designed this differently. Instead of having the bike connection by the seat, I'd have had it on the dash. This would purely be to enable an easier change of mind and unplugging if the weather changes, or the gloves get too hot. And to enable that, I wouldn't have the jacket connection out of the waste, I'd have it out of the wrist cuff, and sprung (like an old school phone lead, you know what I mean) to keep it tidy.
The other thing I would change is the connection in the glove. It's currently a solid lump of plastic that sits right on the wrist bone. If you catch that wrong in a crash, your wrist is definitely going. I'd have put a cable into the glove, so the connection would be up the sleeve of the jacket a way, just to avoid placement on a lump of bone.
Glove "wrist breaker" connection:
d4fb175acae340b169db85be887747b6.jpg


Heat:
Having just worked in the bike side, I had a plug in to see what it was like. I was planning on not running the bike, so I could give you better battery information, but after a couple of minutes nothing was happening so I fired her up. After five minutes they started warming up. After ten minutes, it felt like I'd just pulled my winter gloves off a radiator. They'll be getting their first good run out tomorrow, so more here then.

Practicality:
They make my winter gloves bulky. For people that don't even like winter gloves, even under a pair of summer gloves these would be too much. They're right on the limit for me, but definitely usable. I may move my brakelever in a notch mind, just to be sure. Getting gloves on is a PITA anyway, that glove connection doesn't help, especially trying to sort out the second set of cuff/glove velcro when you've already got one on. Plugging in and unplugging may be an issue. Seems like I'll have to plug in, then glove up. And deglove, then unplug at the other end. Only adds minutes to a journey, but an annoyance until I'm used to it.
 
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Cloggy

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Thanks for the write up, it looks like a good piece of kit, apart from the wrist plug.
At the moment I have grip heaters which work quite well with a thick winter glove, but the back of my hand still gets colder.
I must be getting old as every year I feel the cold more and more :( , Luckily last year was a warm winter, but I think sooner or later I'll be switching over to heated gloves.
 

payneib

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Yeah, I'm only 29, which means I'm young enough to still want to look "cool" (hence refusing to ever put bar mufs on a bike) but old enough to not just man it out in the winter. Between rugby, kite boarding/surfing, and mountainbiking I've broken far too many bones in my hands. At the last xray, one of the joints in my left thumb had so many chunks missing, the end of the bone looked like Bart Simpsons head! Lol. Definitely time for some warm hands......

But that glove connector! Why, oh why, did they put it there? I can only think for ease of access, but you just leave the gloves on the jacket, like mittens on a string, so that's not an issue. Why not on the inside, or back of the wrist? Or use a flat USB style connection on the back of the hand? Or as I suggested above, put it on a lead so it's up your arm? I'm a little bit worried about that now.
 

VEGASRIDER

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I wear heated gloves with a heated jacket, but not with heated grips. I also have bar muffs which helps a lot from the frigid cold. I ride through the winter as well, many times well below -18 or -20 Celsius.
 

payneib

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First proper run in to work tonight, brilliant peice of kit. Complete faff to get on, but brilliant in use. More detail in main text later.
 

nivag

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First proper run in to work tonight, brilliant peice of kit. Complete faff to get on, but brilliant in use. More detail in main text later.

I had the inners and the faffing is what made me change to heated gloves instead. A lot less hassle in getting the gear on and off. A
 
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