Reviews of Pearl Izumi Pro Softshell Lobster Glove

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last winter was the first full winter i rode through. and, to be clear, what i mean by "ride" is that i did daily 30-40 mile loops on a road bike at about 20mph or faster (because this matters; wind chill becomes a significant factor when it's this cold and you're really moving). i usually rode until at least the freezing point. after that, i would only go out if i was sure there wouldn't be left over water on the road that would freeze and take me down. so what i'm talking about are regular daily temperatures ranging from 25-40F, coupled with wind and me moving at 20mph or faster; which is really about an actual temperature well into the teens or single digits.

for the first couple months, i SUFFERED with my hands. nothing i tried worked. i bought some super nice, very expensive softshell gloves and those only got me to about 40F. awesome dexterity-wise, but not warm enough. i tried some assos baselayer gloves under those and that only bought me another couple degrees. the guy at the LBS talked me into the Gore "fusion" gloves. which have two chambers (one for warmth, one for wind-blocking) and are a neat idea, but really didn't get me to any lower digits. i even tried those goofy-looking and very awkward to use "bar mitts" and had about the same results as with everything else: every day i was coming home with freezing hands, running them under hot water for several minutes in agony, etc.

then i finally decided i'd try a new solution: a warm layer and a wind-blocking layer. i mean, this works for my torso, why wouldn't it work for my hands? so i grabbed a pair of the wool defeet gloves for warmth (which are about $20) and a larger pair of these pearl izumi pro softshell lobster gloves to block the wind. BINGO! that did it. now i'm very very cozy out there for at least a couple of hours. i did a three hour ride in 35F with an average pace of 19+ last week and didn't even THINK about my hands. which is exactly what you want. this system got me through the rest of last winter and it's looking great so far this year.

there are some downsides to these gloves, of course. they're bulky. but they're lobster gloves and they're THICK. what do you expect? you get used to it (shifting with SRAM is easier than shimano with these, fwiw). it's better than not feeling your hands and THEN not being able to shift (been there before; not fun). and yes, the bottom velcro enclosure is a little tricky to do up. but it's secure and once they're on, you don't have to think about it. no big deal.

a couple notes on my "system" described here: 1) i was careful to have a decent air layer between the two glove sizes, so that some air movement can go on. you don't want them to be tight and constrict blood flow. the defeet gloves are tight, the lobsters are roomy. 2) the nice thing about this system is that if i flat or need some extra dexterity while stopped (to eat a bar, check my phone, change a flat, adjust my bike, etc.) i just take the lobster gloves off. i still have the wool defeet gloves on to keep me warm and those are nicely form-fitting so they're almost like wearing no gloves. and my hands won't freeze like they would had i worn a single-glove system (which would undoubtedly also be very thick gloves) and taken the gloves off for dexterity.

overall, i'm quite happy with my solution and with these gloves. hopefully someone else will find this information useful and can avoid some of the painful suffering i endured.

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I like the comfort and good build quality of these gloves. Also the "lobster paw" design works well giving a good balance between bike control and warmth. However in my ride this morning around Stockholm's Norra Djurgården my fingers (especially my thumbs) were painfully cold. About half an hour into the ride the pain subsided probably due to all feeling in my digits being lost... The weather report gave minus 9 degrees Celsius as the low temp for this morning i.e. not all that cold for this time of year in these parts.

I think these gloves are OK for temps down to -5 deg C but below that you will need an extra layer.

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Really well made, feel great on. Everything feels high quality. Nice long cuffs. As another reviewer commented, it is in fact extremely hard to deal with with the velcro tab and I usually resort to my teeth. Annoying that Pearl did not add a half inch of non-velcro material to pull. Personally, I would rather deal with velcro that stays put instead of some methods that do not hold well. For example, I have several pairs of very high end ski mittens for severe conditions. They all have pull cord wrist closures which are absolutely impossible to loosen without stopping and major effort. At least I can easily loosen this with my teeth while riding!!

Honest reviews on Pearl Izumi Pro Softshell Lobster Glove

Pearl Izumi went a bit over the top on these gloves. I can see how the list price ended up near $70. I mean, wee little rubber widgets at the end of the lobster glove optimized pull tab?! (Though it's funny they didn't extend the velcro tab enough -as others comment teeth come in handy there.)

I mean, it's a bloody bicycle glove for Darwin's sake! I really don't want to wear these things. They are probably the nicest clothing I own; I could try them with a tux some time.

I'll get over the luxury problem after I dirty 'em a bit. They're warm and very (very) well made. I love the highly visible white shell with the well distributed high quality reflective bands. Great for turn signals, though I'd have gone for reflective orange if that were available.

They're the kind of gear that makes it fun to ride when it's below 20F. Expensive but, if you can afford 'em, nice to have.

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Fingers and toes set the limits of cold weather riding for me and these have taken me into the range of 25* with these gloves, albeit with some fingers rubbing together while riding to keep them warm. At 30* they are comfortable without rubbing. There is enough room in the finger area to get a finger out and against the palm of your hand to warm it easily if needed. This is riding at a moderate to easy pace, riding at a higher exertion level will keep your hands warmer of course. Sizing is true to the PI sizing chart.

For those that complain about the Velcro, it is very aggressive and it's not easy to get these off if you line up the top with the base perfectly. I line them up so the top is off center pulled toward the wrist / arm so about half of the base is exposed which leaves enough of a tab to grab on to for easy removal, they still hold very snug with this alignment.

Took a few minutes to get used to riding with these but I can ride comfortably on the hoods, tops, bends, and in the drops now and feel like I have a decent grip on the bars. Shifting with the little lever is a bit cumbersome but with a little focused attention works well, moving the big lever is easy as is braking.

Overall, highly recommend these for cold weather riding when gloves don't cut it.