BTwin Warm Gloves 7

BTwin make a vast selection of winter gloves. The Warm 7 (not to be confused with the Warm 5 or the Rain 7) is Decathlon's own brand offering for sub-6°C temperatures.

These gloves kept my hands warm at 0-5°C (it hasn't been sub zero for a while, thankfully). There is a zip across the back of each hand that's meant to add ventilation, but I didn't find it to be particularly effective; the curve of my hand over the handlebars effectively closed up the ventilation gap left by the open zip. It's a good idea, and a touch of velcro could have been useful to keep the vent open.

The BTwin Warm 7 is a very comfortable glove (apart from the preponderance of labels which needed cutting off). The upper side of the glove is waterproof and the lower is soft and grippy, with well placed gel inserts around the palm. The elasticated wrist was soft and the additional velcro fastening stopped any chills getting through.

The reflective detailing on top of the first and second fingers and along the edge of the little finger adds to the overall usefulness of the glove. Handily (ba dum) the 30 degree washing temperature was adequate to remove dirt and other detritus including from the terry-towling 'sweat' wiper on the thumb.

The glove I tested was a Large. The inner fleece fitted well to my fingertips. The outer shell, however, was sized up to a centimetre longer than the inner lining. This meant that my fingers did not reach the ends of the glove so there were flappy bits at the end of each finger unless I pulled the shell down. This was a pity as it stopped the integrated touchscreen-compatible stitching on the first finger and thumb from working as intended because my fingertips didn't reach that part of the glove. The touchscreen function worked well, though.

BTwin have made a comfy, warm glove and the extras such as reflectivity and ventilation raise it above the average. Check the fit before you buy, though.

Verdict

Comfy warm glove for all but the worst winter conditions, best suited to riders with pianist's fingers.