Lobster Claws

I made an impulse buy over the weekend, and my life has been 100% better since then. I bought some lobster claw gloves, Craft Split Finger Thermal gloves to be specific. They were on sale at my LBS, and while $40 isn't exactly a steal, the price was good enough. I quickly made the purchase before thinking of some silly reason why I shouldn't have them, why my ratty set of cross-country ski gloves which double as winter bike gloves is good enough and why I should continue searching around for a better deal. Craziness. The tags were gone in a flash...no going back now. I put them on immediately and rode away.

Every gear head knows that some gear is just hype and some gear is life changing. These gloves are the latter. This is because they accomplish things that neither mittens or gloves can. Mittens are terrifically warm, but allow the dexterity of a flipper. Regular gloves give the fingers freedom but often lead to individually chilly fingers. The Craft Split Finger gloves do it all... pretty much. They couple two fingers together and keep them toasty warm. While I probably couldn't accurately dial a cell phone with the split fingers on, I can punch the key pad outside my office - the dexterity is good. One benefit I did not foresee, but am extremely pleased with, is that these new gloves allow a very comfortable hand position while riding a bike. I often ride resting my hands on the brake hoods, two fingers on the brake lever, two on the bars, thumb around the back. This would be impossible with mittens, and regular gloves can't keep the little fingers warm in this position. The split finger gloves are perfect, split in exactly the right place. Perhaps the designer had this in mind early on, perhaps not, but either way it's great. They are also windproof, water-resistant and have a nice nose wiper on the backside of the thumbs. The styling is also pretty modest which I find refreshing in the usually gaudy world of cycling apparel. I suppose they'll be great for cross-country skiing too. Goodbye ratty old gloves.