Galibier extreme winter gloves..

[wafter]

I recall in the past these have been recommended time and again; having had a pretty grotty wet commute this morning (and knowing such occurrences will be infinitely worse as the temperature falls) I'm trying to get the drop on some decent winter clothing.

I'm looking for feedback from anyone using these please; a) to try and get some quantifiable insight into sizing as I’ve read they come up small but this doesn’t really help with actual selection and b) to push me over the edge into actually committing..

If you have these gloves I’d love to hear your general thoughts as well as what size you’re running, your hand circumference and how you’re finding the fit.

Cheers!

 

[DCLane]

I have them and from experience should have gone one size up; i.e. I'm a Medium and should have got a Large.

I lost one on an audax in February so thanks for the prompt to get another pair.

 

[wafter]

I have them and from experience should have gone one size up; i.e. I'm a Medium and should have got a Large.

I lost one on an audax in February so thanks for the prompt to get another pair.

Thanks; glad you got a bit of value from this thread too (I hope you didn't find the loss of one glove as traumatic as I would have!)

Do you know your hand circumference at all?

I've just measured mine at 200-210mm which suggests a medium (190-210mm stated) but I'm thinking of going large (210-220mm stated)..

Do you have any experience of any of their other products? The cold really hammers me (esp. extremities) and I'm determined to do what I can to make this winter's riding more comfortable than the last..

Ta

 

[PaulSB]

I have the Ardennes light winter glove and can't imagine needing anything heavier. We ride all year round but never when there is a danger of ice. Under these circumstances the Extreme would be too hot. The Ardennes is a very good, comfortable glove. I followed the online sizing guide and found it very accurate. I have wide hands and short gingers. XL is right for me.

Ardennes light Winter Gloves – Galibier https://share.google/DfdWNoJsSjGPXUAcD

 

[PaulSB]

@wafter if I might teach you to suck eggs........gloves and socks, boots etc are only the second line in defence for winter cycling. If the issue is cold then you should first address keeping the core properly protected and warm.

I do feel the cold, in particular the extremities. Three or four years ago I invested in a Galibier quilted gilet. Generally I wear it underneath my outer layer - as an aside I find all gilets are more effective when worn underneath the top layer.

My first Galibier purchase for winter use was this:

Izoard PRO

Later for spring i bought this:

Insulated Reversible

Both are, in my view, superb products and go a long way towards solving the cold problem. If your core is protected the body will allow the extremities to be warm. A cold or chilled core will encourage the body to restrict blood flow to protect the core.

 

[DCLane]

Good question @wafter - I've never measured my hand before. It's 210mm. I'm more used to measuring my head for a graduation ceremony hat!

Other gloves I've tried include Altura (awful / heavy / VERY heavy when wet), Boardman (didn't keep my hands warm at all) and Endura (didn't keep my hands dry or warm).

It may be worth reading this from bikeradar and this from Cyclist magazine which are their 'best winter gloves for 2026' ?

Note that I also get cold hands far too easily when riding. That may be because I live in the wilds of hilly Yorkshire these days rather than the warm climes of the East Midlands

 

[Animo]

I've got them. Had large in the Barrier gloves but went XL in these. Think it's pretty counterproductive for winter gloves to be too snug.

 

[Shadow]

Another with the Ardennes light winter glove.
Hand size is 210 mm, went with medium, should have gone large. Fit is snug and fine for temperatures down to about 5°. If its cooler (but dry) I like to have a second fine, thin layer - e.g. silk - but that is too tight with a medium.

 

[wafter]

@wafter if I might teach you to suck eggs........gloves and socks, boots etc are only the second line in defence for winter cycling. If the issue is cold then you should first address keeping the core properly protected and warm.

I do feel the cold, in particular the extremities. Three or four years ago I invested in a Galibier quilted gilet. Generally I wear it underneath my outer layer - as an aside I find all gilets are more effective when worn underneath the top layer.

My first Galibier purchase for winter use was this:

Izoard PRO

Later for spring i bought this:

Insulated Reversible

Both are, in my view, superb products and go a long way towards solving the cold problem. If your core is protected the body will allow the extremities to be warm. A cold or chilled core will encourage the body to restrict blood flow to protect the core.

Thanks Paul - I'm well familiar with the idea of keeping the core warm as a priority and have no issue with this in and of itself.

While the norm for extremities to feel the cold more there I do seem to suffer a big discrepancy between the two (maybe because I have long, spindly limbs) and I think attempting to address the issue with further core insulation would end up cooking me as I frequently get too hot in this area already.. so it seems to make sense to look at ways of protecting the extremities directly.

Ta for the links although they appear non-functional!

Good question @wafter - I've never measured my hand before. It's 210mm. I'm more used to measuring my head for a graduation ceremony hat!

Other gloves I've tried include Altura (awful / heavy / VERY heavy when wet), Boardman (didn't keep my hands warm at all) and Endura (didn't keep my hands dry or warm).

It may be worth reading this from bikeradar and this from Cyclist magazine which are their 'best winter gloves for 2026' ?

Note that I also get cold hands far too easily when riding. That may be because I live in the wilds of hilly Yorkshire these days rather than the warm climes of the East Midlands

Thanks - appreciate you taking the time to put a number on it it as that makes me a lot more confident I'll get the right ones!

Ta for the links - I'll take a look although usually just end up going in circles / hamstrung by decision paralysis.

I've never been particularly impressed with Altura or Endura products either and they always seem to occupy the unremarkable, "meh" middle ground in the market.

I did buy some Gore gloves and a hat in the end-of-days sale, but was unimpressed so they both went back. To Germany. Which was a ballache

 

[T4tomo]

@wafter if I might teach you to suck eggs........gloves and socks, boots etc are only the second line in defence for winter cycling. If the issue is cold then you should first address keeping the core properly protected and warm.

I do feel the cold, in particular the extremities. Three or four years ago I invested in a Galibier quilted gilet. Generally I wear it underneath my outer layer - as an aside I find all gilets are more effective when worn underneath the top layer.

My first Galibier purchase for winter use was this:

Izoard PRO

Later for spring i bought this:

Insulated Reversible

Both are, in my view, superb products and go a long way towards solving the cold problem. If your core is protected the body will allow the extremities to be warm. A cold or chilled core will encourage the body to restrict blood flow to protect the core.

Yes I spent a while upgrading skiing gloves before a Slovenian instructor pointed out that wearing an extra mid-layer was far more effective at keeping my hands warm.

if its super cold on the bike (i no longer bike commute so rarely happens for me) then I use a skiing lobster glove as top glove, as lobsters and mitts are fundamentally warmer than gloves, albeit a mitt makes gear changes tricky - not an issue with skiing - but manageable with a lobster.

 

[Binky]

I have a pair and they are good but not as good as I hoped. I suffer big time with cold hands and feet and the Galibier gloves are decent but in sub zero temps my fingers still got cold.

 

[Arjimlad]

I too have a pair. Good to around zero, in my experience, especially with Decathlon's silk liner gloves.

https://www.galibier.cc/product/barrier-deep-winter-cycling-gloves/

When it is below freezing and the studded tyres are on, I deploy a cheap pair of heated gloves (3 AA batteries in a box on the wrist) with the liner gloves, which help keep the cold properly at bay.