BIKE ME - Held Cold Champ Gloves Review

Author: Boris  Date Posted:12 February 2024 

HELD COLD CHAMP GLOVES – Finally, winter gloves worthy of the name

Held glove

 

These are brilliant. And yes, I am a Held devotee, and they are still, objectively, brilliant. I have worn them for a while now, and like a racehorse, they have been put through their paces. Thoroughly.

I wore them to Tumbarumba. On the way home to Singleton, it rained solidly for five hours, and the temperature did not rise above seven degrees Celsius, and spent far too much time around three and four. And it rained constantly.

Not a week ago, I wore them on the Moto Guzzi Mandello press launch. It was even colder, though it didn’t rain. There was snow instead.

 These were all-day rides – and as we all know, the longer you spend riding in the cold, the harder everything gets. With the added factor of wind-chill, you can easily be riding in sub-zero temperatures when the thermometer is in the low single digits. That may be bearable for an hour. Maybe two. Do it for five or six and see how chirpy you feel.

 Anyway, we’re all grown-ups here. And I’m not inclined to bullshit. I have worn and advocated for Held gloves for more than half-a-decade now, despite owning all the other brands as well. I think they are the best gloves in the world. I tell you this because it is my informed opinion. No-one who has bought Held gloves or gear on my recommendation has ever regretted it.

So if you’re after winter gloves worthy of the name, the Cold Champs are it.

 What makes them so good?

 Well, GORE-TEX, obviously. And a new GORE-TEX technology called Gore Grip. This is when the GORE-TEX has been sorcerered into the actual shell of the glove. It is part of the glove. So there’s no free-floating bullshit inside the glove to add bulk, or to follow your hand out when you take a glove off. And we all know how much fun that is when your hands are wet and cold, and you pull off your gloves, and the lining comes out as well. Do you enjoy poking that wretched crap back into the glove with a fork you’ve stolen from the servo cafeteria? I don’t.

 The Cold Champs have it all. Thinsulate, GORE-Tex, Gore Grip, goatskin palm, Taslan leather uppers (Taslan is a relatively new synthetic leathery material which has superb insulating and abrasion properties), and Thermoplus fleece on the back of the hand, sitting under moulded, hard-plastic knuckle protectors .Everything you could want in a winter glove is there.

And a five-year warranty. No-one gives you that except Held.

And they work. My hands stayed dry for almost four hours in the rain. Whatever moisture got in there, got in there via me putting damp hands back in the glove, or water that seeped in down the cuff.

Held glove

Were my hands toasty warm? No. But they were not frozen blocks of ice. They seemed to be…well, normal temperature.

Are they bulky? I know some you MotoGP racers disdain winter gloves because “THEY’RE JUST TOO BULKY!” This leaves me to assume this perceived bulk somehow interferes with your “feel”, both for the manifold switches and engine modes and blinkers and levers you’re constantly deploying as you ride along, and for what the bike is doing.

Pretty much the only thing I’m deploying when I’m riding around is the blinker. Sometimes Cruise Control. Most of the time I am easily able to deal with the throttle, front-brake, and clutch despite winter gloves. Hell, I could deal with that crap with dead cats on my hands.

It stands to reason winter gloves will be thicker than racing gloves. But if you last bought winter gloves 10 or more years ago, you need to understand materials technology has changed. They’re not what they were.

And yes, they will feel a touch bulky when you first put them on if all you wear is racing gloves. Give them a few hours to bed in and mould to the shape of your hand. At the end of your first day you’ll love them so much you’ll name your pets after me.

Are they better than those bizarre electrically-heated gloves? Can’t say. I have no truck with those things. What I do know is the Cold Champs will never run out of batteries, and won’t die if they get soaking wet. And I also know that the world’s best glove brands have not yet decided to turn their hand to making electrically-heated gloves. You may draw what conclusions you wish from that.

The Cold Champs have won awards in Europe (where it really gets cold), and this is because they work. They are a high-end, quality product, which you’ll realise the moment you start to fondle them.

I love them, thus do I commend them to you for your consideration.

HOW MUCH? $290

View Product here: Held Cold Champ Gloves - Available in Various Sizes

View full article here: BIKE ME - Held Cold Champ Gloves Review

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