Pearl Izumi P.R.O. Barrier WxB Glove

We’ve had the coldest and snowiest winter in several years thus far, but it never gets prairie cold here on the south coast. When it’s hovering around freezing, and raining, those are by far the nastiest conditions we get. Which means if you are wet, you are cold.

Styling is not subtle – but visibility is good, aided by reflective elements.

Pearl Izumi’s P.R.O. Barrier WxB Glove is designed as a shell and can be used, if you go up a size, over liners like PI’s P.R.O. Softshell Lite Glove. For testing I stayed true to size because I’d rather have a good connection with my bars than ultra toasty digits. And there is a thin layer of fleece that will help keep the cold out.

The (AX Suede G-Series Grid WR) palm provides good grip and a thin, fold free interface with your bars.

For me a winter glove has to have a nice thin palm to prevent the sloppy feel and indistinct lever contact that many winter gloves are infamous for. Obviously if you live in Whitehorse you’ll need more insulation than these gloves provide, but down to about -5˚ Celsius (23˚ Fahrenheit) these do the job for me.

Keeping water out is however what these gloves do best. I’ve ridden in many downpours with these and they have kept me incredibly dry.

I wasn’t thrilled with the hook and loop closure on the wrist. It’s difficult to perform the tuck and pull needed to use these with one hand and the opening is too small to go easily over a jacket but not long or wide enough to go over top well.

Most of the time the cuff of my jacket is pushed up against the top of the glove for a less than perfect seal. This was the only design weakness of these gloves.

Time to get to work.

If I’m not sure if the monsoon is coming I have no trouble grabbing these gloves. They work and fit well enough to be indistinguishable from a regular mountain bike glove. Photo – Pete Roggeman

 Pearl Izumi’s P.R.O. Barrier WxB Glove will lighten your wallet by $145 Canadian and $100 US.

Would these work for your cold season adventures?