Craft Siberian glove

The Craft Siberians are well-made mid-weight gloves that provide decent warmth without being too bulky.

My only real negative criticism of these gloves is the name. If you call something 'Siberian', surely the implication is that it's designed to keep you warm in the most extreme winter conditions. That's the message I get, anyway. Don't get me wrong, these are good gloves, but they're not right up there among the warmest you can lay your hands on.

Right, having got that off my chest, let's begin... Starting at the inside, you get a very comfortable fleece inner glove next to your hands, then the real insulation is provided by 70g Thinsulate. It gives you a reasonable amount of warmth that's suitable for most UK winter conditions – but there are bike gloves out there that use heavier weights of Thinsulate.

The palms are Clarino synthetic leather which feels a lot like suede, while silicon dots provide excellent grip even when the bar tape is wet. Several weeks in and those dots are all still present and correct, so I'm guessing that most of them are going to stay for the full lifetime of the gloves.

You get more silicon dots on the reinforced tips of the first two fingers – the ones that are going to do all the shifting and braking – which shows that Craft know what they're doing. The silicon really does stop you slipping on the levers.

The backs are windproof and they keep road spray out. These aren't waterproof gloves by any means, but your hands won't get wet and cold at the first sign of damp.

The cuffs extend well above your wrists and they're adjustable so you can easily tuck your jersey sleeves in there to prevent cold air getting up your arms. The adjustment is via that type of hook and loop fastening that doesn't snag on every bit of clothing within a three-mile radius, thankfully.

Craft have reinforced the area between the thumb and forefinger – useful if you spend a lot of time resting your hands on the hoods. You get a soft, fleecy nose wipe on the back of each thumb too, which is handy when you're in polite company and can't perform a snot rocket over your shoulder (don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about).

The thumb isn't windproof, though, which is a shame. This is something that a lot of manufacturers do: they make the backs of their gloves windproof but not the thumb – yet your thumb is stuck out there at the front most of the time, bearing the brunt of the cold air.

What else? Ah yeah, I've read a few other reviews that say these gloves are bulky. They just aren't. As winter cycling gloves go, they're medium thickness at most. You get a good feel for grabbing zip pulls and getting energy bars out of your rear pocket.

One other thing: what are they like to get back on after you've stopped to refill your waterbottles or fix a puncture and the insides are slightly damp? It's a very important test. These gloves aren't very stretchy so it's not a simple job, but the long cuffs are easy to grab and drag so it's do-able. I'm awarding them a pass.

For me, these are warm enough for rides down to about 5°C. Lower than that and I wanted a liner glove underneath, or I swapped to something thicker... but that's partly just me. I'd wear oven gloves in the winter if I thought I could get away with it.

Lots of people will get use out of these when conditions are a bit colder, just don't go expecting a duvet-level of warmth it you're heading off on an Arctic expedition.

Verdict

Well-made mid-weight gloves that offer a good level of warmth without sacrificing too much lever feel.