Hot Stuff Updates: Gerbing’s T5 Heated Motorcycle Gloves
For Christmas this year, my Mom & Dad sent both Kenny and myself a pair of Gerbing Microwire T5 heated gloves. It was not until this weekend that I got a change to plug them in and give them a try.
Gerbing’s products are made to all connect together in one big circuit. Each garment has a plug or a jack to connect to one another. You can use an individual thermostat to variably control the heat flowing through each garment directly or you can use a single thermostat to control all.
Hero of the Stupid
If you are a dummy like me you might make the incorrect assumption that with an interconnected system all of the wires and jacks in the jacket liner would be powered once you are plugged in to the battery. This is not the case.
One Thermostat, Multiple Garments
If you only want to use a single thermostat controller for both your jacket liner and your gloves, you will need a splitter. Power from the motorcycle battery must be flowing into both male jacks on the jacket liner in order to power an accessory from the liner.
Plug the 2 female splitter ends into the jacket liner and the 1 male splitter end into the thermostat controller. Now, plug the gloves in to the liner’s forearm jacks. Your body and your hands will be toasty; controlled by a single thermostat.
So how are they?
In a word… Scrumtrilescent.
By the time that I arrived home from my ride yesterday, it was about 25 degrees out. At no time during the ride were my hands ever cold, even at highway speeds. I do still have the handlebar muffs on my bike as well.
The T5 gloves are not as bulky and vague feeling as my Alpinestars winter gloves though not as natural feeling as my regular non-winter leather gloves. I did not feel impaired by the T5s in any way.
All in all I think they are fantastic. Though the $170 price tag may not be an easy one to swallow, I would go so far as to say that they are worth it if you are inclined to ride in the cold weather. Much like the heated liner, I found myself wondering why I didn’t just buy them for myself prior to getting them as a gift. I guess mom really does know best!
12 Responses to this entry
6:10 pm
You != Dumb. Vague instructions and possibly the worst customer service support reply surround the wonder that are Gerbing’s products. Instructions for the gloves say “plug into the arm-connectors and you are good to go”, nowhere mentioning the aforementioned Y splitter. Thankfully, you are in toasty hand-world now
10:16 pm
Hot Stuff Updates: Gerbing’s T5 Heated Motorcycle Gloves http://goo.gl/fb/rpsC
11:35 pm
Man, I offered to have you try my G3 gloves, you were like “nah.”
You could have experienced scrumtrilescence that much sooner.
12:17 am
Curious… why not get dual troller? Also, are the gloves H2Oproof and are they warm without turning the power on?
ps – We’re about to get dumped with a foot of the white stuff…
6:03 am
@Soth-
No reason other than I didn’t want to buy anything else. I wasn’t buying the gloves, I def. wasn’t buying another controller. Since I already have a single that works just fine.
I don’t believe in waterproof gloves. I believe in water resistant to a point
Their paperwork says the membrane is WP Hypora. So far, they are the are the warmest gloves that I own – even with the heat turned off.
6:04 am
@Novos
See? I’m a glutton for punishment!
7:34 am
Thanks for the review. I’ll keep them in mind if the funds ever become available.
7:59 am
Just a note of advice, always carry emergency heat packs in the event that your gloves fail. Also bring along spare splitters because sometimes the contact point overheat and get damaged Last winter the left side of my glove failed when I was about 170 miles from home. Luckily, a Walmart store was just 20 miles down the road; otherwise it would have been a nasty ride back home. The good news was when I returned the gloves and Gerbing replaced the with new ones and upgraded me to the G3 gloves.
9:00 am
Hiya Ben-
Every Christmas I get those shakey heat packs in my stocking. Part of the benefits of having relatives who live in Maine. They’re always thinking about keeping you warm
I’ll have to keep a few in my tankbag. I used them in the toes of my boots when I did the Crotona in 2007 and they did help cut some of the coldness.
I never considered the splitter could fail. Good advice on getting a spare. I’ll do that. Thanks muchly!
12:46 pm
Gerbing's T5 Heated Motorcycle Gloves – http://www.fuzzygalore.com/2010/02/hot-stuff-updates-gerbings-t5-heated-motorcycle-gloves/
1:17 pm
Perfect for this frigid weather! RT@Torch762 : Gerbing's T5 Heated Motorcycle Gloves – http://tinyurl.com/ylgyuc8
2:52 pm
RT @Torch762: Gerbing's T5 Heated Motorcycle Gloves – http://www.fuzzygalore.com/2010/02/hot-stuff-updates-gerbings-t5-heated-motorcycle-gloves/