# Pogies of choice?



## mtnbkrmike (Mar 26, 2015)

I am rocking the 45 North Cobrafists this winter. Holy crap are they awesome. In minus 18 C temps today, my hands were almost too warm, wearing very lightweight winter gloves. 

Really solid design as well with the cinch cords on the openings, the ventilating zippers and the small pockets on the inside. 

Outstanding.

What pogies are you using, and how would you rate them?


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## isleblue65 (Sep 5, 2009)

mtnbkrmike said:


> I am rocking the 45 North Cobrafists this winter. Holy crap are they awesome. In minus 18 C temps today, my hands were almost too warm, wearing very lightweight winter gloves.
> 
> Really solid design as well with the cinch cords on the openings, the ventilating zippers and the small pockets on the inside.
> 
> ...


I used Sportsman's Guide moose mitts when I lived in Minnesota. I rode all winter a few times per week at night mostly. My hands were too warm above zero with anything heavier than glove liners. Negative 15f was the coldest night ride, and they were great. Never had to use the chemical hand warmer pocket.

I have never heard of an ineffective pair of moose mitts. As long as they have the basics, like conch cords, warmer pockets and they are designed to allow you to pull your hands out quickly in the event of a fall, you are good to go.










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## Jayem (Jul 16, 2005)

One huge (IME) advantage of the Dogwood pogies is their ability to be "rolled up"/turned inside out. This means when your hands start getting hot, either because you are working hard or the temp is only a bit below freezing, you can roll them up to expose your gloves, regulate your heat, and keep your fingers dry. While these are the most popular pogies around here, it seems like many people don't realize you can do this with them. I also bought some revelate expedition ones for the ultra-cold, but that's going to be more for days that start out at -25°C and just get colder from there. Many of the others like Revelate, 45N, etc., are all far more rigid and do not allow you to adjust nearly as well for warmer temps. This also allows you to have an extra safety-net when it's slightly warmer and you think you can run with just some thin gloves.

The Dogwoods also come in an extra-insulated "plus" model: https://www.907bikes.com/product-page/dogwood-designs-winter-plus-pogies

Rolled up:









I think the Dogwoods are the most versatile for most situations, otherwise some of the heavier ones like the Revelate Expeditions make sense when you know it's going to be well below -18C all the time and possibly much colder. Coldest I've ridden the regular Dogwoods was about -29°C.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Homemade ones. Too warm to use above 20F, even with summer gloves. Above that, I just wear a slightly warmer long finger glove (but not a true "winter" glove).

DIY Mountain Bike Pogies - The GPS Geek


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## mtnbkrmike (Mar 26, 2015)

Jayem said:


> One huge (IME) advantage of the Dogwood pogies is their ability to be "rolled up"/turned inside out. This means when your hands start getting hot, either because you are working hard or the temp is only a bit below freezing, you can roll them up to expose your gloves, regulate your heat, and keep your fingers dry. While these are the most popular pogies around here, it seems like many people don't realize you can do this with them. I also bought some revelate expedition ones for the ultra-cold, but that's going to be more for days that start out at -25°C and just get colder from there. Many of the others like Revelate, 45N, etc., are all far more rigid and do not allow you to adjust nearly as well for warmer temps. This also allows you to have an extra safety-net when it's slightly warmer and you think you can run with just some thin gloves.
> 
> The Dogwoods also come in an extra-insulated "plus" model: https://www.907bikes.com/product-page/dogwood-designs-winter-plus-pogies
> 
> ...


Wow. I hadn't heard of Dogwoods but yes - turning them inside out would be a very useful feature for me at times.

That said, I am blown away by the Cobrafists.

The only issue I am having is that the interior donut is apparently messing with my rear d cable - since installing them, I am now ghost shifting at times (usually at the worst times, including while climbing).

We have had an extraordinarily warm winter this year. The warmest I can recall in the last 25 years. I am still waiting for the usual minus 35 temps to arrive so that I can REALLY try out the Cobrafists.

I thought 45 North was a really good choice for pogies. I wonder now whether I may be overlooking other (and maybe better) options for the bitter cold temps. Jayem - I suspect I would benefit hugely by seeing a list of your minus 20-25 go to attire (although I guess I can connect the dots with a number of your posts on the topic).

In my neck of the woods, the serious and frequent winter riders are all running 45 North Cobrafists.

EDIT: the other thing about those Dogwoods is that it looks like they may not be affixed to the bar ends. That would be good. My hands are always JAMMED against the outside edge of the Cobrafists to facilitate braking and shifting. It gets to be a little uncomfortable after a while. Maybe I just need to move my levers inboard a bit.


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## Jayem (Jul 16, 2005)

They are not affixed to the end of the handlebars normally, although I have a very early model and they may have a better way of dealing with this. Because they are not as rigid, they tend to sag and I affixed little loops inside the pogies and little slots on my handle-bar ends that I can put the loops through to "hold them up higher". But that's relatively easy to address with a few different ideas (like you could put a button in there maybe) and the newer ones may have a much better way of doing this anyway. 

The 45NRTH and Revelate ones are very popular around here too, not quite as much as the Dogwoods, but not scare by any means. I also find pogies are a great place to store fuel during a race (wash them before and after), just dump a bunch of gel bites in there and they stay warm and pliable and it minimizes how much you have to fumble and reach on your bike, which means you stay warmer. 

Every year before winter I cut out some foam to jam into the openings where the pogies cinch down on the cables/controls, just to get as much sealing as possible.

There are definitely some negatives with the Dogwoods, but I find the ability to roll them inside out and essentially ride with "no pogies" to be well worth it, but for colder and slower stuff (non-race) I think there are better choices. Most of these 2nd gen pogies are much more rigid, heavier, etc. Those have good and bad traits.


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## mikesee (Aug 25, 2003)

I rode with the Dogwoods for ~7 or 8 years. They are decent. Plenty warm. Didn't ever take advantage of rolling them up on the bars -- if it was that warm I'd just ride with my hands outside the pogies for a bit. I hated how they just flopped down when you removed your hands.

A few friends have the 45N variants. I don't understand the need to make them so complex, and thus heavy. Can't see what tangible benefits are afforded in so doing.

I have a few pairs of the Revelate. Full disclosure -- I helped with a small component of the design their Expedition versions. For arctic use they are unparalleled.

For everyday use I like the Williwaw version.


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## Jayem (Jul 16, 2005)

/Thread


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## mtnbkrmike (Mar 26, 2015)

mikesee said:


> ...A few friends have the 45N variants. I don't understand the need to make them so complex, and thus heavy. Can't see what tangible benefits are afforded in so doing...


I didn't appreciate they were heavy. Or complex. That said, this is my first winter with any pogies of any variety so I don't have a benchmark. What are the complexities to which you refer?

One thing I do like is that I can ride in way sub-zero temps with a pair of light liner gloves on. But maybe that is the same for all decent pogies.


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## Scott O (Aug 5, 2004)

Anyone tried out the cheap pogies available on amazon? And how do I translate mtbr threads from celcius to farenheight?


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## Hurricane Jeff (Jan 1, 2006)

"And how do I translate mtbr threads from celcius to farenheight?"

Celsius temp x2 +30 = Fahrenheit roughly


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## Rockadile (Jun 27, 2005)

Scott O said:


> Anyone tried out the cheap pogies available on amazon? And how do I translate mtbr threads from celcius to farenheight?


Yep. I got a set of the neoprene pogies for my bike and my son's bike. We don't do extreme low temp riding but these have been good for us down to near zero with warm gloves. In 20-30s I am using them without gloves or with thin liners.


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## TroutBum (Feb 16, 2004)

Scott O said:


> Anyone tried out the cheap pogies available on amazon? ...<snip>..


Late to the party, but these were one of the better sub $20 purchases I've made in a long time. Last few rides have been around 20F with rag wool gloves & perfectly comfortable. Pre-pogies, I was never able to find the right glove situation... either frozen numb painful fingertips (windchill) or monster truck gloves that sweated out & were iffy on the controls.


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## prlundberg (May 7, 2004)

I haven't had them in real cold weather yet, but I am liking my Specialized Insulators so far. For $60 I can't complain. Their main downside is that there are no vents, but that hasn't been an issue for me. Cobrafists are up to $150 now, they look nice but that's hard to justify for what they are.


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## HerrKaLeu (Aug 18, 2017)

TroutBum said:


> Late to the party, but these were one of the better sub $20 purchases I've made in a long time. Last few rides have been around 20F with rag wool gloves & perfectly comfortable. Pre-pogies, I was never able to find the right glove situation... either frozen numb painful fingertips (windchill) or monster truck gloves that sweated out & were iffy on the controls.


Do those Odier have some attachment of the pogie to the outside of the handlebar? I have a different $20 pair of pogies. the problem with those is, the pogie slides off and exposes most of my hands. the expensive pogies have some sort of bar-end attachment that keeps them on straight.


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## TroutBum (Feb 16, 2004)

HerrKaLeu said:


> Do those Odier have some attachment of the pogie to the outside of the handlebar?


Nope. There are two small velcro straps on the stem side that close the opening & also seem to keep them in place. I believe the orientation of cables on my rig do provide a bit of tension (downward pressure) to further hold them in position. The pogies have not moved at all after numerous rides.


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## HerrKaLeu (Aug 18, 2017)

TroutBum said:


> Nope. There are two small velcro straps on the stem side that close the opening & also seem to keep them in place. I believe the orientation of cables on my rig do provide a bit of tension (downward pressure) to further hold them in position. The pogies have not moved at all after numerous rides.


Thanks. I give those a try before I move on to the ones that cost a kidney. I should be fine temperature-wise as long as they don't expose half my loves during a ride like my current ones.


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## connolm (Sep 12, 2009)

I got cheap ones on Amazon from RockBros. They are exactly like the Odier pictured above. Usually at that temp, I use a two glove system with hand warmers (Hot Hands air activated disposables). I'm new to pogies and was blown away at how effective they are. I rode in 32F (0 C) for 2.5 hours with just a regular cycling glove (no thermal protection). My hands actually got warm and sweaty.

They stay in place based on the velcro strips and the cable routing as indicated above.

I commute ALL year and have had problems with cold hands in 5-10F (~-15C). I can't wait to see how these do at those temperatures.


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## Rockadile (Jun 27, 2005)

I agree with @TroutBum and @connolm. I've got the RockBros on my bike and the Odier on my sons bike. I, too, was surprised at how well they work since they are not nearly as insulated as the much more expensive options. We've had no problems with movement. In the 30s, I wither go gloveless or wear a thin liner. When it gets towards zero, I move up to more winter-type cycling gloves.


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## rmac (Oct 26, 2004)

I picked up a pair of the RockBros based on recommendations here and I am impressed with them. For context I have been using ones I sewed (badly) myself from several years ago and the RockBros are significantly better and well worth the price. I do have one problem though. My dropper cable mount (Lev) pushes the cable out from the handle bar (as opposed to along the handle bar like the brake and gear cables. This means I cannot get the pogie on very far down the handle bar without risking damaging the cable and attachment and it also means I cannot seal the end of the pogie very well (my left hand (dropper side) gets cold-numb on longer rides while my right stays toasty). I don't see a way to redirect the cable and am considering cutting the pogie to allow the cable to stay as it is and adding velcro across the 'cuts' to close it up around the cable. Has anyone else found a good way of addressing this?


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