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Bar Mitts – Review

Written by Blatz – aka Mark Petterson

Gomez passed on a pair of Bar Mitts pogies to me and asked me to give them a try. Bar Mitts are made of Neoprene with Velcro and a zipper. They retail for around $50 to $65. Installation is pretty simple with one exception*. The Velcro strap used to attach the Bar Mitt to the end of the grip is very small and won’t work with some of the wider grips such as Ergons. I would hope this will be addressed by Bar Mitts in the future*. Also, it’s much easier to roll down the top of the Bar Mitts like a pair of socks to attach the grip strap, rather than follow instructions.

I spent most of my riding / testing time in temperatures ranging from the high teens to upper 30s. The Bar Mitts Neoprene did a nice job keeping my hands warm and gives the pogies shape. I used light weight XC ski gloves, but I believe most people could use regular full finger cycling gloves with the same results.

Entering and exiting the Bar Mitts are very easy. I even took an unexpected fall on some hidden ice an had no trouble with the split second reflex of removing my hand to brace my fall. One down side to the easy exiting/entering is the top of the Bar Mitts are very open which would allow heavy snow or rain reach the interior.

Bar Mitts work great with grip shifters, trigger shifters should work as well, but thumb shifters don’t seem to fit very well.
Overall, if your looking for a reasonably priced pogie that works well with most winter conditions, Bar Mitts would be a good choice.

*Wade from Bar Mitts shared some design changes coming for next season on the bar strap and more……”I just finished redesigning the cinch so it will accommodate the larger Ergon grips as well as the smaller ones. I also think it’s easier to deal with than the current “D” ring cinch currently used. So next season this will be fixed. With regards to the older style, I can send some Velcro extensions to accommodate the larger grips. Also, I still think that with old and new style cinch that putting one hand through the zipper opening and one through the cuff gives better dexterity to manipulate the cinch that holds the Mitt to the handle bar end. But that’s just one man’s opinion. We look forward to making adjustments on Bar Mitts as time goes on and we receive feedback from the consumer. Our goal is to make Bar Mitts the best and most available Poggies on the market. I also have a larger Mountain Mitt coming out for next season to accommodate larger people and those still wanting to wear larger gloves/mittens in colder climates and a completely new product that is going to work well in cold and hot weather.”

http://barmitts.com/

Disclaimer: This product was given to me for x-mas (by my son Alex) and then loaned out to Mark at no charge for reviewing. We were not paid or bribed to give this review and it will reflect our honest opinion or thoughts throughout.

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3 Responses to Bar Mitts – Review

  1. Mike March 1, 2012 at 8:03 pm #

    Love mine. Had the same issue with the velcro cinch. I cut mine out and hold it in place with a bar plug that is screwed thru the Barr Mitt. Works really well and no stuff in the way on the grip.

  2. JR Z March 6, 2012 at 9:01 am #

    +1 on the bar plug mounting (a la Mike). I also saw two people running this conversion at Triple D this year. For mine, I just cut a “plus” sign with a utility knife and shoved the plug through.

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