Best Motorcycle Gloves for Cold Weather Riding

For cold weather riding the pick is the Fleece-Lined Deerskin Gloves at $120, because the temperature most riders are actually fighting is not 20F, it is the 45F morning that turns into a 60F afternoon. A 3M fleece lining inside a deerskin shell handles that whole span without turning your hands into blocks or forcing you to carry a second pair. Unlined deerskin runs out at roughly 60F. Fleece lined deerskin runs to roughly 40F. That one step covers most of the cold riding most people do.

The reason cold weather glove shopping goes wrong is that riders buy insulation when the problem is airflow. Cold hands usually start as a cold forearm, with air pushed up an open sleeve at highway speed until the blood arriving at your fingers is already chilled. Thicker padding does not fix that. A sealed cuff does. Below the mid 30s even a good cuff stops being enough and heated grips or heated gloves take over, which we will say plainly rather than pretend leather covers everything. Nothing here is armored, CE rated or waterproof.

Our Rating Method

The weighting favours what keeps hands usable on a real winter ride: cuff sealing first, then insulation, then dexterity at the lever, then how quickly the glove dries out after a cold damp morning. A glove that scores well on paper and leaves you unable to feel the front brake gets marked down hard, because hesitation on a cold road is a worse outcome than cold fingers.

Scores are our editorial judgment after riding in the gear and examining how it is put together. We do not run lab tests of any kind, the numbers are not measurements, and a score does not tell you how a glove behaves in a crash. Prices verified August 2026. Product by product temperature bands are set out in the deerskin glove temperature guide if you want more detail than a ranking gives.

1. Fleece-Lined Deerskin Gloves, Best All Round Cold Weather Glove

These are the gloves most riders should own, and they cost the same as the unlined pair they replace. The Fleece-Lined Deerskin Gloves keep the shape and feel of a plain deerskin glove, with a 3M fleece lining that adds warmth without the padding bulk that ruins lever feel. Down to roughly 40F they are comfortable with nothing underneath, and around 45F they are close to ideal. The short wrist cut is their limit: it tucks under a jacket sleeve rather than sealing over it, so on the coldest days air still finds your forearm. Inside their range, nothing else here is as easy to live with.

• Price: $120

• Score: 8.6 out of 10

• Best for: roughly 40F to 60F, the glove you wear most of the cold season

2. Classic Deerskin Gauntlets, Best When the Wind Is the Problem

When the forecast drops into the 30s, cuff length matters more than lining thickness, and the Classic Deerskin Gauntlets are the only glove here that seals over your jacket sleeve instead of hiding under it. That flare stops the column of air that otherwise runs up your forearm at speed, and riders are consistently surprised at how much warmer their fingers feel from a change that happens at the elbow end of the glove. Alone they are good to roughly 40F. With a thin liner they hold into the 30s. At $145 they are the most expensive pick in this ranking and the one that changes the most.

• Price: $145

• Score: 8.5 out of 10

• Best for: highway speed in the 30s and 40s, worn over the jacket sleeve

3. Deerskin Insulated Mittens, Best for the Genuinely Cold Days

Four fingers in one chamber warm each other. Five fingers in five chambers each lose heat on their own. That is why the Deerskin Insulated Mittens outlast every five finger glove in this catalog when the temperature really falls, and why they cost no more than a lined glove at $120. The cost is dexterity. You keep clutch and brake control, but blinkers and a fuel cap take more thought, and the first ride feels awkward until your hands learn the shape. Buy these as your second winter purchase rather than your first, for the mornings the fleece lined pair cannot carry.

• Price: $120

• Score: 8.3 out of 10

• Best for: the coldest days you will still ride on leather

4. Alpinestars Heated Riding Gloves, Best Below the Mid 30s

We do not sell Alpinestars and there is no link here, but any honest cold weather ranking has to admit where leather stops. Once the air is below the mid 30s, insulation is only slowing an inevitable loss and the answer becomes adding heat rather than trapping it. A heated glove with a battery or a bike feed keeps your fingers working for hours in conditions where any unheated glove has you flexing your hands at every stoplight. What you give up is simplicity, cost and a cable to remember, plus the feel of thin leather that made you like riding gloves in the first place.

• Price: typically $250 and up, sold elsewhere

• Score: 8.2 out of 10

• Best for: sustained riding below the mid 30s

5. Gators Skin Glove Liners, Cheapest Fix in Cold Weather Riding

At $25 the Gators Skin Glove Liners are the least glamorous thing on this page and the one that improves the most gloves. They add a trapped air layer under whatever you already own, so an unlined pair becomes a fall pair and a gauntlet becomes a winter setup. They only work if there is room for them, which is the argument for buying cold weather gloves a half size up. A liner squeezing your hand cuts circulation and makes you colder, not warmer. Keep a second set dry in the bag for the ride home.

• Price: $25

• Score: 7.8 out of 10

• Best for: adding roughly ten degrees to gloves you already own

Where the Cold Actually Gets In

Fix these in order and you will spend less money getting warmer than you would by buying a thicker glove.

• The cuff. Air up an open sleeve chills the blood before it reaches your fingers. Seal that gap before you buy insulation.

• Fit. A glove that squeezes stops circulation and your hands go cold faster. Snug in summer, a half size roomier in winter.

• Wet leather. No unlined glove here is waterproof, and a soaked glove in the cold is worse than a thin dry one. Carry a spare pair.

• The bike. Heated grips, hand guards or a taller screen change your hands more than any single glove upgrade.

• Your core. Cold hands are often a cold torso choosing where to send blood. A warmer jacket fixes hands you thought needed gloves.

• Expectations. If impact protection matters to you, none of this leather is armored or CE rated, so check the glove buying guide and then shop a maker that certifies.

Common Questions

What are the best motorcycle gloves for cold weather riding?

The Fleece-Lined Deerskin Gloves at $120 are the best single answer for most cold weather riding, comfortable down to roughly 40F. When the temperature drops into the 30s, switch to the Classic Deerskin Gauntlets at $145 with a liner so the cuff seals over your jacket sleeve. Both are unlined or fleece lined leather, so neither is waterproof.

What motorcycle gloves keep hands warm in cold weather?

Gloves keep hands warm in cold weather by stopping airflow at the cuff and trapping still air around the fingers, in that order. A gauntlet worn over the sleeve with a thin liner underneath does both, which is why that combination beats a thicker short wrist glove at the same temperature. Insulated mittens go further still by letting fingers share heat.

How cold is too cold for leather motorcycle gloves?

Around the mid 30s is where leather stops being the right tool. Below that, most riders lose useful feeling within half an hour no matter what lining they bought, and the honest upgrade is heat rather than another glove. Heated grips are the cheaper half of that fix and they work with the gloves you already own.

The Buy

Start with the Fleece-Lined Deerskin Gloves at $120. They cover the largest number of days you will actually ride, they feel like a normal glove, and they do not ask you to relearn the controls. The runner up is the Classic Deerskin Gauntlets at $145, which is the better glove on the coldest, windiest days and the worse one in traffic on a mild afternoon.

Add liners for $25 whichever way you go, and if you commute through a real northern winter, spend the money on heat instead of a fourth pair of gloves. Leather does a lot, and it does not do everything.