Brief Review of Gerbings' Core Heat Vest/Gloves

[David]

During a remodel last summer, somehow all of our coats (including my heated jacket) were either thrown away or mistakenly put in the Goodwill stack. Regardless, I kept hoping they would show up as we unloaded storage and moved back in, but no joy.

 

So, in anticipation of a cold ride this last weekend (starting in the low 40s), I grudgingly bought a new one from Gerbing. I got a vest this time, choosing the Core Heat system powered by a 7v lithium battery. Same for the gloves.

 

Some quick observations:

 

• Vest appears well made.
  
• It's nice to be able to see the heat setting on the gloves, but there's no such provision for the vest. It's difficult to change the setting while you're wearing it.
  
• The lead that bridges the battery to the vest proper is a little annoying. It hits where the left chest pocket would be on a shirt.
  
• The heating itself comes on slower than the 12v Gerbing jacket (powered by the bike) that I had earlier.
  
• The heat itself is much more even. I didn't detect any hot spots.
  
• Gloves were also well made and very comfortable.
  
• I used both the gloves and the vest at 50% power, which turned out to be plenty. At that setting and low 40s at speed, my hands were too warm with the heated grips on high, and almost too warm with them on low. In other words, I think there's plenty of power for a full day ride. Same for the vest.
  
• Sizing for the gloves was what I expected. The vest came a little larger than I would have expected. I had to wear more than a shirt under it to get it to fit snugly. I'm 5'11, 192 lb., 38" waist, and went with a large. A medium might have fit better, but who knows.
  

 

Overall I'm happy. I'm also entirely wire free, including radar detector, which is nice and makes things so much easier.

[Mister Tee]

I'm looking at getting a 12V version of the Gerbing's vest. Can you elaborate on that?