Pearl Izumi Summit Alpha Gloves review: a surpsingly warm polartec-equipped barrier for mild winter and shoulder season riding

If you’re anything like me, you’ve amassed quite a pile of cycling gloves over the years. From short-finger road cycling gloves that no one seems to wear anymore to bulky lobster mittens and everything in between. Everything, it seems, except for the right pair for the ride you’re about to do.

Every autumn and winter in the Pacific Northwest, I find myself standing in front of the glove drawer, debating the day’s conditions and inevitably stuffing a backup pair into my handlebar bag. Just in case.

Technology has come a long way since I first got into cycling. I still remember pulling on latex gloves under insulated winter gloves in a faint hope of staying warm and dry. These days, you can get warmth without bulk, and dexterity and breathability are no longer a premium feature. But cycling gloves for rainy conditions? They still feel like a unicorn.

And in the Pacific Northwest, that matters above all else. Truly cold days that call for ski gloves or bar mitts are limited; what defines our off-season riding season is the long, grey stretch from October through March, when it's chilly, windy, and relentlessly damp. Dressing for it is a challenge all its own.

On any given Saturday, I might roll out in 37 degrees, only to see temperatures swing by ten degrees throughout the day thanks to fog, elevation, wind and persistent dampness. The weather always feels colder than the thermostat suggests, but the biggest challenge is managing sweat. Once your hands get sweaty, the wind chill can turn a good ride into a miserable one in a hurry.

So when Pearl Izumi sent us their DWR-treated Summit Alpha Gloves, designed for a wide range of temperatures, I put them straight into the Portland winter to see if they could hack it.

Pearl Izumi Summit Alpha Gloves

Billed as Pearl Izumi’s "winter cycling gloves that deliver insulation and dexterity without compromise," the Summit Alpha Gloves are designed for cold-weather riding where bar feel and breathability still matter. They use Polartec® Alpha Direct® active insulation on the back of the hand to provide warmth while allowing excess heat to escape as effort increases, aiming to reduce moisture buildup.

On the palm, Pearl Izumi uses water-resistant AX® Suede Slim Fleece for durability, grip and tactile feedback, paired with a brushed lining for added warmth and comfort. The gloves are finished with a PFC-free, durable water repellent (DWR) treatment to shed light precipitation, a stretchy cuff with velcro-closure for adjustability, touchscreen-compatible thumb and index fingers, and a patch of microfiber on the thumb for wiping sweat and a runny nose. Pearl Izumi rates the Summit Alpha Gloves for use in a wide range of temperatures, between 30 and 65°F.

Features:

• Hero materials:
  • Polartec® Alpha Direct® with active-insulation
  • Water-resistant AX® Suede Slim Fleece in the palm
• PFC-free Durable Water Repellent treatment for light precipitation
• Touchscreen-compatible index fingers and thumbs
• Soft microfiber thumb panel to wipe sweat face and glasses
• Promoted temperature range: between 30–65°F (-1–18°C)
  • Suggested temperature range after testing: 35-55°F (2-13)°C
• Weight: 40g for the pair
• MSRP: $60 / £49.50

In use:

My first ride in the Summit Alpha Gloves began the way so many winter rides in the Pacific Northwest do: on a morning where the edges of the world are wrapped in fog. A thick blanket of it hung low over the farmland, and everything—road signs, fences, my bike, my kit— quickly collected a fine sheen of water beads. Not rain exactly, just that persistent, soaking mist that finds its way into everything.

For the sake of testing, I’d deliberately brought only the Summit Alpha gloves. And as I got rolling, I’ll admit I had my doubts.

The Summit Alpha are very thin and seemingly simplistic for something billed as a "winter glove." In my opinion, they're more of a shoulder-season option than a true cold-weather piece. No bulky insulation, no neoprene, no thick fleece. Just a light, streamlined layer between my hands and the damp chill. As the fog beaded on my sleeves and collected on the bars, I wondered if I’d made a mistake.

But as long as I kept moving and my heart rate stayed up, the gloves proved surprisingly warm. They won't do you much good standing around, but in zone two and above, even into January, with temperatures hovering around 35 degrees, my hands stayed comfortable. And the outside dampness never touched them either.

The lack of bulk meant excellent bar feel and easy control; no searching for the Di2 button or slipping off the hoods when navigating rougher sections. In that sense, they perform much like a shoulder-season mountain bike glove: light, precise and unobtrusive - even with my tiny hands!

Pearl Izumi had it right: these are indeed suitable for winter riding. They're so warm, in fact, that on sustained climbs and harder efforts, when blood flow increased, my hands started to sweat. So much so that the advertised breathability didn’t quite keep up. And once sweaty, the wind chill made itself known almost immediately. Wet hands in cold air are no fun at all, and I've long made a habit of carrying a dry pair of gloves for mid-ride swaps, and sadly, the Summit Alpha continue to necessitate a backup.

Yet for shoulder season, milder winter days, and rides where you know you’ll be working, they make a lot of sense. They're suited for a wide range of temperatures and genuinely offer a lot of warmth for their small footprint. And the dexterity and low profile mean I’m just as happy wearing them on the road as I am on gravel or singletrack. They may just be the pair of gloves that will inspire you to cut your glove collection in half.

And thanks to their small compressible size, they would also make a great pair to toss in your bar bag or jersey pocket on anything but a summer's day.

Caveat: while the gloves are treated with a PFC-free Durable Water Repellent (DWR) for light precipitation, they won't keep you dry in heavy rain. Few gloves do. But in light precipitation or mist, these gloves will keep you comfortable.

Verdict:

The Summit Alphas are a versatile pair of gloves to have in your collection. Their biggest strength is also their most surprising: they deliver the kind of warmth you’d expect from a glove twice their size, without the bulk or loss of dexterity that usually comes with it. They'll keep your hands protected from the elements in temperatures as cold as 35°F and into the spring-weather of 55°F (2 to 13°C).

Bar feel remains excellent, dexterity is never compromised, and they’re versatile enough to move seamlessly between road, gravel and mountain riding. For high-output winter rides and that long shoulder season on either side, they hit a very practical sweet spot.

The trade-off, as experienced, is moisture management. Once the effort ramps up and your hands start to sweat, the breathability can struggle to keep pace, and wind chill becomes a factor. They’re not a glove for standing around, and they’re not quite a one-glove quiver solution for the deepest, coldest or wettest days, but they come pretty close for shoulder season riding.

At $60 in a category that regularly pushes into three-digit territory, the Summit Alphas offer impressive performance per dollar. They’re lightweight, warm, versatile, and genuinely useful across a wide temperature range. If you’re looking for a do-it-all glove with the bulk, the Summit Alpha Gloves make a compelling case.