Q36.5 Termico winter gloves review: Lightweight, capable and warm winter gloves

Q36.5 has to be one of the most talked about brand names of the winter, thanks to all of the speculation around Tom Pidcock's move from Ineos Grenadiers to Q36.5 Pro Team. 

Pidcock will no doubt be getting to grips with his new team's clothing. Likewise, I've been testing several pieces of Q36.5 kit out this winter, in what has been my first introduction to the brand and its clothing. The Termico winter gloves are the first Q36.5 equipment I have reviewed so I'll kick off with a brief bit of background. 

Q36.5 was founded several years ago by Luigi Bergamo, an ex-Assos employee. The brand name itself holds the key to the company's design philosophy when it comes to cycling kit. Q stands for Quaerere, a latin word which means 'research'. While 36.5ºC is the body's optimal temperature. In a nutshell, the brand claims that each piece of kit that it produces is designed to keep the rider's body at that optimal 36.5ºC temperature. 

The Termico gloves are rated for 0-10ºC / 32-50ºF temperatures and are designed to provide a good amount of warmth whilst still being breathable. They are also lightweight and provide very good dexterity. Q36.5 kit is generally on the expensive end of the cycling kit pricing spectrum, and the Termico gloves retail at £90 / $125 / €95. 

I’ve been testing winter cycling gloves for several months, you can check out my best winter cycling gloves guide here for all of my top picks. 

Design and Aesthetics 

The Q36.5 Termico gloves are manufactured from a mix of Polyester, Polyurethane, Polyamide and Elastane. Externally the gloves use a laminated fabric that’s wind and water-resistant. The interior uses a mix of soft fleece and what the brand calls 'UF Air Insulation Plus' on the back of the hand. This takes the form of lofty insulating fibres in a diamond pattern that features across a lot of Q36.5 kit. There are also gripper sections on three of the fingers including the thumb and across the palm.  

Visually the Termicos are a stylish pair of gloves, they come in one colour and feature minimal branding or wordmarks save for a silver arrow on the left hand which is embossed with 'Q36.5' and on the right cuff a small info box (pictured above) with the model name and some key metrics. I wish all the kit I tested came with such a handy info box! There’s also a light reflective strip to be found on the outside of each glove. 

I’d argue a healthy length cuff is a plus point for most cyclists when it comes to winter gloves. The Q36.5 Termico gloves tick that box and the cuff covers your wrist well, easily covering base layers and going under or over jacket sleeves. 

The Termicos are also a really light pair of gloves. There isn't the bulk here some other winter gloves have, and whilst we'll get to the actual cold weather performance it means the gloves pair very well with a wide range of kit. Bulky winter gloves are sometimes at odds with certain jerseys and cuffs. 

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 Performance  

Straight off the bat the Q36.5 Termicos are a really comfortable pair of gloves. They just pull on, with no Velcro or zips to worry about, and are soft, snug and inviting inside. I concur with the brand's claim of there being zero tightness or restriction of material anywhere; it has nailed the fit. The gloves aren't super tight, there's wiggle room for your fingers for example, but there's no excess slip or space. On the topic of fit, if you are shopping, make sure you have a good measure-up and use the online size guide. I’m almost universally a medium in gloves, but a size small fits me perfectly here. 

The gloves have proven to be very capable, comfortable all-rounders, serving me well right down to freezing temperatures. In milder conditions, they are comfortable and breathe well. I feel the given temperature rating is spot on. I have pulled them off at around 11-12 degrees and put them in a pocket when they got too warm. 

For colder rides down into single digits, they are a great option for more intense riding due to their lightweight design but also excellent dexterity; there's no unnecessary bulk or restrictive insulation. I'd say the next step on from here for really hard cold weather riding or racing where you might want even less bulk is something like the Castelli Perfetto RoS glove. 

How warm are they? I used them down to freezing with an air temperature of -1C and crucially riding at a low intensity. The tips of my fingers were cold during the ride, especially when riding easy on the flat. But it wasn't a disaster, my hands were generally comfortable, and this was at the edge of the gloves given temperature range, so fair enough in my book. For single-digit temperatures across a range of riding, the gloves kept my hands both comfortable and warm. 

If you like the look of the gloves but want the warmest option for long, cold rides, you're going to be better off with something warmer and or heavier-duty. Q36.5 has a warmer offering, the Super Termico which is rated for sub-zero temperatures.  

I like to do an initial tap test on gloves to see how they deal with water, and the Termico's have proven surprisingly resilient to water ingress. Droplets of water bead and roll off the gloves in a satisfying way, outdoors too. Only a small amount of water entered via the finger seams under a prolonged and aggressive soaking - the outer reflective strip seam seems to be the weak point, but the overall performance left me pretty surprised. I've experienced worse results from poorly stitched neoprene gloves. The Q36.5 Termico gloves will deal with rain well, up to a point, but you shouldn't expect total waterproofness.   

I only really have two negatives, chief among which is that the gloves have no soft nose wipe panel for snotty moments. It’s certainly not the end of the world, but I prefer to have a panel to use if and when I have to wipe my nose on cold rides. 

Second, the touchscreen capabilities aren’t brilliant. I don’t have a screen protector fitted to my iPhone and the gloves aren’t very easy to use with it. I think it would be even harder or impossible with one fitted. And they don’t work well with computer touchscreens at all. I’ve not had much luck with my Hammerhead Karoo computer whatsoever. Luckily I still have buttons to use, but I would rather see this improved for the money and to align more with the overall spec of the gloves. 

Value

On first impression, there could be a danger of writing the Q36.5 Termico gloves off as something of a lightweight, ineffective fashion glove. Their light weight and good dexterity may lead you to a premature conclusion, which would be incorrect. 

For me, they do justify the price tag. You're getting a stylish and seemingly well-made pair of gloves that are really light but offer a very good amount of insulation and protection. They are stylish, with good water resistance and work effectively across a range of temperatures. 

They remind me a little of the almost universally popular and now discontinued Velocio Alpha gloves which we also rated highly. 

Verdict 

You can pretty much have your cake and eat it when it comes to the Q36.5 Termico gloves. They have had my back across a wide range of winter riding.

I've worn them to ride hard in the cold, on general winter rides and down into freezing temperatures and they have handled pretty much all of it without blinking. They look the same after multiple washes with no defects or signs of wear. 

If you want some stylish, capable gloves for winter step this way. My only word of warning would be to riders who suffer regularly from cold hands and want the warmest gloves they can find.