Review: 45NRTH Draugenklaw Drop Bar Pogies

NOTE: The 45NRTH Draugenklaw Drop Bar Pogies were purchased by Guitar Ted for test and review on Guitar Ted Productions. 45NRTH is not paying for nor do they have any influence on this review, All opinions are Guitar Ted's

The 45NRTH Draugenklaw Drop Bar Pogies on my King Fab Honeman Flyer

Pogies are an invaluable cold weather bike accessory for flat bar riders. While there are, and have been drop bar pogies for years, the choices are far fewer than they are for flat bars. Recently I found a deep discount was being offered on some 45NRTH cold weather accessories which included the Draugenklaw pogies, so I bit and ordered a pair up. 

What It Is: The Draugenklaw is a pogie which is designed to keep hands warm in sub-freezing weather. The Draugenklaw is designed to be used on drop bars. 

The fabric is a soft-shell with a weather-resistant outershell and soft fleeced interior. The Draugenklaw is a slimmer design than other drop bar pogies and is a light-weight design.

Interestingly the inner lining fabric is something 45NRTH is calling 'far-infrared yarn'. It supposedly has the characteristic of accumulating heat and retaining warmth. 

The Draugenklaw is specifically designed for drop bars with up to a 24° flare. Draugenklaw Drop Bar Pogies normally run $85.00 USD but you might find them heavily discounted at the time of this writing. More on these drop bar pogies can be seen on the 45NRTH webpage for the product HERE. 

First Impressions & Installation: The pogies arrived quickly to the Guitar Ted headquarters and out of the box I was impressed by the light, very slim looking design. The seams and materials all looked very well done. There is a nice patch of reflective material on the front facing section of the pogies which will be good in the lower light conditions often seen during Winter months. 

The pogies come with instructions and are clearly written to show you how the pogies should be installed on your bicycle's drop bars. I can say that following 45NRTH's suggestion for the install is a wise decision, as my first attempt to put these on was met with frustration. The lower opening is a small, tight fitting one and seems needlessly so. It precludes any installation over a double-wrapped bar, since the outside diameter of such a set up would render the Draugenklaw to be nearly impossible to pull over the tape. It's a very tight fit over a standard bar wrap as it is. Perhaps if the design had allowed for a hook and loop closed opening that could be adjusted? 

The openings will not allow for bulky gloves or big, heavy jackets.

Ride Performance: The Draugenklaw is a pogie with a minimal frontal area, which is great for aerodynamics, but this means that you have a slimmer opening to get your hands in and out of them. In my opinion, a glove liner is ideal for use with the Draugenklaw. Heavy gloves will be a tight fit, and that will cause another problem I'll get to in a bit. Heavy, thick sleeves on jackets are probably also a bad match with these pogies for a similar reason. 

I used a Summer weight Hand Up brand glove and found it was really about the best weight/thickness for a gloved hand inside the Draugenklaw. The fit around the levers is very snug on my Ritchey Venturemax/Tektro lever set up. I would say I have average sized hands for a 6ft, 1" tall man, so it isn't like I have meat hooks for hands here. So, I was a bit dismayed by the act of removing a hand from the bar and returning it again. The Draugenklaw wants to push down and away from the rider when the hands are entering the pogie. This ends up pushing the opening down until it is essentially facing skyward. You can wriggle your hand and get a semblance of coverage back again, but the thought I had was, "am I missing something here?"

A smaller hand and thin gloves, or no gloves at all, with a tight fitting long-sleeved  jersey/jacket would help mitigate this issue. But larger handed folks and anyone trying to use these with thick gloves, mittens, and heavy Winter jackets will be disappointed. That much was apparent, but still.... I was wondering if there was something I missed. My mind lit on the hook and loop section meant to go around the handle bar top section. Maybe......

Here you can see how the Draugenklaw openings are pitching toward the sky.

 Tightening the part that wraps around the flats of the drop bar may help, so that is what I tried on the next ride. I also went bare-handed and used a thermal jacket with a more slippery outer shell material. This all showed marked improvement when it came to removing and reinserting the hands. Cool! So, I think the tightening of the hook and loop opening around the handlebar top was key here, but I still believe that a thinner glove and sleeker jacket combination will be best with the Draugenklaw.

I think there is something to the high-tech fabric and its claim of heat-holding warmth. I could tell on all three times I rode with the Draugenklaws that heat was being retained inside the fabric.  Even in really cold weather. I didn't ride for long, but at single digits with below zero wind chill, and with heavier gloves? I could make this work. I also confirmed that heavier gloves are a pain to deal with when using the Draugenklaw.

I'll be back after I try these again a few times  I think they will be quite good.  Stay tuned....