How to Select Good Road Bike Gloves
How to Select Good Road Bike Gloves
I go through a lot of road bike gloves and after being road bike gloves they get recycled as my motorbike gloves. I’ve just feel “safer” wearing gloves. In the Thailand heat having non-sweating hands feels better.
I wear gloves when riding back in Northern Michigan. When it’s cold I wear warm lobster gloves.
In my opinion, gel-filled gloves are better than gloves without padding or with simple foam padding. Gel-filled gloves are generally a bit more expensive. I’ve paid a lot and I’ve paid relatively little. Expensive does not mean good, comfortable, well made, or smart. In fact, some of the more expensive have simply stupid designs. They were obviously created by some marketing department with connections to the bicycle accessory sales chain – but not real riders.
Some of the great glove that I’ve had the pleasure to ride with have:
Smooth gel packs in anatomically correct locations optimized for riding pressure points.
Gel packs on the pinky side of the hand.
Little tabs that help you peal the gloves off.
Soft, absorbable material on the back side of the glove to wipe the face.
Webbed, breathable, or open material on the backs of the glove.
Some of the stupid ideas put into the gloves I’ve purchases and do not recommend have:
Gel packs that stick out square from the glove or simply don’t match human anatomy or riding needs.
Gel packs shaped into logos or a fancy design rather than to human hands.
Silly marketing or fake features that are not needed or appropriate.
Sticky plastic piping on the front of the glove making it impossible to clean your bike computer with the front of your hand.
Sharp Velcro, logo edges, or other idiocy on the back of the hand making it impossible to wipe your mouth or eyes with the back of the hand.
Unfortunately, the local bike shops feel they need to stock and sell big brand names at big brand prices. This means that most riders get their gloves from the alternate sources at reasonable prices.
Where do you buy your gloves? Do you have any brands that you love? Please share in the comments.
I recently fell in love with cycling. And I found lots of cycling gloves on Amazon. Which kind of design is practical in winter?
I’ve been cycling since I was 5 (29 now), and I just can’t find decent priced gloves anywhere for the past years. It’s like everyone’s gone mad. I’ve recently tried out a dozen gloves and most had wrong padding (non-anatomical), too little padding, bad closing, bad materials, no reflection surfaces.
I’ve fallen hundreds of times on my bike and I feel like the gloves these days offer little or none of the protectiom I’m used to relying on.
I’ve been riding with a pair of modified mountain bike gloves that I’ve cut the fingers off for two years now, waiting to find a good set of cycling gloves with a leather palm.
i like my closures on the back.