Mountain Biking - The reason to wear gloves

I was riding without them recently, and my hands were slipping from the bars. Is that the reason why you wear them? I've also thought about branches scratching your hands and to keep your hands warm.

I was riding without them recently, and my hands were slipping from the bars. Is that the reason why you wear them? I've also thought about branches scratching your hands and to keep your hands warm.

1.) better grip with wet or sweaty hands.
2.) protection in a fall
3.) place to wipe sweat from your brow
5.) keep the tempreture of your hands
fairly constant for better blood flow
6.) palm protection in bike tire wiping or
maintaince
7.) oh yeah....on some people they look cool

i wear them to prevent blisters mainly

i wear them to prevent blisters mainly
Too easy buddy. Too easy. :D

I use mine for comfort and crash protection

I purchased a pair this past weekend. I got tired of cutting up my hand when i crashed.

Prevention of numbness in the hands caused by vibration and shock.

My hand is small. Often when I wear gloves, I lose some grip cus the glove makes the handle bar seem bigger.

Thats not good. I need some new gloves badly. Even washing my gloves doesn't get the stench out. They are ripped in a few places. Any suggestions. I'm gonna buy from the LBS but I would like to see what people suggest. I do freeriding and DH. If the LBS has anything you guys mention as good i'll buy. Otherwise i'll just find some good looking ones.

Too easy buddy. Too easy. :D

You know... I almost ran with that one too. Thank goodness your post halted me. :D



I use mine for comfort and crash protection

Ditto.

Thats not good. I need some new gloves badly. Even washing my gloves doesn't get the stench out. They are ripped in a few places. Any suggestions. I'm gonna buy from the LBS but I would like to see what people suggest. I do freeriding and DH. If the LBS has anything you guys mention as good i'll buy. Otherwise i'll just find some good looking ones.
I want a set of these:
http://www.specialized.com/OA_MEDIA/2004/equip/04GloveFortress_l.jpg
Specialized Fortress gloves (http://www.specialized.com/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=5184&JServSessionIdroot=xg0iiddh9t.j27008)

Well, another reason to wear gloves is so you get a really peculiar tan pattern: pale hands, dark forearms, and -- if you're like me and wear a baseball shirt while cycling -- pale everywhere else on the torso. ;)

the gloves i wear are the activa with gelled palms. they are pretty combfortable as they add more cushion from the bars. cushion is the only reason i wear gloves. my hands dont need protection really as i have never crashed and dont plan on doing so in the future. *knocks on head*

my hands dont need protection really as i have never crashed and dont plan on doing so in the future. *knocks on head*

Are you absolutely certain you've actually been mountain biking? ;)

Thats not good. I need some new gloves badly. Even washing my gloves doesn't get the stench out. They are ripped in a few places. Any suggestions. I'm gonna buy from the LBS but I would like to see what people suggest. I do freeriding and DH. If the LBS has anything you guys mention as good i'll buy. Otherwise i'll just find some good looking ones.


I find motocross gloves better for mtb than the ones you can buy at a lbs. They usually offer better armour and are cheaper aswell.

Those Fortress gloves are definitely tough (and surprisingly comfortable, considering the hardshell armor). They're probably great for DH, but a little over the top for general trail riding, IMHO.

My favorites are the Fox Sidewinders. I've got three pairs, so I can color coordinate with my clothing. ;)

Fwiw, a while ago I saw some full-finger gloves that had an image of an electronics circuit on the outside. Can't remember who made them. They looked really cool. :) Anyone know which gloves I'm talking about?

Those Fortress gloves are definitely tough (and surprisingly comfortable, considering the hardshell armor). They're probably great for DH, but a little over the top for general trail riding, IMHO.

My favorites are the Fox Sidewinders. I've got three pairs, so I can color coordinate with my clothing. ;)
I've got an old pair of Sidewinders that I've had for years. Great glove

Those Fortress gloves are definitely tough (and surprisingly comfortable, considering the hardshell armor). They're probably great for DH, but a little over the top for general trail riding, IMHO.

My favorites are the Fox Sidewinders. I've got three pairs, so I can color coordinate with my clothing. ;)

The fortress gloves are great. I use a set for DH. Saved my knuckles a couple of times :)

oops. i replied to this thread as under the "view new posts" and didnt realize it was the mtn thread. if i had a mtn bike i am sure i would crash very often.

My gloves have terry cloth on the thumbs- the right is for snot and the left is for sweat.

does everyone prefer full fingers over half or vis versa....i love full fingers and cant stand half...just curious what everyone else likes...

does everyone prefer full fingers over half or vis versa....i love full fingers and cant stand half...just curious what everyone else likes...

If it's light trails... and I mean really light then I'll go with my road cycling half-finger gloves. Otherwise, it's full-fingers for me. At the very least, it saves my fingers from getting all numb after I've thrown myself into a patch of stinging nettles.

:) :o :( ;) :p :rolleyes: :eek: :D

yea...gotta love that stinging sensation...

I only use full fingered. Some people complain of the extra heat, but honestly I don't notice a difference between full and half fingered gloves. Plus the added protection is much appreciated. I find when I ride I constantly push off of trees and I use my hand to brush small limbs and branches away. Plus, when I fall (often) I appreciate the added protection.

My favs are those by Fox.

I've got a set of Answer that I like a lot.

I bought a pair of Cannondale DH10 that are really comfy. Wish I could find another pair.

Hands down (pun intended) though are those made by Fox.

L8R

I run full...all the time. I never know what Iam gonna do on a trail so I take precausions haha

I run full fingers all the time also, even if I'm just out practicing wheelies. It's kinda like a helmet. . .I feel weird if I'm on the bike without them. Plus I sweat a lot.

I have considered cutting off my gloves' middle finger so that my signals to inconsiderate drivers are easier for them to see. :D

I run full fingers all the time also, even if I'm just out practicing wheelies. It's kinda like a helmet. . .I feel weird if I'm on the bike without them. Plus I sweat a lot.

Same here. I feel weird without my gloves.

I have considered cutting off my gloves' middle finger so that my signals to inconsiderate drivers are easier for them to see. :D



Hmmmm.......good idea :)

I have a set of Thor gloves (motorcycle shop), they are great, has a type of stretchy mesh that goes around between the fingers for good ventilation, and a slightly padded palm to reduce vibration (anyone ever ride a Yamaha Banshee). Also I have a set of half finger gloves that are made for jackhammers and air chisels. They keep vibration WAAAY down, and the tops are fully breathable. Excellent riding gloves to consider.

Broke a few of my metacarpels had I been wearing these:

http://www.specialized.com/OA_MEDIA/2004/equip/04GloveFortress_l.jpg

Instead of:

http://www.specialized.com/OA_MEDIA/2004/equip/04GloveRidge_l.jpg

I probably would not have had to wear a cast for 6 weeks. It's all about protection, the rest is just an added benefit.

Those Specialized gloves look overkill. Depends on what type of riding you do I guess. But I would deffinatly wish I had those if I crashed and messed up my hands...

I thought they were overkill too...



Till I crashed. Things are a god send for my knuckles...only part of my body that doesn't hurt after I crash now :D

Crashes suck. Especially bad ones when you just wanna lay there for like 10 minutes but you know you gotta get up.

Now that I have been dhilling a lot more my crash rate is up like 800%...I crash AT LEAST once a ride. Thats the minimum (when I was just doing skinnies, drops and xc I didn't crash very much...). Even on xc, where I now badly abuse my ht, I tend to hit things totally differently and at a much faster speed...hence crashing :D...God I love dh...

I think i'm going with the sidewinders.

I use half fingered Specialized Pro roadbike gloves, they're very tough and comfortable, have that nice soft fabric on the outter thumb/side of hand area for whiping sweat/blood/grease/what have you.

They've protected my hands many-a-time, and the three gel inserts keep my hands very comfy.

For XC the Axo/661 Raji are the greatest gloves ever. They have no padding, a kevlar palm crash protector thingy, and a mesh/terry back. I feel all wierd inside about them too...

Specialized are good for everything else like freeriding, DH, DJ, etc.

I wear some gloves that i found in my dad's van...literally...but anyway, i wear them because my hands are messed. The gloves make the bars seem thicker. Without the gloves, i can feel the tendons by my knuckles stretching like crazy. It feels pretty sick, like the tendons in my hand are going to snap.

God I love dh...

Now ya need:

http://www.specialized.com/OA_MEDIA/2004/equip/BigHit8TravelUpgradeKit_d.jpg

Hahahahahha...did you know they don't make them anymore. I tried finding some but no shops up here carry them and specialized is all out.

Seriously though my hands and arms are telling me I need

http://www.ishop.co.uk/ishop/images/399/2004-888-black-med.jpg

More :D

Hahahahahha...did you know they don't make them anymore. I tried finding some but no shops up here carry them and specialized is all out.

Seriously though my hands and arms are telling me I need

http://www.ishop.co.uk/ishop/images/399/2004-888-black-med.jpg

More :D

Already got: http://www.ishop.co.uk/ishop/images/399/2004-888-black-med.jpg

And love it!! Would be kind of funny to have 6" in the rear and 8" up front. Hmmm I'll check around and see if I can find you a link.

I am sure it would be super slack. But I don't have a problem in the rear. But my wrists and forearms are arthritic if I ride 2 or 3 days solid on the speed bumps we got on the mountain :)