Road Cycling - Road Bike Gloves

Guyz, I looked around for biking gloves and virtually every pair is labeled as mountian biking gloves. Is there a specific kind of gloves for road bikes? What should I look for in a pair of gloves for my road bike? The main object is comfort primarily.

Cheers, :beer:

S

Well, you will add safety and health to that list, I am sure.

My arthritis is very happy with the padded palms in the road gloves I have. Fingerless for warm weather, and full finger with wind-resistant tops for colder weather. You have to protect the nerve in your hand - once injured it takes a long time to recover.

Then there is the abrasive nature of most bike paths when your hand skids along it ... :)

Performance has them, as do most bike supply houses, I would think.

Cheers...Gary

That's interesting. I hadn't noticed much in the way of labeling for cycling gloves, in terms of road or MTB, other than some full-finger gloves for XC and such.

The amount and type of padding you want has more to do with your own hands and your own preferences than with anything else. Someone who rides mostly on the hoods might prefer something different from someone who spends all his time in the drops. A stonemason probably has different needs from a violinist.

Personally, in warm weather I wear crochet-type gloves with light foam padding, such as the ones Performance has on sale for about $8 a pair. I also like Coolmax-backed gloves, but they don't give you that weird spotted suntan on the backs of your hands.

RichC

If I remember correctly when mtn biking was really getting popular, late '80's early to mid 90's, the gloves were actually named seperatly. Then that stopped all of a sudden. But "road biking gloves, as far as I know have always been the style with the lycra, or coolmax back. And most mtn bike gloves had a "net" style back to them. the padding and palm material varied for both depending on what you wanted or needed. These days so many people wear mtn bike gloves for road riding, and vice versa. I think is why they are no longer labeled seperatly.

As I ride a recumbent I don't need heavily padded gloves. But gloves are necassary when riding a recumbent. Mainly in case of a crash, gloves help protect my hands.

I suggest you determine what you need. Do your hands get real sore after riding? Do you tend to slide and move your hands around the handlebars a lot? These are some things to consider when picking out gloves.

I know it's a bit OT but the first bike gloves I had were a pair of Spencos that had gel inserts and 'netting' across the back of the hands. They used to give such a great glove tan. People used to see all these spots on the back of my hands and wonder what kind of skin disease I had.

I think I'd like to find some new ones like that some day and get the tan thing happening again.:D

I have never found a pair of gloves that truly take up the road shock. Gel gloves are so bulky and unnatural that they just aren't comfortable to me.

Rather than trying to get a pair of heavily padded gloves, I use good and well padded bar tape. Then, I wear a pair of thinner bicycle gloves. This gives me the most comfort in any of the hand positions on the bar.

The best use of gloves seems to be to protect your hands in case you fall.

Hi Spire,

Pearl Izumi makes a good basic glove for around 25 bucks. It does not have that gel just good leather.

ride safe....Dudley

I bought a pair of these (http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=89&subcategory=1043&brand=&sku=3429&storetype=&estoreid=) gloves a year ago and like them so much I bought 3 more pairs.
I think they are padded with leather, not gel.

I've got some Specialized Body Geometry gloves. I didn't like them at first becuause the BG pad felt like a big lump and made my hands rest on the bars inproperly. But the BG pad has broken in now and I like the gloves much better. My friend swears by Fox gloves, but I haven't tried them. I wouldn't get full-finger gloves for road riding, pretty much anything half finger will work.

Forgive me, I can't resist - it is a wordplay kind of morning.

Keep your Fox gloves away from the cat. It is the beautiful woman that gets 'em.

Cheers...Gary

P.S. mail me privately if you care. :p

honestly, i began NOT wearing gloves, even for long rides and it keeps me light on my hands and better balanced instead of leaning on my hands- especially when i get tired. after the first wipe of the brow it is a wet towel anyway.

I tried gloves that have brown leather palms with slight padding. I liked these gloves a lot until the hot summer Then they got really wet from my sweat. When they dried the leather got stiff and felt brittle. I tried oiling them but that didn’t really help.

Has this been a problem for anyone else? How do you fix it?

Are there any gloves that don’t get stiff after being wet?

How are the suede palm gloves in this regard?

Been there, done that with the mesh backs. But driving gloves, not cycling gloves. I used to use them in my sporty-car days - very important, especially when autocrossing. Of course, that was before most of you were born. ;)

As for warmth, I was amazed to see Frigo with no gloves in the mountains, in the rain (and maybe sleet) during the Tour de Romandie. Only that one stage that I noticed.

Cheers...Gary

I wear full-finger gloves onroad and off, year-round, primarily for protection. (Does that make me a Phred?) I have two pairs each of Trek gloves (partial mesh on the backs of 3 fingers) and Odyssey gloves. I select gloves mainly for size/fit, adequate flexibility for braking and shifting, and a non-slip grip on the handlebar.

i began NOT wearing gloves
Not to be a pessimest but your first good fall while
not wearing gloves will cure you of this. The gloves
IMHO aren't so much for padding your hands while riding
(a secondary benefit) but protect you when you go down.

When they dried the leather got stiff and felt brittle
I have been wearing Pearl Isumi white line gloves, and
I just toss em in the washer, and they seem fine
after, not stiff at all. The padding is leather and the
interior feels like suede?
Just don't dry em, they don't like that at all...
Marty

Pearl Izumi White Line gloves are excellent and reasonably priced. Retail about $21.95 at your LBS. I have one pair that have been machine washed and air dried about a dozen times. They still look and feel like new. The padding is a high density foam that is just right, not too thick or bulky. I also have a pair of Specialized Air Waves that seem very good also. Both have split leather (rough side out) palms.

I tried buying inexpensive Nashbar and Performance gloves. False economy. They do not wash well and I think the padding is cardboard. The leather palm on one relatively new pair tore after getting soaked in a rainy ride.

It is hard to beat basic PI White Lines for comfort and value.
FWIW,
Raymond

Spire
I recently bought a pair of'Radicale' gloves for Sports Experts at Fairview, which I think is close to you. I think they were about$20. They have good gel padding and find them v comfortable.

I also boutght some crochet backed ones from Walmart ($12) - I havent worn them yet as I am waiting for the sunny weather. One problem with cheap gloves is that they use a specially formulated dye that isnt colour-fast in the leather but is colour-fast once the first rain washes it out onto your hands. So choose a pale colour.

Thanks for the input everybody. I took a trip to Ottawa and went to the MEC there and spend $170 on bike stuff :D gloves being one of the items.

:beer:

Road tested and awesome: Louis Garneau erGOair gloves @ $30 are excellent. Leather padding, good soft snot wipe, mesh cloth on topside. What I like most is the design on the palm allows airflow you can feel as you ride. Great for those hot balmy Georgia rides!

The road test part was on a recent distance ride, my front tire blew and I did a plant. The gloves protected my hands well and other than a minor rip are OK. If only I had the gloves over my shoulder and hip! Fortunately I'm healing quickly and nothing was broken. Anyway erGOair are excellent road gloves, probably not heavy enough for MTB tho.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by lotek
[B]
Not to be a pessimest but your first good fall while
not wearing gloves will cure you of this. >>>>>>>
i have perfected my 'stop, drop and roll' to exclude any one body part from getting dinged too badly. hahahaha
i guess i'll just have to concentrate on keeping the rubber side down.

Originally posted by Spire
Thanks for the input everybody. I took a trip to Ottawa and went to the MEC there and spend $170 on bike stuff :D gloves being one of the items.
Spire... considering MEC's prices, $170 is a whole load of stuff. I see two pair of shorts, two jerseys, socks and gloves in there...

I have three pairs of gloves [not counting winter gloves] that I roatate for different purposes... A pair of Performance ErgoGel [or whatever] gloves, a pair of nashbar gel gloves and a pair of Specialized BG Comp gloves. The specialized are my favourites for the road, but they'r pretty expensive. By rotating my gloves and washing them regularly, though, I get a whole lot of life out of them.

I bought a pair of gloves, a hydration back pack (3L water, 10L pack), a long sleeve shirt for that 2-10C range of temperatures and a membership :D. $170 is a bit high, I think it was about $160 after all the taxes... I think it is money well spent.

Rainman,

I have 2 pair of the Pearl White Lines, I really like em for all
the reasons you mentioned, the only drawback I've
noticed is the foam in the padding tends to hold
water really well, so sometimes they feel a little slick to
me. They do wash up nicely don't they.

i have perfected my 'stop, drop and roll'
being a roadie for me its more like 'stop, drop and skid' :lol:
I guess on a MTB the roll is induced by the downhill?
Marty

hmm i've never even put much thought into wearing gloves... darn this newbie stuff, so much to learn, so much to learn.

I got some Cannondale gloves which are pretty comfortable, but a little light on the towelling for nose-wiping. I would like some of those new Specialised ones designed to cushion the ulnar nerve, but haven't got around to it yet. Feel like I should be doing some more riding first...:rolleyes:

Originally posted by RonH
I bought a pair of these (http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=89&subcategory=1043&brand=&sku=3429&storetype=&estoreid=) gloves a year ago and like them so much I bought 3 more pairs.
I think they are padded with leather, not gel.
I concur. These are nice gloves for the money. I have a couple pairs myself.

Originally posted by John E
(Does that make me a Phred?).

What does this mean?

I bought a pair of these gloves a year ago and like them so much I bought 3 more pairs.

I second RonH's nomination of gloves.

I also use Specialized Crossroads, which I get on sale for about $3.00 each from Nashbar, and I buy about 10 pair at a time.

I have large hands (just barely fit in an XL, and a job to get off after a good sweaty ride). They have little to no padding, which seems to work best with my meaty hands.

I tried (and still own) a pair of highly gel padded gloves, and they drove me crazy when I wore them. My hands really hurt after wearing them. I think that with my large, already well-padded hands, the gel makes them even larger, and I feel a lot of pressure while riding with those gel gloves!!

To each his own!