Originally Posted by
Hypno Toad
I finally had some time to watching Paris-Roubaix (not a cold day, but lots of vibration on the hands); there were riders with and without gloves. One of the TV presenters made a comment that made it appears there is bravado for the pros to ride with bare hands. Pro cycling has a lot of mind games and letting the other riders know that you're not suffering is definitely part of that. IMHO this is a major part of the pros decision to ride without gloves.
Good point. As with any competition its as much a mental game as it is physical.
Some funny comments through this thread about what the pros do and how us mamils want to emulate everything they do. As the OP, I'll make something clear about me... I don't care to do everything the pros do. I do enjoy watching the pros ride, and I do learn things from them that make me a stronger/faster rider. OTOH I watched Froome descend on stage 8 of the 2016 TdF (clip below),
I will never emulate that riding position, I don't care how much faster it is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5j2AKgw6r
Functional, or just wackiness?