If you ride without gloves, you'll build up calluses, and you'll never have hand problems again. If you don't want calluses, this obviously isn't the right solution. I climb rocks, so my hands are like kevlar.

If you want gloves to protect you during a crash, that is an option. But, if you're landing on your hands during a crash, you're landing wrong, and you will suffer worse injuries than scraped hands. Any good snowboarder, BMXer, skateboarder, or mountain biker knows that learning how to fall is as important as learning how to ride. Never use your hands when you fall, unless you like broken fingers, wrists, forearms, elbows, and collar bones. Try to roll and land on fleshy things. Your a$$ and shoulder will heal in a few days. Your wrist will take 6-8 weeks. I learned this lesson the hard way.