I would almost sooner ride without a helmet than without gloves. I've turned around and gone back 1/2 mile when I realized I didn't have gloves.

When it's warm, half finger gloves. When it's chilly, I use Wells Lamont motorcycle gloves - they're hi-viz yellow with reflective patches

amazon.com/Wells-Lamont-7674M-Motorcycle-Visibility/dp/B005XQKE1G

When it's really cold, I use hunting gloves, which are basically blaze orange thinsulate lined ski gloves. If you pick them up at the end of hunting season in the department stores around here, you can get them for < $20.

I've got my eye on some sweet winter gloves at the LBS but they want $65 for them. Screw that.

I was just up on Amazon looking for winter gloves. It's kind of ridiculous. You look at "cold weather, wind and waterproof" gloves, and they're all highly rated, then when you read the comments, you find out that people think that 20*F is "cold". OK, how about -20*F?

I ride with gloves all the time. I didn't know over padded gloves can cause numbness. I may start to try other brands. I like the full finger gloves. Last January, when I took a fall (road rut), I saved the skin on my hand by using gloves.

I'm actually surprised people would ride a commute without them.

I use motorcycle gloves: I tend to wear out the fingers on the cheaper/summer gloves I have had (heavy old 70s dry clutches) so I cut one set to 1/2 and the other to 3/4 and made some serviceable bicycle gloves: with carbon/plastic reenforced knuckle armor to boot.

at this point it feels sort of weird to ride without them.. but i'll use them less as summer approaches as they get pretty soaked in sweat if it hot.

I use gloves as weather and whim dictate. Being a sedate and cautious cyclist with bikes that ride smoothly in an upright position, augmenting comfort is of little consideration, and the safety factor is a very low priority. that may change some as I'm picking up a drop bar road bike this weekend.

I mostly don't bother with gloves. Long rec rides I'll ride gloves, but commuting I wear full-finger gloves (road-found work gloves) only when it's cold, otherwise nothing. The only exception is sometimes I run in the gym at work and then ride home, I'm so sweaty I wear gloves because otherwise the bars get really slick.

But generally I get plenty of padding just from my bartape, because I have an old innertube as a base layer.

I always wear gloves and a helmet. The gloves I wash regularly because they get stinky. I wear half finger gloves in the summer and when it gets colder I have fully finger gloves. Padding doesn't seem to make much of a difference for me. Gloves absorb sweat, have snot wipe areas in addition to preventing road rash. Road rash can be quite debilitating. Hands are an integral part of daily life and important to protect.

The only things I use for "hand protection" are the calluses that have formed from cycling haha.

Seriously though, ever since I acquired road rash between my fingers that took FOREVER to heal, I always wear full finger gloves.

The $10 "ebay special" pair I have is below:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=452838

They have a microfiber thumb section for wiping sweat, gel padding that feels just right, and matches my kit too :).

peace

Why? The probability of a high speed crash while commuting is extremely low and if you do go down and start sliding you shouldn't try and slow your slide with your hands. The times I've gone down my arms or legs seem to sacrifice their skin.

ive tried many gloves and must say i love the specialized bg gloves the most. many reviews say they are of low quality but i feel they are great and can last long if you take care of them.

I wear them everytime I ride.

Full finger gloves in the winter, half finger gloves the rest of the year. I never ride without them.

I wear gloves every time I ride, except when I ride with my young children to the park. I wear fingerless gloves when it's warm and mechanic's gloves from hardware stores when it's not too hot for full-finger gloves.

If I fall, I might not hit my head (although I wear a helmet, too), but I KNOW I'm going to land on my hands, one way or another. Putting your hands out when you fall is one of those involuntary things, like breathing, isn't it?

I'm also a guitar player, so I'm used to keeping my hands out of harm's way, when I can.

Apart from their protective function, I also use gloves because they dramatically improve grip.

Every Ride.

Got 47,000 miles out of the first pair.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...0out%20011.jpg

I use weight lifting gloves.

Due to lack of LBS, I stopped at a department store and found baseball gloves for batting. They're perfect for me. Excellent grip. Thin padding in all the right spots. Thin enough to dry quickly, and operate phones, zippers, buttons, lighters, backpacks, and what have you. They're also made of thin leather- last time I came off the bike my palms got chewed up real good, I haven't rode without gloves since.

Edit: I forgot to mention how handy a snot wipe area on gloves can be.

If the weather is not too hot, I wear them. One of the reasons is I have reflective stickers on them, so at night it helps with visibility when signaling a turn.

I use full finger glove soak up sweat from hands and it has a build in terry cloth to wipe face area. Machine washable. Also helps if I need to hold on to a tree or push off.

If I get on a bike without gloves I quickly realize I forgot something. It just doesn't feel right holding any handlebars with my bare hands, unless I'm riding my indoor trainer.

You would have to lift your hand in order to see from the mirror.

The usefulness of gloves as a sweat mop, palm protector, and as another bit of gear to obsess over can't be overstated, without more time than I have right now.

Did a 400k brevet this weekend, and never got my gloves out of the handlebar bag. Hands have never felt better after a long ride. ;)

If the responses on this thread are representative of BF commuters' preferences (almost 100% wear gloves at all times when commuting), it demonstrates to me how unrepresentative BF commuters are of bike commuters in general. Not surprising though.

No gloves for me. Even my Dainese full metal motorcycle gloves don't protect against broken fingers

Padded gloves half or full. Sorry to hear about your pinky and your job. Are you a hand model?

Wish I'd been wearing gloves last night when I was cutting the dog's arthritis pill in half and took a chunk out of my left index finger.

Gloves arrived yesterday. I like 'em a lot. But they are definitely over-priced at $36/pair. I paid for the name - I can see that now. These TLD gloves are great summer gloves, but there's not much to them. They're very thin. However, they work great with my iPhone!

Okay now that is clever!

Oh and OP back when I was young and dumb and did things with a skateboard that would make me cringe now.. I sometimes would use these, especially if it was a new trick.

http://blog.rollerwarehouse.com/wp-c...s/IMG_0303.jpg
They're rollerblading gloves, and if you pay attention, they can save your fingers, hands wrists etc... but you gotta remember to use the bars for landing not your face or hands.

You need gloves to operate an iPhone? :roflmao2: