I want to get some gloves for my commute. Last month I had a spill and broke my pinkie and I realized just how important these things are for earning a paycheck, even just one broken finger can affect one's livelihood.

Anyone using gloves year round?

That sucks! Gloves won't protect against broken or dislocated fingers, though. They're mostly for added grip and protection from scrapes.

Overly-padded ones may trick you into not moving your hands around enough, too, leading to numbness and sore joints. That was my finding anyway -- I tend not to wear gloves if I don't need to.

This. Gloves are like seat padding. Too much can make unwanted pressure points. Too little, not enough damping. I have a bit of a fetish in this area so I keep trying different gloves on different bikes to see what works best on what.

I usually always wear gloves, mostly for better grip when I start to sweat and also they work well for wiping away sweat...as opposed to just a sweaty hand or arm. Also work well for wiping a runny nose.

I'm actually considering motorcycle gloves...

I use light leather (or some leathery material) work gloves with a stretch cloth back. My hands go numb very quickly if I use padded gloves.


edit: gloves are unlikely to prevent broken fingers, but broken fingers from riding are pretty unlikely to begin with.

edit ii: These are similar/identical to the gloves I use during the summer: Mark's Work Wearhouse
In the winter I wear ski or snowmobile mitts.

Any particular style? Don't absentmindedly try to wipe your brow with these ones!

i almost always wear gloves - commuting and regular rides.
though I haven't been wearing them on my commutes lately because my bar tape is cushier than the hoods on my road bike, and I've got a wicked glove tan going so I'm trying to even it out and not have white hands and tan arms.

I wear them all the time when I ride, just like my helmet.

Full finger ones in my pocket . since its Chilly at Dusk, here..

Only when it's cold.

+1

I never ride w/o gloves. My cycling gloves have saved me from some potentially nasty road rash more than once.

Always. For better grip and in the unfortunate event when my hands meet asphalt. Once my bike slid out under me during a turn because of sand deposited from previous night rain, my gloves were shred all the down to nothing but not a scratch on my palm.

Always full-finger for my regular commute. A nice buffer from friction, extra grip, protection from scrapes, and one the biggest benefits is not showing up at work with greasy hands if I have to quickly pop a chain back on or deal with a minor mechanical.

I wear them for safety also. I don't wear them on every ride, because it's not always convenient, but I wear them on most rides. Scraping skin off the fingers and palms is a b*tch.

Count me in the camp that always wears gloves. I used to switch to half-finger gloves once it warmed up, but last year I started using full-finger gloves year round. A little more convenient when commuting since I don't have to pack an extra pair for the sometimes chilly mornings. We'll see if I still feel this way when temps get past 100 deg F.

Oh, and +1 to the minimal/no padding recommendations.

As far as wearing motorcycle gloves, I'd love to wear them in the winter, but my bicycles don't have a 12-volt outlet to plug the gloves into.

I only wear gloves on chilly morning rides in to work.

When I had a motorcycle, I used to ride all the time in gloves.

+1 gloves are to avoid road rash on your palms and yes I use them (fingerless mostly) but I don't believe I have ever gone down palm-first. Better safe than sorry though.

All the time, and I have moved away from half finger to full finger. I like the Specialized BG gloves but there are other nice brands out there.

my 2 cents, good gloves go on and come off easily but don't cost much. personally I like 1/2 finger as well as full finger cycling specific gloves. for year round commuting, anything goes

I always did on the motorcycle, but I guess I'm not expecting bicycle accidents to be as bad. Speeds are far lower, so road rash would be far less severe, and so would duration of exposure to it. I can see the point as padding, but haven't needed it for the length of my ride.

I wore gloves for a while, and heard people talk about comfort, padding, cutting road buzz, etc., but found that the really didn't do anything for me. Wearing them didn't feel any different than not wearing them, so eventually I stopped bothering. None of my bike mishaps did anything to my hands, so they didn't do much for me in that way either. I still have them, and think about wearing them sometimes, but when the time comes, I generally just can't be bothered.

I wear fingerless in the summer, but could do without. I do like them for sweat or nose wiping. But no big deal if they are forgotten or in the laundry pile or whatever.

I can't ride without gloves anymore. I've had all kinds and all qualities and every one of them feels better than riding naked knuckled. I agree that the really heavy-duty mountain bike gloves are a little constricting for commuting. My current pair is off the shelf at Target and they work just fine.