When I was younger it was the influence of a certain computer game character that got me into wearing fingerless gloves almost 24-7. After playing at Urban chic for a while I discovered that fingerless gloves are extremely practical accessories for any active woman and by choosing the right kind of glove (leather & etc....) and having padding in the right places they were good for sooooooo many purposes. It takes a certain type of attitude to wear fingerless gloves with a Jane-coat-and-tie business suit in a corporate environment btw ;)
For cycling fingerless gloves are spot-on in term of comfort and grip. I was plagued with joint pain in my hands at one time and wearing good quality and nicely fitting fingerless gloves did make a big difference. In terms of protection against cuts and blisters they can't be beaten in my opinion.
These days I live a more gentle lifestyle as a religious woman of faith who covers and dresses modestly, BUT I still wear and use fingerless gloves because they are just so good and practical.
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...f?t=1211586478

Fingerless gloves look so much cooler.

And it covers the part of your hands that require grip (the palm and lower fingers) while leaving the more tactile parts (the fingertips) free to have more flexibility. Same reason why combat gloves have one or two fingers open... it allows you to grip the gun better while leaving your trigger finger flexible.

Okay, of course I was kidding about that, but I have to add that on my way home from work today, I was stopped at a red light, and I glanced in my rear-view mirror, and the guy on the bike behind me was actually PICKING HIS NOSE while he was waiting there too. He was using his thumb, though.

I just thought you all wanted to know that.

Do carry on.

He was not wearing gloves, by the way.

I wear gloves when it's cold out, and when I'm on the bike.
50dg F & above, fingerless (short-finger?)
49dg F & below, full finger; 35dg F & below, winter gloves.

Here is a video screen capture of my normal glove attire:

http://12.152.111.66/joeybike/red_gloves_001.jpg

The red color is for turn signal attention getting. Don't know about cars but my riding buds say they look pretty good when I signal a turn. I presume motorists see them better.

Been wearing fingerless and gel filled mostly with the road bike for 30 years. Our streets are often beaten up and my hands thank me for the gel. As for fingerless, I guess it's cooler and does not hamper hand use in general - like finding small objects in my bag, pushing phone buttons, working a camera - whatever.

I thought it was obvious: comfort, both by the padding and by the fact that your sweaty hand won't slide around the bars. I always wear gloves, and my hands feel a bit weird when i don't. And fingerless because it's hot and it's summer, plus you get to use your hands and fingers without a problem.

I don't know what kind of cheezy bike gloves you had in mind; all the ones I have seen have a nice padding of a leather like material that indeed does save hands.... a lesson I learned long long ago when taking a fall on a turn on a wet slick road, and having to pick gravel out of my hands after. I don't know of any gloves that are a "thin cloth material" on the palms.

Make your own choices about why you wear whatever protective gear. But don't discourage others...

Yeah and they lick their balls too... :rolleyes:

I think he was making his usual 'joke' about helmets by referencing 'styrofoam gloves.'

I think the joke is that some commuters feel the need to wear (possibly) snot filled, sweaty "safety" equipment in order to protect themselves from a low probability, relatively insignificant severity injury.

Comfort, shock absorption, better grip are reasons that make sense; the risk reduction angle is preposterous unless "safety" gloves are part of a full body protection (from boo-boos) assembly.

Protected my hands in my last fall. Tore the gloves up pretty bad. And really protected my hands from the sun during the Oklahoma Free Wheel last June. 460 miles of Oklahoma sun can be very harsh. Gloves and helmet don't leave home without them.

My hands tend to go numb if I ride without padded gloves.

When I had bare hands on twist-grips, yes, they began to slip on them. ("Scaryetta"--is that "Marietta?" :D)

Helmet wearing <> glove wearing. Most of us are not standing here brow beating everyone else who does not wear gloves. That is unlike every idiotic safety nannie helmet thread on these forums.

Besides, with my klutzy high speed riding, low probable falls onto the pavement are more like a several times a year incident. :rolleyes:
I'm guessing that if I start racing next year the probability will increase. :twitchy:

True enuff. Better keep it quiet then about the safety value of gloves or the nannies in need of an issue may start the war cry for mandatory glove laws to protect cyclists from DANGER. :innocent:

Gloves should be mandatory gear for every cyclist! I am just kidding of course.:) I wear them because they improve my grip and make the ride a bit more comfy. I learned the value of good fitting gloves from my days of lifting weights.

I wear fingerless gloves because I have giant gorilla hands and the fingers in normal gloves aren't nearly long enough.

To me, gloves are pretty essential safety equipment; a helmet, on the other hand, is pretty optional. I mostly wear my helmet to get my 5 year old to wear his.
In 20 years of messenger work, I had my share of spills, and getting hit by cars (went through a windshield once). I landed on my hands (on the ground, on cars, you name it) a lot more often than on my head. I've shredded many pairs of gloves through thick leather palms.
Plus, grip is better, and the value of cool tan lines can't be over-estimated: my first wife and I got invited to a great DC messenger party on the beach in Virginia years ago when a dude asked us if we were messengers due to tan patterns (from bike gloves & shorts, but tanlines from T-shirts with ripped off sleeves told him we were messengers not roadies). Hijinx ensued.
What cracks me up safety-wise is the number of people I see wearing helmets talking on their phones, or riding at night with no lights, etc. Talk about misplaced priorities!