gloves frustration
 

Hi, just got done 23 miles on my old Kona ***** Tonk road bike with curved handlebars and am ready to try any new pair of great padded fingerless gloves for Florida heat.

I must have bought 8 pairs over the years and none seem to do the trick. Not sure if I have to raise my budget or whether I'm expecting too much from pairs I've bought.

Any advice or specific recommendations appreciated.

Jordan

Sounds like it might be a bike fit issue.

Padded gloves just delay the inevitable effects that poor fit, improper hand placement and declining muscle fitness will do to you.

Get those right, and regularly change your hand positions during your ride and you'll have fewer issues. And then most any glove will be comfortable. Or even bare handed.

It is likely not the gloves, and more padding is not the answer. A lot of things it could be. My experience, having arms too stretched out, and/or, handlebar too high can cause wrist and hand issues.

Before considering the advice you've received thus far in the thread, you need to describe the problems you're having with the 8 pairs of gloves that you've tried. Is it hand numbness? Grip? Are they too hot in the Florida heat?

Your hands need time to adapt to gloves. I have comfort issues every time I buy a new pair of gloves, the fit is always a little different, the padding is different, the seams between the fingers are different. The first ride is always unpleasant, but after several rides my hands adapt, and after a few months, I don't even notice my gloves. The same applies to comfort, and numbness. With enough miles and time your hands and your position adapt, and things become less uncomfortable.

It sounds like either bike fit issues or Florida is too damn hot issues and the bike fit issues won't be solved by gloves and the Florida is too damn hot is going to be exacerbated by gloves but they are I think a bit of necessary evil in that situation because they protect your hands in case you fall however maybe spraying them with water would help for evaporative cooling or put them in the freezer overnight (dry of course) and that could help keep them cool for a little bit.

Assuming it is a fit issue I would see a fitter and have them help you out. Look for a dynamic fitter such as those using Retül...that could change your life. If you are riding infrequently I would follow 50PlusCycling s advice and ride more and try the gloves for longer periods. Nothing really feels perfect out of the box generally and your body has to get used to it at least a little and with cycling it is such a different position from normal life that your body needs time to adapt.

Honk y is such a hilarious phrase and the Tonks that accompany them have been host to some excellent country music (and I am sure plenty of the bad stuff of which there is a ton)

Your post is not very specific, What ARE you expecting from the gloves, and what aren't you getting?

I have osteoarthritis in hands and wrists and numbing of my pinky and ring finger in one hand was getting to be a problem and found help with the more heavy duty gloves used by jackhammer operators, rock drillers and others have helped and I don't ride without them.

All of this advice, and no one even knows what the OP's problem is.

Assuming the problem is hand numbness, no amount of padding is going to solve that. Maybe make it a bit better. The contact area of the hands is pretty small and not evolved to carry weight like that for long periods. Also, sometime numbness results further up in the hand where nerves are getting pinched and it's not right at the contact point.

As mentioned bike fit is key. But something I struggle with is my weight. When I'm less fat, I have much less hand numbness. At the moment, I'm 40 lbs heavier than a year ago and I get a lot more hand numbness now.

Something I found really affects the load on my hands is saddle tilt. I need the nose just a tad high to support my pelvis a bit better.

Another thing is power output. The harder you pedal, the more of your weight is being put into your legs. This lightens the load on your arms/hands and your saddle.

You don't explain what you want from the gloves. I see you mentioned that you wanted them padded and fingerless, and as far as I can comprehend, the goal was "riding in the Florida heat".

Is it a hand comfort issue, like everyone here is guessing? Are they too hot and feel like hand diapers with sweat? What makes youfrustrated with them? Lack of 80's neon color choices?

FWIW, I've never been totally satisfied with gloves either. They don't bother me but get pretty annoying because I like full fingers and I sometimes need to look at my phone for directions.

Haha! here it is
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ac6e6d4308.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d03dd2f3c5.jpg

As others have said, the OP doesn't describe what the problem is. My purpose for wearing gloves is two-fold. One, it does slightly pad the hand and help with road vibration, but I have no issues riding bare handed really. The second is IF I had a fall, they will protect the hand somewhat from asphalt/gravel abrasion...hopefully. As far as heat, my gloves are typically soaked after any ride, just like my jersey.
Third and different purpose, full finger gloves for cold riding but that obviously isn't the issue.
I use Pearl Izumi fingerless gloves. Pretty cheap and I get several seasons out of a pair, something like these:https://www.amazon.com/PEARL-IZUMI-F...1zcF9hdGY&th=1

But again, it's impossible to advise when we don't know what the exact issue is.

Not sure what the problem is, but since you asked :) I'll throw my opinion about numbness and glove design.

Padded gloves are designed exactly wrong!!! Let me repeat that, WRONG. Padding is placed on the gloves where nerves are in an effort to somehow keep pressure off the nerves. Think about it: 'We're going to sell a glove that will have a big lump pressing on the nerve so that the nerve won't have a big lump pressing on it.' Stupid, or just Plain Stupid - you decide.

It is just wrong - there should be padding where there are NO nerve junctions or bone/nerve compression areas so that the hand weight is taken by the non-nerve areas.

...and that is why gloves with padding all over work better - no pressure focus.

Still haven’t heard what the real problem is, but try these for the heat.
https://www.planetbike.com/taurus-cycling-gloves/

Thanks everybody for their two cents, and the issue I've had is hand numbness/discomfort. The heat is not an issue. I had apparently assumed that the solution to my problem would be to find HEAVILY padded gloves, and based upon the many responses here, appears the solution is not better gloves, it's more about possibly getting the bike fitted or moving my hands more often.

I might even try to ride next time without gloves to see how that differs.

Anyway, apologies, thought it was simply buy a better pair of gloves and no numbness. Thanks for correcting me!

J

you don't actually say what the problem is. hands hurt? hands too hot?

Problem is hands get numb and uncomfortable. Popular consensus is it's not the gloves, it's me!

Lemme tell ya a story....

A few years back in the early days of the Pandemic, I bought a bike, online (Canyon Endurace). I didn't do it blind, I carefully measured the bikes I already had, on which I could ride comfortably for as far as my legs held out, and made sure I could achieve the same fit.

When it arrived, I put it all together just as it came in the box, with 37mm of spacers under the stem. I set the height and setback of the saddle, and went for a 10 mile ride. Within a mile my hands were going numb, which never happened on my other bikes. I was almost in tears, because I couldn't possibly raise the handlebars any more, and OF COURSE I was sure that numb hands meant my bars were too low.

Then I measured AGAIN, and the bars on the new Canyon were an inch HIGHER than my other bikes. I swapped 25mm of spacers from under the stem to on top, and went for ANOTHER ride, and it was perfect. My hands had been going numb because the bar was TOO HIGH. So, if your hands are going numb, don't assume it's because your bar is too low.

Hmm. Interesting. I'm just wondering why a bar set too high would cause numb hands.

[QUOTE=Koyote;23623050]Hmm. Interesting. I'm just wondering why a bar set too high would cause numb hands.[/QUOTE
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2ac17b6e19.gif

How tightly are you gripping the bars?

Now I'll tell my counterpoint to gene's story. My left hand would become numb and tingly. New gloves did not help. I noticed that it even happened on slow uphills, when I was actually pulling on the bars. Then It started to happen when I was off the bike. I eventually went to the neurology department at the local hospital, I'm now waiting for their diagnosis.
My point is, there are non-glove possibilities, fit, size, and unrelated cause.
Good luck!

My left hand goes numb when I ride because I have a mild arthritis issue in my neck that triggers the ulnar nerve in my arm. This happens regardless of which of my bikes I ride (all with moderate-to-significantly aggressive positions), and even when riding other bikes with much more upright positions. I've learned it's about my arm angle in relation to my spine that is the trigger, combined with weight on my hands, and it happens in the range needed for me to ride the way I like to ride. I've also learned a way I can stretch it while riding to give it some quick, temporary relief. It's a nuisance more than a hinderance, and I'm not going to change how I ride.

My point: It might not be the gloves.