Glove padding causing pain?
 

I picked up a pair of Descente gloves to replace my defective Caporma gloves which i felt lacked in padding (Capo gloves just had some foam). I decided I had to get some gel padded gloves but now I'm getting pain where the gel pads are, as if they're pushing into my hand. Anyone else have this problem, could it be padded gloves aren't for everyone or is this a hallmark of a crappy glove?

You are correct. Specialized pro works for me. Padding is minimal, no more hand pain.

Yep, I had that problem with the Pearl Izumi Gel Lite Tour gloves. They put pressure on soft points on my palms. I found the Specialized BG Sport and Pearl Izumi Gel Lite Race to be better choices. Not sure about Descente, but Pearl Izumi has a product guarantee so I was able to return them (used) to get the next pair.

I mean the Capo gloves weren't so bad but I figured gel padding would make it even better but this just seems to put pressure in certain parts and no support anywhere else. When I was picking up the Descente's I looked at the CSC team edition gloves and was shocked that there was NO padding, now maybe I'm seeing why. Ugh I really like these gloves too, everyone's been telling me about the specialized gloves maybe I should try those. What sucks is the shop replaced my capo gloves with these descentes so i didn't pay anything for them but i could have just got another pair of capos, maybe they would have worked better.

Too much padding can actually put more pressure on the hands than no padding. Also, if your gloves are over-padded it can cause you to grip the bars even tighter to get the right feeling of control. I have always had the best results with very little or no padding in my gloves. If your bike is set up to fit you correctly you should really be able to ride without padding and have no problems with your hands. Gloves should be to protect the skin of your hands from abrasion and blistering not to stop your hands from going numb or hurting.

Also I was hoping I could change the direction of this thread to avoid having to make another one. This is a reach/hand soreness question.

I've always had a reach problem on my bike, felt too stretched out in the hoods. We put a 90mm stem on my bike and i used to move my seat forward which ended up hurting my body. Finally I've got the rest of the bike set up perfect and don't want to move my seat or cleats at all. I already have a short 90 mm stem so I don't want to go any shorter, I was curious, is it possible to short the reach on a bike by swapping handle bars? I've basically had 3 spacers under my stem and have started to do the painful process of lower the bars for a more aero position since i do mostly shorter fast paced rides as of lately and have noticed some pain in my hands between the thumb and pointer finger.

I've found these to be just right with minimal padding -- and for $10. Plus the crocheted back is a lot cooler.

remember -- keep hands loosey-goosey on the bar.

Eh well I might just keep the descentes as a back up pair and get another pair of capos or something. In the future maybe I'll try the fizik bar gell.

Why not shorter than 90? Try an 80 and see if that helps...

If you have a problem, look for the real solution...

Try bars with shorter reach, and a shorter stem.

Pearl Izumi Pittards Octane. Zip padding, just the way I like it.

Bill

Lowering your bars might make the reach feel more stetched out. Aside from that, you can get a drop bar with a short reach. It takes some digging to find the specs of some brands. Aside from that, Campy hoods shorten the reach by a cm compared to Shimano, but I think that's more extreme than just getting an 80mm stem.

Are you short? If not, you might be on a frame that's a tad too large. Think about it. The reach is too far and you want the bars lower. A smaller frame would accomplish those, and be lighter weight too :)

I also wonder if you're riding too large a frame. I have short legs so I'm generally more comfortable on a smaller frame with a longer stem than the other way round.

Anyway, on the topic of gloves: I generally wear them only during races and I like the no-padding PI Race Light gloves.

I think this frame is just a bit long but i got fitted by a very good fitter and he said the frame fits, it might just be the design plus i have long legs and a shorter torso. Right now I could afford to buy a new set of bars so I was wondering if that was a viable solution.

It feels alright when I have the bars higher but honestly i don't feel much more stretched when i lower the bars and i like the position alot. I'm not going to cut the steerer tube though because I want to be able to switch it up for centuries and such. When you lower your bars you shouldn't have to adjust your seat or anything else right, that doesn't change because the bar height changed?

I bought those same Gel Lite gloves a year ago. Wore them for one week...they KILLED my hands. Agony. I wish I had known about the product guarantee. I imagine a year later with no receipt probably means I'm SOL.

Seems like you can spend alot of money in this sport making mistakes on purchases. I already have a pair of REI gloves i don't like, a pair of mountain bike shoes, spd pedals, and now these gloves, none of which I use.

As far as the the reach goes i feel fine and the super low bar angle, at first i was uncomfortable because i wasn't bending my back i was leaning forward thus crushing my goods and prizes. As soon as I started bending my lower back i felt alot better.

I just find that I could use the hoods maybe being an inch closer to ad a little more bend to my elbows.

It sounds contrary but too much gel padding can cause pains. Another problem is the gap between padding. Often this gap is exactly where my palm rests on the handlebar tops.

The problem with the Descente gloves is there is a fat chunk on the inside of your palm and then some other padding on the outside of your palm and a bit on the inside of your hand below where the fingers starts. It just seeems the way i put my hand on the bars the bars run in between the padding lol. The only time the padding works is when my hands are on the cross bar.

Pearl Izumi Lifetime Warranty

It's worded vaguely so it all depends on the way the shop wants to interpret it.

Also, fat gel pads can cause material to bunch up between them when the hand is closed, creating pressure points and hot spots.

Thick padding is a bad idea anywhere - gloves, saddle, shorts. If you depend on it you are compensating for something that's wrong. If there is more pressure on your hands than simply carrying the weight of your arms then you've not got the fit dialed in yet. I stopped wearing gloves at all several weeks ago and it's been a revelation the extent to which comfort and control have improved. (And yes I have a box full of gloves I've used over time, including the comparatively good Specialized BG gloves).

+1

No gloves here and have not had any problems. After some bad road rash from a crash in July, I tried gloves for one ride and they sucked. Maybe not the right gloves, or maybe I was just too used to riding without them.

Rob

I wouldn't mind to try some gloves since the area between my thumb and index finger hurts after a ride and is a very strange place to have a callus.

went in and had my fitter look at things, he told me to try moving my hands back on the hoods. No more hand pain, I guess I was holding too far on the hoods.

Not pain, but overpadded gloves are not comfortable for me.

It's a sign of too much soft padding. You're constantly squeezing against the padding hence the soreness. Try different gloves either with firmer padding or no padding at all and the pain should go away.

I found the gel-padded PI gloves painful. I think the thicker padding just encouraged me to hold the bars a bit tighter than usual.

I went back to my 3 yr old PI White Line gloves with no padding. No more pain or numbness.