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Gloves or no gloves?

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Old 05-28-12 | 08:58 AM
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Gloves or no gloves?

Bought a pair of Specialized BG Comp gloves (XXL) and I was having a problem with my left hand going numb. I road a few hours Sunday morning without them and no problem. I'm going to be riding a century in July and wondered about gloves vs no gloves. I really have a large hand and have a problem peeling the BG's off. Does anyone make a XXXL pair of gloves?
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Old 05-28-12 | 09:06 AM
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Can't help you with the sizing, but I like gloves. Not so much for comfort on the bike, it's just that I crashed one time and lost some skin on my hands...it's natural to put your hands out when you're falling. Don't want to experience that at high speed.
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Old 05-28-12 | 09:06 AM
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I believe Castelli does. ^ Im not much of a fan of gloves unless its cold but I always wear some to protect my palms if I fall. Event a muffed clip-out can cause some damage.
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Old 05-28-12 | 09:10 AM
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Originally Posted by Commodus
Can't help you with the sizing, but I like gloves. Not so much for comfort on the bike, it's just that I crashed one time and lost some skin on my hands...it's natural to put your hands out when you're falling. Don't want to experience that at high speed.
Don't do that ... tuck & roll

I don't wear gloves, but I am wrong.
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Old 05-28-12 | 09:10 AM
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Yeah that's the reason I wear em' on my Triumph Tiger :-D
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Old 05-28-12 | 09:35 AM
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I wear gloves mainly for palm protection in case of a fall but also for the convenient wiping area.
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Old 05-28-12 | 09:35 AM
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i don't wear gloves. you get hand protection in falls, but i don't fall much. you can brush your tires off while riding if you ride through a patch of glass or debris, but i don't do that much, either. i just don't bother with 'em any more. just make sure you have some type of bar tape with a tacky feel to it, so you can keep a grip on hot, sweaty days
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Old 05-28-12 | 09:42 AM
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I wear them for anything over ~10 miles. My hands feel much more comfortable when I do.
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Old 05-28-12 | 09:53 AM
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I always buy gloves a size larger because they're so tight when they're new. However, they stretch, so some of my old gloves are now too big. You might find the XXLs eventually fit you well.
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Old 05-28-12 | 10:51 AM
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I wear gloves because my hands sweat and the bars get slippery.
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Old 05-28-12 | 10:53 AM
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Originally Posted by Carbon Unit
I wear gloves because my hands sweat and the bars get slippery.
This.
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Old 05-28-12 | 10:54 AM
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That's a big affirmative
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Old 05-28-12 | 10:57 AM
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Def gloves. I have w/ and w/o fingers and winter.
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Old 05-28-12 | 10:59 AM
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gloves are dumb. (this is the appropriate 41 type of answer).
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Old 05-28-12 | 11:24 AM
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I don't think you should expect gloves to solve any numb hand problems. That is probably a fit problem.

However, I wear gloves because, as others have said, without them I sweat and lose my grip on the bars. The gloves are also very absorbent and good for wiping sweat off of my brow.
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Old 05-28-12 | 11:26 AM
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Once it gets warm enough that I no longer need them for warmth, I rarely wear gloves unless I'm racing. And then, half the time I forget.
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Old 05-28-12 | 11:36 AM
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Guitarist and guitar repairman, I wear gloves for protection full finger mechanic type gloves from Menards for $4 on sale.
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Old 05-28-12 | 11:45 AM
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It's either gloves or jersey sleeve for nose wiping and I prefer gloves.
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Old 05-28-12 | 11:48 AM
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when I wear gloves my thumbs go numb. so... I don't wear gloves.
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Old 05-28-12 | 11:48 AM
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Gloves--full finger year around.

I had some numbness issue with the no finger/half fnger gloves in the past, have never had that problem with full finger gloves--but that isn't why I switched. I switched in the event of a wreck I would hopefully be able to type at work the next day.
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Old 05-28-12 | 11:57 AM
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Gloves do nothing for my 'hand numbness' or comfort, which really isn't an issue at all.

However, they've saved tons of skin on 2-3 mild skidouts where my hand would have eaten some serious road rash.

I'd wear them just for the road rash protection - the hand will otherwise nearly always lose some skin on a fall.
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Old 05-28-12 | 12:26 PM
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Your hands are numb probably because your bars/levers are not correctly angled.

Recently went through this myself
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Old 05-28-12 | 12:47 PM
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Originally Posted by AMFJ:14281630
Gloves--full finger year around.
+1, I prefer full finger without padding or minimal padding, like the majority of MTB gloves.

You might could find larger motocross gloves, work gloves, weightlifting gloves, or even MMA gloves that could work for you. If you find full finger gloves but prefer half finger, you can take a pair of sharp scissors to them.

Check your bike for first tho.
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Old 05-28-12 | 02:14 PM
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Originally Posted by milkbaby
+1, I prefer full finger without padding or minimal padding, like the majority of MTB gloves.

You might could find larger motocross gloves, work gloves, weightlifting gloves, or even MMA gloves that could work for you. If you find full finger gloves but prefer half finger, you can take a pair of sharp scissors to them.

Check your bike for first tho.
No doubt about it it's the gloves...I've got them on after stretching them out and my left palm is going numb...but I've never had a problem with full finger gloves (Tourmaster Airflows) on my Triumph and I've ridden it a thousand miles in a day....maybe I"ll take the Nishiki for a spin with them on and let you know the outcome...
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Old 05-28-12 | 02:47 PM
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I value the skin on my palms/hands, I work with my hands on a daily basis so I'm not taking the risk.
No matter how you fall you're going to use your hands in some form.

Gloves also act as a good snot rag when it's cold, or when allergies are acting up.
Doubles as a nice sweat rag too.

Only thing I hate is the tan lines.
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