Choosing Cycling Gloves

A Buying Guide For Cycling Gloves

Detemining which bike gloves you should purchase depends on why you need them. The obvious answer is to protect the hands. Gloves are important as they provide protection to one of the most vulnerable parts of yourself, your hands.

Long-range mountain bikers will tell you bike riding can wreak havoc on the hands. Handlebars do more than steer, they also help maintain balance, and a certain amount of body weight presses into the skin as you support yourself. Over time, this pressure breaks the surface down, causing bruising and tears. Gloves need to protect hands from injury and the environment while suiting your sense of style.

Different Types of Glove For Cycling

Track Mitts or fingerless style gloves are popular for touring and racing bikes. These are a good choice in summer but fingers can get very cold in winter with this type of glove. Pick gloves that have padded palms and moisture absorbing material for all the blood and sweat.

Windproof and waterproof full finger gloves are a good choice for more protection and warmth.

Winter gloves tend to be bulkier,  and with inner and outer layers that can be seperated.  They might also have longer cuffs that can tuck into jackets. For longer cold weather rides, full finger moisture wicking gloves are important protection.

Most cycling gloves also offer some protection against the wind.

The Pearl Izumi Select Glove

has good reviews on amazon and incroporates little loops that make it easier to take the gloves off. They also help keep the gloves right side out when you do take them off.

Mittens are useful for extreme conditions as they are warmer than gloves. But they do make the use of brakes awkward.

Lobster claw bicycle gloves are useful for cold and extreme conditions where you still require the control forfeited by a mitten. Lobster claw gloves are a mix of glove and mitten. They have space for two fingers seperated from the rest of the hand that makes braking easier.

Weathershields are small waterproof and windproof shields that protect the hands from rain and wind by attaching to the handlebars.

Tips For Buying Cycling Gloves

• Make sure to buy gloves that don't fit too tightly and constrict the flow of blood
• Choose gloves with reflective piping if you often ride on the road alongside cars.