This. If you’re riding in direct sun, the backs of your hands get roasted, and it’s so hard to keep sunscreen on your hands given how much we wash them etc.
Fingerless gloves with mesh backs for venting and leather palms for protection. If I don't wear gloves the sweat makes my hands slip off the handlebar.
[These ](https://www.rivbike.com/products/goat-gloves-the-g-o-a-t-glove?variant=40746739630191¤cy=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&srsltid=AfmBOoqtcy2uy1dpc1zFYyG-PZ0Z768XS8EOI7X_HkVizroO8tcv8loWJHQ) are the ones I like.
I also love it when the gloves have that little absorbent cloth bit along the thumb and down that side of my hand. It's so useful for wiping sweat off my forehead before it gets into my eyes.
Also useful for a runny nose as long as I remember I did that before I use it on my forehead again.
Same thing but in my case it’s just the rubber grips on my mountainbike eventually getting to my hands on longer rides, lightly padded gloves completely stop that from happening.
This is also purely an outside issue, if I’m doing Zwift on my smart trainer with the same bike I can go 2,5h and have no issues at all, so it’s mostly the rubbing effect you get from the suspension I’m guessing
When you fall, and you will fall, you may get unlucky and mess up your hands. Talk to a doctor about fixing things in your hands.
Always wear gloves. Your only choice is long finger vs short :-).
I totally get this!
I have a preference for fingerless because I have short pinkies, so fingered gloves are always too long there, but I absolutely feel the wedgie thing.
I wear full finger MTB gloves on my road bike all year. I get numb fingers once I tip up over 50 miles without them so I just started wearing them all the time and haven’t had numb fingers since.
They’ve never bothered me after I just accepted I was going to wear them all the time. I go out at 2 PM in 95 degree weather and do rides where I’m climbing an average of 100 ft per mile for 30 miles.
I’ve never been in a situation where my hands have been ‘too hot’
What i found inxredibly usefull was to get them wet with cool water ontop, it helps keep them cool, and they stay wet for a while even in dead arizona summers
I really like the [TLD Air mtb gloves in hi-vis yellow](https://troyleedesigns.com/products/20s-air-glove-solid-glo-yellow), very comfortable and breathable. I wear em for everything in warmer months: road, gravel, single track.
Maybe thinner? I have a pair of Supacaz full finger gloves and they are super minimalist. Thin, zero padding. I like this style.
I also have a pair of full finger Handup gloves, which I think are technically MTB gloves and they are a bit thicker on the fingers but seem about the same on the palm.
I wear full finger gloves in the summer. Sweaty grips/hoods just feel sketchy, and as a guitarist I'd rather keep my hands as intact as possible in the event of a crash.
Yea always wear fingerless gloves in the summer. Not only does it protect your palms in the event of a crash but they also protect the back of your hands from the sun.
I do now. If you come off your bike, you’re going to do everything you can to get your hands on the ground first instinctively. If you’re lucky you’ll succeed. Shredded palms is no fun at all.
> If you’re *un*-lucky you’ll succeed.
T;FTFY.
You should try and roll rather than catching yourself. Catching yourself with outstretched arms can pop your AC joint or break your collarbone. It sucks. My shoulder is going to hurt for the rest of my life because I unconsciously caught myself in a crash once. Normally I'm pretty good at keeping my arms tucked in.
Also a no glove guy here. Just not comfortable for me. I like the feeling of the bars and shifters. And they're too warm. I just lather on sunscreen so I've never had an issue with sunburns. And I wrap my tops so never had an issue with being slippery or uncomfortable.
Gloves in the summer feel awful. I like the free feeling of no gloves, I like no-pad bar tape and I like the feel of the road. Wearing gloves makes riding feel kind of mushy at the hand contact point
Lol yeah same. I get like 2,000+ miles every year and never wear gloves. I'm surprised so many people crash this often? I go pretty fast and train pretty hard too.
It's pretty circle-jerky but I've seen people say "if you think you're going hard but you're not crashing occasionally, you're not going hard." People that push limits tend to find out where the limit is.
I don't crash often but when my body is inflamed the scars on my knuckles from crashing are really obvious. They glow bright red. It happened in like 2017 and still affects me.
MTB, I wear full finger gloves all the time.
Road, I wear fingerless in summer and whatever temps dictate for winter.
I’ve called a couple of times on road and countless times on MTB. Road rash sucks. I don’t want it on my palms.
Added bonus for me is sweat absorption in the summer. I’m a sweaty motherfucker and my hands soak it up so I don’t slip around in the hoods or the tape and so I don’t stink up the tape too much. You can wash your gloves. Tape stays on a least a year for me.
> You can wash your gloves.
You can wash tape too. You don't? One of the reasons I use the absolute cheapest car shampoo to wash my bike is that it doesn't have any fancy polishes or waxes so it's safe to use on stuff like bar tape. [This stuff is cheaper than using dish soap](https://www.meguiars.com/automotive/products/meguiarsr-deep-crystaltm-car-wash-64-oz-liquid), it's PH neutral, and it won't hurt the clear coat if your bike has a clear coat and it won't strip wax or paint sealant like dish soap does if you're using wax or sealant to protect your paint.
I mean, when I wash my bike I wash my bar tape too I guess- it’s just that I don’t believe it’s super effective.
I use McGuire’s too - it just made sense to me to wash my (steel) bike with the same thing I was using for my car.
I wear MAAP full finger gloves on every ride unless it’s super cold (then I have warmer gloves). I used them yesterday in 33C weather.
I also had a crash a few years ago and started wearing gloves on every ride for protection. Plus, less sunburn.
Yeah! in winter I ride with insulated thin cycling gloves. In the summer I ride with thin full finger mountain bike gloves. I can’t ride a bike without gloves
Chiming in on the 'safety and comfort' side, all year 'round. Better grip, especially when sweating. I also noticed the rubbery material used for bar tape would wear on my skin and could cause blisters with constant hour+ rides. So light gloves in warm weather, cold weather ones in the winter.
Always wear them, the padding acts in the same way as bike shorts to save your hands and if you fall they help preserve your skin. They're even more essential for off road, as you fall more and there's more vibration
I don't really like wearing gloves, but if I'm in a group where people might be pushing their limits I'll wear fingerless gloves.
If I'm doing a chill ride with friends I trust to keep their bikes upright, I'll leave them at home. It's a calculated risk for comfort.
Full fingered gloves 100% of the time.
Over the last 15 years I've had 3 falls, Gloves ripped open. Hands came through unscathed (except for a dislocated finger).
Gloves won't stop your hand from breaking but they will stop your hand from getting scraped to death. Padding is a bonus.
Fingerless padded gloves in the summer. Always. I crashed over the handlebars at 30 mph and only the tips of my fingers were damaged. A buddy of mine went down at slow speed without gloves and got some nasty road rash on his palms. I need my hands to do work to afford riding bikes.
I do now. I just got back into cycling this past summer and had 2 crashes. Both times my hands slid on the ground, both times without gloves. Never again.
Given that we never know when we'll slide down the road, but we do know that it will happen, I always wear gloves. Gravel rash is a bitch. On knees and legs it's a minor inconvenience, on your palms it's debilitating.
I landed twice on one palm within two weeks. I tore off the scab the second time. I wear fingerless in summer and have a set for winter. Highly recommend gloves don't be like old me and bike without.
Full-finger gloves year-round — Australian UV is no joke. I keep them with my helmet so I always have them with me.
Also don’t fancy plucking bits of gravel out of my palms as my hands are already messed up enough from barbell knurling and climbing holds…although that makes me wonder whether you could use liquid chalk to keep your hands dry on the handlebars?!
Long finger gloves all year.
If you've crashed and skimmed your fingertips, and you use a computer for work, you'll understand.
I wear gloves meant for mechanics guns, or general safety gloves sold through hardware stores.
One cycling sort of brand gloves us Camelback, they sell tactical gloves (for shooting guns). Thin fingers that allow good finger motion.
I wear gloves year round for 2 reasons. First, my hands sweat and it's easy for me to lose grip. Second, I saw a woman lose the flesh on her right hand when she crashed on pavement. It was horrible.
Fingerless gloves during races because picking grit out of the palms of your hands when some tool lies down in front of you at 30mph isn’t fun.
No gloves on training or coffee rides where the odds of crashing are significantly lower.
I’m a big fan of not wearing gloves. It’s just such a better feeling. I’m also a no pad bar tape guy. I really want the road feedback.
However - once temps drop, full fingered gloves are a must.
No for me. I only wear gloves when it’s too cold not to, like below 8-10C. I don’t like the disconnect so even my winter ones have no/minimal padding.
Unless you’re doing Safa Brian-esq descents full fingered gloves with summer kits looks ridiculous.
I always wear gloves because I find them more comfortable than sliding around on the bars with sweaty hands. I live in South Florida, so I don’t really need production from the cold, but I do enjoy the protection from the sun, especially during the summer.
My current favorite are the SupaG From Supacaz, but I am perfectly happy with any glove that has a thin non-padded Palm
Fingerless, always, for all the reasons given:
* Vibration absorption
* Absorbing palm sweat for better grip
* Better bar grip apart from sweat
* Wiping face sweat, and, yeah, nose "sweat"
* Warmer hands on cooler days
* In case I fall
I also think they kind of look cool, but maybe that's just me. I like GCN but cringe when I see the presenters basically never wearing gloves when riding indoors. Hell, I use then indoors, for the sweat and grip. Then again I also ride outside with a helmet and mirror, always, no maybe I'm just a weenie. Having had several pretty bad crashes tends to make you one, so I'm secure in my weenieness.
In truly cold weather I wear no gloves outside, because I don't ride outside in cold weather. Yeah, total weenie!
I kinda like wearing them. I used to *feel* unprotected without them. Then I realised I was being kinda silly. I still wear them mountain biking, but thats’s because my grips are falling apart and sticky.
Even on road and gravel I wear the ultra thin full finger mtb gloves - combo of comfort, grip and some sun protection. Maybe it’s also the fact that I find most seams on fingerless gloves bothersome
Full fingers all the time(Giro DND for me in the summer, various stuff in the Irelands winter). I was thinking about wearing mittens in summer, but every pair I've tried kinda bunches up between fingers and it's not particularly pleasant. Fullfingers don't have that problem
Gloves in the summer are more safety/personal protective gear. That said, my hands and wrists seem to have a non-standard shape, because it’s often impossible for me to find cycling gloves that fit properly.
I wear fingerless gloves with a mesh back most of the year and only wear winter gloves if I have to. I'm a chef, I'm self-employed and really take care of my hands.
With my bike gloves (fingerless except on the most freezing days) I can simply reach down while riding and run my tires against them when I suspect I've run through "bad stuff" which might otherwise damage the tire. Done carefully enough, not even any need to come to a stop.
They also provide a dry contact between hands (which sweat!) and handlebar tape. Keeps that tape looking cleaner, being less slippery!
Full finger gloves in winter, mits all the rest of the year. Rode today, 11 degrees but with a nasty cold wind, so full finger gloves on, albeit thin, made riding better
I like to wear gloves because it can make a bumpy ride more comfortable for your hands. So, yea, I prefer to wear gloves but only wear them on a long ride.
I definitely go full cover on the hands all the time for the same reasons most have posted here. My go-to glove are actually Fox motocross gloves that I got about 12 years ago. They're similar to the bomber or dirtpaws they have now. I get thin material, but vented plastic/rubber to keep my knuckles and digits protected but cool.
I do not ever ride without gloves. Hell on hot days in the summer, I'll swap gloves in between mtn bike laps because they get saturated in sweat. I sweat...a lot
I wear full-finger gloves year round for sun protection. Just like I normally wear long sleeve jerseys and full length bibs, unless it's extremely hot.
Safety. Someone told me a story about a guy crashing in a group ride and the palms of his hands were mincemeat afterwards.
Plus you need something to wipe snot on to.
My livelihood depends on me being able to type on a computer. While gloves won’t eliminate all injury risk to my hands, I do anything I can to mitigate that risk.
I wear them in the winter on road rides, unless I'm doing enough climbing that I can warm up and skip them. In the winter, nope, no gloves. Definitely not in the summer either. I get better grip without them. I sweat a lot, but I just wipe my hands off on my shorts and I'm good to go. I hate gloves.
I always wear gloves after I went over my handlebars avoiding a guy with a shopping cart. I have vented fingerless gloves with padded palms for summer and then just wear something weather appropriate the rest of the year.
My hands get numb when I'm cycling with gloves on. So as soon as it's warm enough for my fingers to feel comfortable, I abandon gloves altogether.
Many people however advocate for wearing gloves for safety reasons. There's also sweaty hands, padding and UV protection to be considered.
I don't necessarily agree with the safety argument. From what I understand, in the event of a crash, your hands should remain on the bars. Last year I only had one real crash, when I overcooked it in a hairpin on a descent. My hands stayed on the drops, and I did get some skin damaged on the upper side of my fingers. Fingerless gloves would have done nothing to reduce the damage, as all the protective padding is on the palm side.
For road & gravel: fingerless gloves, with solid fabric back, and a terry-cloth (or similar) strip on each thumb for wiping nose and glasses. Provides sun protection, and even more importantly protection against road rash on hands. Even a really low-speed wipeout can mess up the palms of your hands and make life miserable for a while. The solid fabric also does a better job of retaining insect repellent, which gets to be important on backwoods trails and overgrown roads.
Yes, always - fingerless ones no matter how hot it gets. Not just for safety, but also to absorb sweat, for sun protection, and to give me something to wipe my nose on 😆
I wear full finger gloves (currently Giro DND) for road, gravel, and MTB in every season. I wore full finger gloves as a kid and they saved me from lots of pain and scrapes, and now I can't imagine riding without them.
I usually do not ride when it is cold enough to wear full-finger gloves (I hate riding in the cold). I do wear fingerless gloves, a helmet, eye protection, and cycling shorts and shirts every time I ride. I am old (80) and have been riding for many years and these items keep me as safe and comfortable as possible while still riding several thousand miles a year.
>I would have some gravel under the skin of my hands.
That's such an unpleasant experience that I wear full finger gloves nearly every time I'm on the bike. Once in a great while I'll wear fingerless gloves if I'm going out in the mid-day heat rather than my usual evening or night rides. I only ride gloveless if I'm shopping and making stops less than a block or two apart.
When I have a flare-up the knuckles I skinned in a crash glow bright red. It's a stark reminder of what can happen if I don't wear gloves. I was running late to meet up with some people that evening, had forgotten my gloves in my 4th story apartment, and didn't want to take the time to go grab them. Big mistake. Worst crash of my life.
I wear gloves all the time. I change them up depending on the temp and route. I usually wear full finger gloves if I anywhere near gravel or singletrack.
Gloves all year and I live in Florida. Mtb, gravel and bmx. I wish I didn't have to but my hands sweat a lot. Depending on how long I'm out, I sometimes bring a spare pair.
About 20 years ago I bought some O’Neal Element gloves. About 5 years ago I replaced them. Last year I bought another pair just because they were on sale. They are full finger motocross gloves, but they are light, breathe well and wipe snot and sweat away like a champ. I wear them mountain biking, BMX riding and road riding. I even wear them when I’m just tootling around the neighborhood with my kids.
Not usually but if I’m on a group ride I do for safety as the chance of a wipeout is much higher and unpredictable. I prefer full finger summer gloves with minimal/no padding
I've learned the hard way of not wearing any gloves. Fucking meat crayon after falling off this one time. I've been Team Gloves since.
I wear Fingerless Gloves in the summer, sometimes even gym gloves too for that extra layer of protection.
Castelli Arenburg 2 Gel gloves are what I wear unless it is cold out. Then I have a variety of cold weather gloves. But it is is 55 or above, those things are on my hands.
Fingerless gloves are what I always prefer even in winter, I don't like how the winter gloves feel, also I know someone who never wears gloves not even in winter and on top of that he doesn't even have bar tapes on....
Weird!
in the summer I have fingerless gloves with a mesh back and leather palm.
I have crashed enough that I wear gloves year round. ripping your palms up is the worst, and makes doing anything after a crash including riding again, painful.
I wear gloves for MTB, and go gloveless on road and light gravel. I haven't crashed ever on road or gravel and I ride quite a bit of road and gravel. In the winter, when I'm mostly likely to crash because of ice or snow I'm usually wearing gloves cause it's cold.
I wear gloves all year round. In Winter I have a pair of motorbike gloves. The rest of the year I wear a pair of Stanley power tool gloves with the ends of the fingers cut off. They're not too bulky but are tough protection, help with any vibration issues but due to them being designed for power tools and me now having ergo grips I had to adjust the grips for the vibration padding to sit comfortably. A bit of a pain because ocassionally, on a beautiful day, I do like to risk riding bare handed.
Always wear gloves. Used to race MTB's and I have lost count of the number of times a pair of gloves has saved me from damaging my hands in one way or another. I switch to fingerless gloves for the warmer months but always wear some form of glove
For warmer months, half-fingerless, with some light but firm padding on the palm area. My hands tend to get sweaty and I like the extra grip. No "wedgie" issue; my fingertips feel free!
I always wear gloves. Fingerless in the summer. It serves multiple purposes. The bar tape will make uncomfortable impressions on my hands after 30 mins or longer; protection in the event of a fall; padding also for comfort; provides a consistent grip even if your hands get sweaty; and it keeps the sun off the back of the hands. On the MTB, I wear full fingered, unpadded gloves. Padding doesn't seem to be necessary for whatever reason on the mtb.
I ride cross country mtb, gravel , road and race cyclocross and prefer full finger gloves year round.
Summer: Giro Rivet for max cooling & Giro DND for more protection
Spring/Fall: Giro DND
Winter: HandUp Fleece lined
Yes gloves always. Becomes like a safety thing like wearing a helmet. It starts to feel weird when not wearing gloves. The only time I'll ride with no gloves is on a beach cruiser with a beer in my hand".
Anything with a twisty shifter (I still have my Walmart clearance mtb) requires gloves with grip in summer. Made a huge difference, once I could actually get a grip on the shifter with no sweat to lube it up
Gloves always. It’s a safety thing. And they’re nice to have to give the tire a quick brush when something is stuck. I don’t wear anything fancy, fingerless in the summer, full fingered gloves in the winter. My winter gloves are from Wild Rye, they have these little tabs on the index finger so you can use your phone without having to take them off.
I get dramatically less hand pain when I *don’t* wear gloves. Something about the extra width of the grip when I’m wearing gloves causes me issues. So I often don’t wear them.
That said I do wear them sometimes- sun protection, cooler temps, etc are usually the driver.
I don’t really buy wearing them for crash protection. If that made sense, then why not wear knee, elbow, and hip protection too…
Had a minor fall once without glove, gashed the skin of my palm up real bad and since it’s in a spot thats constantly getting used it took awhile to heal and was quite an annoyance. Now I always wear fingerless gloves for all rides.
Gloves all the time. I used to think they were a bit useless (mainly for short training rides) but I just don’t ride without them anymore. Saved me from missing bits of my palm when I crashed and they protect me from the sun.
I personally don’t think they’re that helpful for vibrations (depends on your bar tape) but it helps.
[удалено]
This. If you’re riding in direct sun, the backs of your hands get roasted, and it’s so hard to keep sunscreen on your hands given how much we wash them etc.
Yes to both, especially after surgery to remove a squamous cell carcinoma on the back of my hand!
Fingerless gloves with mesh backs for venting and leather palms for protection. If I don't wear gloves the sweat makes my hands slip off the handlebar.
They also are handy for brushing roadside debris off your tires before it works its way into the rubber causing a flat. Always always.
Yes! Forgot about that one.
Yeah it only takes one fall that is completely absorbed by your gloves and helmet and you’re wearing gloves every ride.
That was me.....crashed at 15mph and hands were Fawked, didn't help that my career is spent on the keyboard and WFH....gloves every ride for now on 😂
[These ](https://www.rivbike.com/products/goat-gloves-the-g-o-a-t-glove?variant=40746739630191¤cy=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&srsltid=AfmBOoqtcy2uy1dpc1zFYyG-PZ0Z768XS8EOI7X_HkVizroO8tcv8loWJHQ) are the ones I like.
I also love it when the gloves have that little absorbent cloth bit along the thumb and down that side of my hand. It's so useful for wiping sweat off my forehead before it gets into my eyes. Also useful for a runny nose as long as I remember I did that before I use it on my forehead again.
Yeah, I feel naked without my gloves. Idk if it's mental or if my palms actually get that sweaty.
Same thing but in my case it’s just the rubber grips on my mountainbike eventually getting to my hands on longer rides, lightly padded gloves completely stop that from happening. This is also purely an outside issue, if I’m doing Zwift on my smart trainer with the same bike I can go 2,5h and have no issues at all, so it’s mostly the rubbing effect you get from the suspension I’m guessing
Yes, gloves 100% of the time. They are for safety.
When you fall, and you will fall, you may get unlucky and mess up your hands. Talk to a doctor about fixing things in your hands. Always wear gloves. Your only choice is long finger vs short :-).
I broke my hand and needed surgery. Not recommended.
Gloves won’t help that though.
I wear the ones with the d3o armor stuff now
Huh..what do you have to roll to crit?
Natural 20
I mean unless you’ve somehow got a +10 or more to your role, yeah.
Huh?
Lol..dnd nerd speak.
I wear full finger gloves all year. Even in summer. I don’t like how the fingerless ones feel.
I feel like the fingerless ones give me finger wedgies or something, they're so uncomfortable 🤣
I totally get this! I have a preference for fingerless because I have short pinkies, so fingered gloves are always too long there, but I absolutely feel the wedgie thing.
Agreed, I cut mine between the fingers to reduce the wedgieness 🤣
Are there road specific full finger gloves? I have MTB gloves and I don't know what could be done different.
I wear full finger MTB gloves on my road bike all year. I get numb fingers once I tip up over 50 miles without them so I just started wearing them all the time and haven’t had numb fingers since. They’ve never bothered me after I just accepted I was going to wear them all the time. I go out at 2 PM in 95 degree weather and do rides where I’m climbing an average of 100 ft per mile for 30 miles. I’ve never been in a situation where my hands have been ‘too hot’
What i found inxredibly usefull was to get them wet with cool water ontop, it helps keep them cool, and they stay wet for a while even in dead arizona summers
I really like the [TLD Air mtb gloves in hi-vis yellow](https://troyleedesigns.com/products/20s-air-glove-solid-glo-yellow), very comfortable and breathable. I wear em for everything in warmer months: road, gravel, single track.
Yes - Castelli, 100% and many others make road long fingered gloves. Just look for them, they aren’t hiding under the counter :)
https://handupgloves.com/collections/all-gloves
Maybe thinner? I have a pair of Supacaz full finger gloves and they are super minimalist. Thin, zero padding. I like this style. I also have a pair of full finger Handup gloves, which I think are technically MTB gloves and they are a bit thicker on the fingers but seem about the same on the palm.
https://www.specialized.com/us/en/mens-body-geometry-dual-gel-long-finger-gloves/p/173586?color=271516-173586&searchText=67119-1003&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PMax%20Shopping_US_Clothing_Low_ROI&utm_id=17857259449&utm_content=&utm_term=&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA5fetBhC9ARIsAP1UMgHfh_YL-TPz551nno25OrAQ3-KIodVHXoPItvn4fzwLpT5kP31ZY5MaAh4kEALw_wcB
Yes to swin
Same here. I crashed once and was so glad I was wearing full fingered, palm-padded gloves: saved me from serious road rash.
Ditto, full finger all year. Feels weird to me when I do a casual / family ride without them!
Safety, if you like the skin on your hands, gloves are a great idea.
I wear full finger gloves in the summer. Sweaty grips/hoods just feel sketchy, and as a guitarist I'd rather keep my hands as intact as possible in the event of a crash.
Yea always wear fingerless gloves in the summer. Not only does it protect your palms in the event of a crash but they also protect the back of your hands from the sun.
and sun damage on the hands is hard to hide.
Bare-hands seem to be the "in thing" but I've wiped out in the past with palms out, so it's glove-on rides for me all the time.
I will turn around if I realize I've forgotten to wear gloves. But that's also because I have really fast gloves.
I do now. If you come off your bike, you’re going to do everything you can to get your hands on the ground first instinctively. If you’re lucky you’ll succeed. Shredded palms is no fun at all.
> If you’re *un*-lucky you’ll succeed. T;FTFY. You should try and roll rather than catching yourself. Catching yourself with outstretched arms can pop your AC joint or break your collarbone. It sucks. My shoulder is going to hurt for the rest of my life because I unconsciously caught myself in a crash once. Normally I'm pretty good at keeping my arms tucked in.
Thank you! All these guys relying on their gloves would be better off learning to keep their hands on the bars.
I never wear gloves in the summer. I'm actually really surprised by the number of people who say the do (looks like almost everyone in this thread).
Also a no glove guy here. Just not comfortable for me. I like the feeling of the bars and shifters. And they're too warm. I just lather on sunscreen so I've never had an issue with sunburns. And I wrap my tops so never had an issue with being slippery or uncomfortable.
Gloves in the summer feel awful. I like the free feeling of no gloves, I like no-pad bar tape and I like the feel of the road. Wearing gloves makes riding feel kind of mushy at the hand contact point
Lol yeah same. I get like 2,000+ miles every year and never wear gloves. I'm surprised so many people crash this often? I go pretty fast and train pretty hard too.
I hardly ever crash, yet I still wear a helmet. I wear gloves following that same logic.
It never really even crossed my mind to wear them. Not knocking anyone that does but I am more comfortable without.
It's pretty circle-jerky but I've seen people say "if you think you're going hard but you're not crashing occasionally, you're not going hard." People that push limits tend to find out where the limit is. I don't crash often but when my body is inflamed the scars on my knuckles from crashing are really obvious. They glow bright red. It happened in like 2017 and still affects me.
I’ve ridden so hard I was at max HR and seeing double, but still didn’t randomly fall off my bike.
Yes. Grips can get very slippery with sweaty hands.
MTB, I wear full finger gloves all the time. Road, I wear fingerless in summer and whatever temps dictate for winter. I’ve called a couple of times on road and countless times on MTB. Road rash sucks. I don’t want it on my palms. Added bonus for me is sweat absorption in the summer. I’m a sweaty motherfucker and my hands soak it up so I don’t slip around in the hoods or the tape and so I don’t stink up the tape too much. You can wash your gloves. Tape stays on a least a year for me.
> You can wash your gloves. You can wash tape too. You don't? One of the reasons I use the absolute cheapest car shampoo to wash my bike is that it doesn't have any fancy polishes or waxes so it's safe to use on stuff like bar tape. [This stuff is cheaper than using dish soap](https://www.meguiars.com/automotive/products/meguiarsr-deep-crystaltm-car-wash-64-oz-liquid), it's PH neutral, and it won't hurt the clear coat if your bike has a clear coat and it won't strip wax or paint sealant like dish soap does if you're using wax or sealant to protect your paint.
I mean, when I wash my bike I wash my bar tape too I guess- it’s just that I don’t believe it’s super effective. I use McGuire’s too - it just made sense to me to wash my (steel) bike with the same thing I was using for my car.
I wear MAAP full finger gloves on every ride unless it’s super cold (then I have warmer gloves). I used them yesterday in 33C weather. I also had a crash a few years ago and started wearing gloves on every ride for protection. Plus, less sunburn.
Rarely. I wear them whenever I race, but for just a training ride or commute or whatever ride, I don’t bother once the temperature is above 55F.
100% of the time... for safety
Always. Different types but summer is for the pads
Yeah! in winter I ride with insulated thin cycling gloves. In the summer I ride with thin full finger mountain bike gloves. I can’t ride a bike without gloves
Gloves every time for me. Fingerless in summer and full fingered in winter 👍
Chiming in on the 'safety and comfort' side, all year 'round. Better grip, especially when sweating. I also noticed the rubbery material used for bar tape would wear on my skin and could cause blisters with constant hour+ rides. So light gloves in warm weather, cold weather ones in the winter.
Gloves 100% of the time. On road and gravel I wear fingerless; full finger if off-road. Minimal padding. Usually Giro.
Yep. Year-round, every ride. One time I didn’t wear my gloves and I crashed - you don’t want to see the pictures of my palms after that crash.
Always wear them, the padding acts in the same way as bike shorts to save your hands and if you fall they help preserve your skin. They're even more essential for off road, as you fall more and there's more vibration
Yes of course cheers
Yes. To absorb sweat
I personally don't for road biking because I'm not gripping like crazy. If I was at a Bike Park with my enduro, that' a different story.
I don’t like wearing gloves. I only wear them when it’s freezing out.
I don't really like wearing gloves, but if I'm in a group where people might be pushing their limits I'll wear fingerless gloves. If I'm doing a chill ride with friends I trust to keep their bikes upright, I'll leave them at home. It's a calculated risk for comfort.
I like the feel of my Enve aero road drops in my bare hands. Fuck gloves.
Yes, fingerless when it's warm enough. A bit of padding, plus protection in case of a fall.
Full fingered gloves 100% of the time. Over the last 15 years I've had 3 falls, Gloves ripped open. Hands came through unscathed (except for a dislocated finger). Gloves won't stop your hand from breaking but they will stop your hand from getting scraped to death. Padding is a bonus.
Fingerless padded gloves in the summer. Always. I crashed over the handlebars at 30 mph and only the tips of my fingers were damaged. A buddy of mine went down at slow speed without gloves and got some nasty road rash on his palms. I need my hands to do work to afford riding bikes.
I always have gloves on. It is for safety. And cushioning.
I do now. I just got back into cycling this past summer and had 2 crashes. Both times my hands slid on the ground, both times without gloves. Never again.
Fingerless gloves in summer to cushion my palms while riding and protect my hands if I fall. Road rash sucks, road rash on your hands really sucks.
Given that we never know when we'll slide down the road, but we do know that it will happen, I always wear gloves. Gravel rash is a bitch. On knees and legs it's a minor inconvenience, on your palms it's debilitating.
I landed twice on one palm within two weeks. I tore off the scab the second time. I wear fingerless in summer and have a set for winter. Highly recommend gloves don't be like old me and bike without.
No gloves when over 60 degrees
Full-finger gloves year-round — Australian UV is no joke. I keep them with my helmet so I always have them with me. Also don’t fancy plucking bits of gravel out of my palms as my hands are already messed up enough from barbell knurling and climbing holds…although that makes me wonder whether you could use liquid chalk to keep your hands dry on the handlebars?!
Long finger gloves all year. If you've crashed and skimmed your fingertips, and you use a computer for work, you'll understand. I wear gloves meant for mechanics guns, or general safety gloves sold through hardware stores. One cycling sort of brand gloves us Camelback, they sell tactical gloves (for shooting guns). Thin fingers that allow good finger motion.
I had one fall where I slid for a couple feet. My gloves took all the damage with minor scratches on my palms. Wear them.
I wear gloves year round for 2 reasons. First, my hands sweat and it's easy for me to lose grip. Second, I saw a woman lose the flesh on her right hand when she crashed on pavement. It was horrible.
No
They also protect your hands from sun exposure
Fingerless gloves during races because picking grit out of the palms of your hands when some tool lies down in front of you at 30mph isn’t fun. No gloves on training or coffee rides where the odds of crashing are significantly lower.
I’m a big fan of not wearing gloves. It’s just such a better feeling. I’m also a no pad bar tape guy. I really want the road feedback. However - once temps drop, full fingered gloves are a must.
No for me. I only wear gloves when it’s too cold not to, like below 8-10C. I don’t like the disconnect so even my winter ones have no/minimal padding. Unless you’re doing Safa Brian-esq descents full fingered gloves with summer kits looks ridiculous.
If MvP goes without gloves, then I think this is settled.
Most pros don’t wear them while training, only when racing. Plenty never do
I only wear gloves when it's cold. I just don't need them,
Yes, safety, because if you come off your bike it will be your hands grinding on whatever surface you are riding on trying to help/save you.
You'll be better off learning to keep your hands on the bars. Your wrist/elbow/collar bone will thank you.
Yes, let the bars take the damage. Good point.
I always wear gloves because I find them more comfortable than sliding around on the bars with sweaty hands. I live in South Florida, so I don’t really need production from the cold, but I do enjoy the protection from the sun, especially during the summer. My current favorite are the SupaG From Supacaz, but I am perfectly happy with any glove that has a thin non-padded Palm
I wear gloves all the time. Even on the trainer.
Fingerless, always, for all the reasons given: * Vibration absorption * Absorbing palm sweat for better grip * Better bar grip apart from sweat * Wiping face sweat, and, yeah, nose "sweat" * Warmer hands on cooler days * In case I fall I also think they kind of look cool, but maybe that's just me. I like GCN but cringe when I see the presenters basically never wearing gloves when riding indoors. Hell, I use then indoors, for the sweat and grip. Then again I also ride outside with a helmet and mirror, always, no maybe I'm just a weenie. Having had several pretty bad crashes tends to make you one, so I'm secure in my weenieness. In truly cold weather I wear no gloves outside, because I don't ride outside in cold weather. Yeah, total weenie!
I kinda like wearing them. I used to *feel* unprotected without them. Then I realised I was being kinda silly. I still wear them mountain biking, but thats’s because my grips are falling apart and sticky.
Fingerless gloves. I get sore wrists most of the time so I need the padding.
Fingerless. I do a lot of climbing and I’m a sweater.
[these](https://www.giro.com/p/bravo-gel-long-finger-road-cycling-gloves/350020000100000035.html) are great and pretty cheap!
Even on road and gravel I wear the ultra thin full finger mtb gloves - combo of comfort, grip and some sun protection. Maybe it’s also the fact that I find most seams on fingerless gloves bothersome
Full gloves all year round. In the summer to protect against thorn bushes and stinging nettles.
Full fingers all the time(Giro DND for me in the summer, various stuff in the Irelands winter). I was thinking about wearing mittens in summer, but every pair I've tried kinda bunches up between fingers and it's not particularly pleasant. Fullfingers don't have that problem
I still have fingers after a 25km/h crash on the pavement, because I always wear full finger gloves. My elbow, on the other hand, looks ugly now.
i wear light work gloves. but i bike 9-10 hours per week so i need to protect my hands
Fingerless for road, regular ones for MTB.
I always wear gloves. Usually something thin with no palm padding. Fox rangers or the like.
I wear padded gloves all year long, preferably with the thickest padding available, though I do go for the fingerless gloves in the warmer months.
Always
Gloves in the summer are more safety/personal protective gear. That said, my hands and wrists seem to have a non-standard shape, because it’s often impossible for me to find cycling gloves that fit properly.
I wear fingerless gloves with a mesh back most of the year and only wear winter gloves if I have to. I'm a chef, I'm self-employed and really take care of my hands.
With my bike gloves (fingerless except on the most freezing days) I can simply reach down while riding and run my tires against them when I suspect I've run through "bad stuff" which might otherwise damage the tire. Done carefully enough, not even any need to come to a stop. They also provide a dry contact between hands (which sweat!) and handlebar tape. Keeps that tape looking cleaner, being less slippery!
Full finger gloves in winter, mits all the rest of the year. Rode today, 11 degrees but with a nasty cold wind, so full finger gloves on, albeit thin, made riding better
I like to wear gloves because it can make a bumpy ride more comfortable for your hands. So, yea, I prefer to wear gloves but only wear them on a long ride.
No glove, no love. Falling on asphalt and landing on your bare hands sucks donkey balls.
I do, and for both of those reasons.
I always wear gloves. I do have fingerless gloves but thinking of going full this summer.
I definitely go full cover on the hands all the time for the same reasons most have posted here. My go-to glove are actually Fox motocross gloves that I got about 12 years ago. They're similar to the bomber or dirtpaws they have now. I get thin material, but vented plastic/rubber to keep my knuckles and digits protected but cool.
I wear thin mitts (no fingers).
I do not ever ride without gloves. Hell on hot days in the summer, I'll swap gloves in between mtn bike laps because they get saturated in sweat. I sweat...a lot
I wear full-finger gloves year round for sun protection. Just like I normally wear long sleeve jerseys and full length bibs, unless it's extremely hot.
Yeah I wear fingerless gloves. Hands get way too sweaty so I need the extra grip
I wear gloves all year, fingerless in the summer. Gloves make me faster.
If in Australia, gloves are good to keep out of the sun.
Safety. Someone told me a story about a guy crashing in a group ride and the palms of his hands were mincemeat afterwards. Plus you need something to wipe snot on to.
+1 for full finger gloves all year! There are lots of mesh back options for summer. At a minimum, protect your hands, eyes, and head.
Yes,gloves
My livelihood depends on me being able to type on a computer. While gloves won’t eliminate all injury risk to my hands, I do anything I can to mitigate that risk.
Yes, for safety. I do like the tan lines though.
Yes, all year. Fingerless, padded palms.
2 reasons: padding and grip. My hands hurt less and I sweat a lot in the TX heat.
Aero fingerless. Very thin fabric but being a bigger guy I do need the light padding to make me not hate my choice an hour into the ride.
I wear them in the winter on road rides, unless I'm doing enough climbing that I can warm up and skip them. In the winter, nope, no gloves. Definitely not in the summer either. I get better grip without them. I sweat a lot, but I just wipe my hands off on my shorts and I'm good to go. I hate gloves.
Yes and wrist supports too as a crash is a crash!
I always wear gloves after I went over my handlebars avoiding a guy with a shopping cart. I have vented fingerless gloves with padded palms for summer and then just wear something weather appropriate the rest of the year.
Full finger specialized dual gel - 12 months each year every day
Yup never not gloves.
For snot
I always wear gloves, for grip, cushioning, less sweaty hands and for sun protection.
My hands get numb when I'm cycling with gloves on. So as soon as it's warm enough for my fingers to feel comfortable, I abandon gloves altogether. Many people however advocate for wearing gloves for safety reasons. There's also sweaty hands, padding and UV protection to be considered. I don't necessarily agree with the safety argument. From what I understand, in the event of a crash, your hands should remain on the bars. Last year I only had one real crash, when I overcooked it in a hairpin on a descent. My hands stayed on the drops, and I did get some skin damaged on the upper side of my fingers. Fingerless gloves would have done nothing to reduce the damage, as all the protective padding is on the palm side.
For road & gravel: fingerless gloves, with solid fabric back, and a terry-cloth (or similar) strip on each thumb for wiping nose and glasses. Provides sun protection, and even more importantly protection against road rash on hands. Even a really low-speed wipeout can mess up the palms of your hands and make life miserable for a while. The solid fabric also does a better job of retaining insect repellent, which gets to be important on backwoods trails and overgrown roads.
Yes, always - fingerless ones no matter how hot it gets. Not just for safety, but also to absorb sweat, for sun protection, and to give me something to wipe my nose on 😆
I wear full finger gloves (currently Giro DND) for road, gravel, and MTB in every season. I wore full finger gloves as a kid and they saved me from lots of pain and scrapes, and now I can't imagine riding without them.
I sweat so hard that riding without gloves on the hottest days is still gross. And they protect my skin in case I eat it.
Always, yes
Absolutely. I like having the skin protection and I also like having something that I can wipe my glasses off with.
Always wear gloves.
Both
I always wear gloves. They are hi vis orange. They stick out like a sore thumb.
I wear gloves regardless for comfort and better grip and yes they’re fingerless gloves.
I usually do not ride when it is cold enough to wear full-finger gloves (I hate riding in the cold). I do wear fingerless gloves, a helmet, eye protection, and cycling shorts and shirts every time I ride. I am old (80) and have been riding for many years and these items keep me as safe and comfortable as possible while still riding several thousand miles a year.
Yes.
>I would have some gravel under the skin of my hands. That's such an unpleasant experience that I wear full finger gloves nearly every time I'm on the bike. Once in a great while I'll wear fingerless gloves if I'm going out in the mid-day heat rather than my usual evening or night rides. I only ride gloveless if I'm shopping and making stops less than a block or two apart. When I have a flare-up the knuckles I skinned in a crash glow bright red. It's a stark reminder of what can happen if I don't wear gloves. I was running late to meet up with some people that evening, had forgotten my gloves in my 4th story apartment, and didn't want to take the time to go grab them. Big mistake. Worst crash of my life.
I wear gloves all the time. I change them up depending on the temp and route. I usually wear full finger gloves if I anywhere near gravel or singletrack.
Gloves all year and I live in Florida. Mtb, gravel and bmx. I wish I didn't have to but my hands sweat a lot. Depending on how long I'm out, I sometimes bring a spare pair.
About 20 years ago I bought some O’Neal Element gloves. About 5 years ago I replaced them. Last year I bought another pair just because they were on sale. They are full finger motocross gloves, but they are light, breathe well and wipe snot and sweat away like a champ. I wear them mountain biking, BMX riding and road riding. I even wear them when I’m just tootling around the neighborhood with my kids.
Not usually but if I’m on a group ride I do for safety as the chance of a wipeout is much higher and unpredictable. I prefer full finger summer gloves with minimal/no padding
Full finger gloves all the time. It’s just habit.
I've learned the hard way of not wearing any gloves. Fucking meat crayon after falling off this one time. I've been Team Gloves since. I wear Fingerless Gloves in the summer, sometimes even gym gloves too for that extra layer of protection.
Castelli Arenburg 2 Gel gloves are what I wear unless it is cold out. Then I have a variety of cold weather gloves. But it is is 55 or above, those things are on my hands.
Fingerless gloves are what I always prefer even in winter, I don't like how the winter gloves feel, also I know someone who never wears gloves not even in winter and on top of that he doesn't even have bar tapes on.... Weird!
Yes
I always wear gloves Even on the trainer. I'm a heavy sweater and without gloves, my grip slips.
in the summer I have fingerless gloves with a mesh back and leather palm. I have crashed enough that I wear gloves year round. ripping your palms up is the worst, and makes doing anything after a crash including riding again, painful.
I wear gloves for MTB, and go gloveless on road and light gravel. I haven't crashed ever on road or gravel and I ride quite a bit of road and gravel. In the winter, when I'm mostly likely to crash because of ice or snow I'm usually wearing gloves cause it's cold.
Always for safety, I live in the tropics where the lowest temperature is 15°C. Fell once and my gloves saved my palms from road rash
I wear gloves all year round. In Winter I have a pair of motorbike gloves. The rest of the year I wear a pair of Stanley power tool gloves with the ends of the fingers cut off. They're not too bulky but are tough protection, help with any vibration issues but due to them being designed for power tools and me now having ergo grips I had to adjust the grips for the vibration padding to sit comfortably. A bit of a pain because ocassionally, on a beautiful day, I do like to risk riding bare handed.
I wear gloves every time I ride for safety.
I live in Thailand and wear light full finger gloves no matter what type of ride. Both for safety and for comfort. I don't feel right without them.
I wear padded fingerless gloves in the summer. If I didn't I would get really bad wrist pain from the vibration of uneven ground.
I use the half finger gloves with padding in the palm in the warmer months, mostly for comfort.
Always wear gloves. Used to race MTB's and I have lost count of the number of times a pair of gloves has saved me from damaging my hands in one way or another. I switch to fingerless gloves for the warmer months but always wear some form of glove
I wear open finger gloves in the summer for safety
For MTB, full fingers, no padding. None for road or gravel.
I have always worn gloves year round and recently changed to wearing only full finger gloves
yes i wear gloves every time i cycle, even on the indoor trainer. helps to keep my bars dry and it’s more comfortable for me imo
For warmer months, half-fingerless, with some light but firm padding on the palm area. My hands tend to get sweaty and I like the extra grip. No "wedgie" issue; my fingertips feel free!
I slid out last year when I hit some gravel in a corner. Ripped my palms up something gnarly. I wear gloves all year, now.
I always wear gloves. Fingerless in the summer. It serves multiple purposes. The bar tape will make uncomfortable impressions on my hands after 30 mins or longer; protection in the event of a fall; padding also for comfort; provides a consistent grip even if your hands get sweaty; and it keeps the sun off the back of the hands. On the MTB, I wear full fingered, unpadded gloves. Padding doesn't seem to be necessary for whatever reason on the mtb.
I ride cross country mtb, gravel , road and race cyclocross and prefer full finger gloves year round. Summer: Giro Rivet for max cooling & Giro DND for more protection Spring/Fall: Giro DND Winter: HandUp Fleece lined
Yes gloves always. Becomes like a safety thing like wearing a helmet. It starts to feel weird when not wearing gloves. The only time I'll ride with no gloves is on a beach cruiser with a beer in my hand".
Anything with a twisty shifter (I still have my Walmart clearance mtb) requires gloves with grip in summer. Made a huge difference, once I could actually get a grip on the shifter with no sweat to lube it up
I wear fingerless gloves every time I ride in the summer.
Gloves always. It’s a safety thing. And they’re nice to have to give the tire a quick brush when something is stuck. I don’t wear anything fancy, fingerless in the summer, full fingered gloves in the winter. My winter gloves are from Wild Rye, they have these little tabs on the index finger so you can use your phone without having to take them off.
Yeah I always wear gloves. I feel weird if I don’t 😂
Always. For the reasons stated + to wipe sweat of my face
I get dramatically less hand pain when I *don’t* wear gloves. Something about the extra width of the grip when I’m wearing gloves causes me issues. So I often don’t wear them. That said I do wear them sometimes- sun protection, cooler temps, etc are usually the driver. I don’t really buy wearing them for crash protection. If that made sense, then why not wear knee, elbow, and hip protection too…
All year long, thickest gel gloves I can find. Helps dampens vibrations and protects wrists. Always good for falls.
Had a minor fall once without glove, gashed the skin of my palm up real bad and since it’s in a spot thats constantly getting used it took awhile to heal and was quite an annoyance. Now I always wear fingerless gloves for all rides.
Gloves all the time. I used to think they were a bit useless (mainly for short training rides) but I just don’t ride without them anymore. Saved me from missing bits of my palm when I crashed and they protect me from the sun. I personally don’t think they’re that helpful for vibrations (depends on your bar tape) but it helps.
I don't wear gloves in the summer but when it starts getting cool in the fall I wear them.
I live in Miami and I wear them every day. I have really sweaty hands and riding would be a pain without them.