Gloves/Mitts - Why wear them?

anto164

I've been riding 6/7weeks now, and everyone i ride with wear mitts. I wear gloves on the MTB due to the soft grips, and the nature of the riding, but i've done longish rides on the roady (Longest is 38 miles so far) and never worn gloves with no problems, no numbness, no issues or anything.

Just wondering whether everyone on here actually wear gloves, or who doesn't wear gloves on the bike, and why?

idkPhil

I do not wear gloves.. and kind of not related to gloves but I don't wear socks while cycling either..
mainly because I do not have gloves or socks for cycling
I wouldn't mind having some padding on my hands but I did a 40-50 (somewhere inbetween those two numbers) miler today without any and had no problems.

I will probably invest in gloves eventually but only when I have the money for it.

RobG100

I wear gloves... Stops sweaty hands affecting your grip, adds padding to sensitive areas, protects your hands if you fall off (partly at least)

Flasheart

Road vibration
Sweatty palms (grip)
In case I come off (less skin damage)
Snot wiping
Steamed glasses
and they match my jersey etc for goodness sake :roll:

8)

softlad

wiping your nose with your bare hand is not nearly as effective.....

edhornby

all the things that flash said are spot on - principally the reduction of gravel rash if you crash (but the other reasons are salient also)

in addition, your bartape lasts longer because of the sweaty palms ruin the tape and the grip torsion pulls it off (white tape doesn't get as grotty)

BeaconRuth

Flasheart wrote:

Snot wiping

This is the main one. On occasions on a mild day in winter when I'm overdressed and too hot, I might take my gloves off to cool off a bit, but the biggest issue then is where to wipe the snot. :oops:

Ruth

Scrumple

Having seen some crashes and falls, the day you do you will be happy you had them.

Like a helmet for hands.

And, snot and road buzz are big issues.

gabriel959

Flasheart wrote:

Road vibration
Sweatty palms (grip)
In case I come off (less skin damage)
Snot wiping
Steamed glasses
and they match my jersey etc for goodness sake :roll:

8)

In this order for me...

Sweaty hands on long rides
Road vibration
In case I come off (I can testify for this one!)
Snot wipping

Headhuunter

I wear 2 pairs of gloves these days - a pair of Specialized BG and a cheaper pair underneath. Had some alarming numbness in my small and ring fingers on both sides for a while. Physio thought it might be something to do with discs in my upper back but suggested I try using better gloves and riding on the tops of the bars to lessen the pressure on the ulnar nerves and it worked! BG gloves are very good - bought a few pairs of XXL from JE James for about £6.99, when I put them over the top of another pair, it works a treat. Also as pointed out, I wipe my nose on my gloves, wipe sweat off me, stops you scraping your palms if you crash etc

amaferanga

I wear gloves because I like having skin my palms.

dodgy

None of you have mentioned the most important reason!

It's so you can cultivate that "sewn on hands" look as the mitts keep the sun off your hands and make it look like a surgeon has sewn someone elses hands onto your wrists.

It's a great look, and a conversation starter in the pub 8)

Ands

Flasheart wrote:

Road vibration
Sweatty palms (grip)
In case I come off (less skin damage)
Snot wiping
Steamed glasses
and they match my jersey etc for goodness sake :roll:

8)

I had to use the back of my mitts the other day to clean my fingers every time my chain came off (5 times in one ride). Didn't want to get my white bar tape dirty and I decided my mitts were the cheapest things I was wearing so I'd have to wipe my fingers on those. Got home and realised that actually the bar tape was less than half the price of the mitts! :roll:

danowat

Flasheart wrote:

Road vibration
Sweatty palms (grip)
In case I come off (less skin damage)
Snot wiping
Steamed glasses
and they match my jersey etc for goodness sake :roll:

8)

Apart from the jersey bit, YUP 8)

No socks?, isn't that uncomfortable?

Butterd2

After your first crash you will also wear gloves.

Flasheart

danowat wrote:

Flasheart wrote:

Road vibration
Sweatty palms (grip)
In case I come off (less skin damage)
Snot wiping
Steamed glasses
and they match my jersey etc for goodness sake :roll:

8)

Apart from the jersey bit, YUP 8)

No socks?, isn't that uncomfortable?

Of course my socks and jersey match !! I'm ALWAYS colour co-ordinated....silly boy :roll:
My favourite red jersey even matches my face on steep inclines

Bunneh

They feel nice when I'm rubbing myself, duh!...

giant_man

Always mitts in summer and gloves in winter, also depends on your handlebars of course.

MarjMJ

anto164 Hi. After your first trip to A&E to get the gravel rash out of your hand [thank the lord it was walking distance to the hozzy as hand was so mashed could not drive ], and with all the others who have said similar, you too will wear gloves.

nferrar

Comfort and crash protection are the main ones for me, it's quite surprising though the number of pros that don't wear mitts. Given how frequent crashes are in the pro peloton I'd have thought it was a no brainer (even if they get unpadded ones).

furrag

I wear them for aerodynamics as I have hairy palms owing to no girlfriend.

The snot spot on the back of the glove is highly important. The last thing I want is a snail trail of mucus all over my jersey.

Hals1967

+1 for all the crash protection & snot wiping posts

Plus it's great to have tanned finger ends, pale hands and tanned arms.

People have commented on my "skin condition" - "oh poor you, are you one those people who has no pigment in various parts of your skin ?"

They tend to be a bit disappointed when I tell them it's through wearing cycling mitts. :shock:

LazyBoycp

dodgy wrote:

None of you have mentioned the most important reason!

It's so you can cultivate that "sewn on hands" look as the mitts keep the sun off your hands and make it look like a surgeon has sewn someone elses hands onto your wrists.

It's a great look, and a conversation starter in the pub 8)

For an even greater look, get mitts with the traditional hole in the back, e.g.



You'll then have a wonderful oval tan on the back of your hands that will cause your colleagues no end of amusement.

+1 to the crash protection - I was very glad I was wearing gloves when I came off a few weeks ago.

dodgy

My mitts already have a hole like that on the back of them, I have a five pence sized tan mark there
Someone should make mitts with a recognisable logo cut out so that you tan with that logo on the back of your hand 8)

Lady Venom

I am notoriously snotty and I love the soft suedy bit on the side of the thumbs, great reuseable tissue!

Squillinossett

As I like to have matching shoes/socks/gloves/jearsey....

prawny

Hals1967 wrote:

+1 for all the crash protection & snot wiping posts

Plus it's great to have tanned finger ends, pale hands and tanned arms.

People have commented on my "skin condition" - "oh poor you, are you one those people who has no pigment in various parts of your skin ?"

They tend to be a bit disappointed when I tell them it's through wearing cycling mitts. :shock:

This is the reason I'm not wearing them at the moment. You can explain crash injuries, tan injuries are just strange. I'm also avoiding the swimming pool because of the emperors new skinsuit effect

Twilheimer

I wear then because my right hand no longer resembles a hand after a motorbike incident! They help take the vibration out and allow a bit more comfort in the old cripple hand. Plus a nice long snot whipe is always welcome from them. I wear Chiba gel comforts.

The_Beast

Yeah I've stopped wearing them a couple of weeks back, due to the white hand gang look.

I had to as my sister got married the other week, didn't want to have a lovely tanned face and white mits on the wedding photos!!!

My bar tape has got grubby as its white, nothing a bit of cream cleaner can't bring back up to proper colour I hope. The cleaner has worked when I've had oily hands and accidently touched the bar tape whilst cleaning the bike.

John C.

If you ride bikes you will fall off at some point and when you do you'll put your hands out to protect your body. Wearing gloves/mitts is a no brainer. Just do it.

Gav888

RobG100 wrote:

I wear gloves... Stops sweaty hands affecting your grip, adds padding to sensitive areas, protects your hands if you fall off (partly at least)

Same reasons for me.