Mitts for long distance

meanredspider

ugo.santalucia wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

stevie63 wrote:

How about no mitts? It's usually the mitts themselves that cause the discomfort.

Spot on. I fell into the trap of thinking padded mitts would help and it just made matters worse. Expecting a mm or two of material to absorb 10's of N of load is fanciful too - but it will cause pressure points. The truth is you just need to HTFU - ride enough on rough surfaces and your hands, like your butt, will adapt. Additionally, you need to think about how much weight you're bearing through your hands - I'm sure, as part of my 4-5 hour bike fit, demonstrating that there wasn't much load on my hands was part of the testing. Finally (and I doubt this is an issue for you), run wider tyres at lower pressures.

If that doesn't work, buy Rapha


ETA - i would always wear gloves of some sort to protect my hands in a fall though.

Well, I am not going to tweak with my bike position 12 days before a 400 km Audax, am I? It seems to work with my back and neck, so that's the main concern.
It might well be that my current mitts have seen better days

No - probably not - but equally riding in new mitts sounds almost as daft.

MisterMuncher

I used to swear by Mavic Espoir mitts. Nice fit, good padding, and sufficiently cheap that I didn't mind they only lasted 12-18 months commuting/general riding use. They've been discontinued or superceded. The current Aksium gloves look close enough, but about one and a half times the price.

These days, Galibier Ginettaccio are my first choice, although like any leather product, they're best when well broken in rather than brand new. No padding to speak of, just double thickness leather in the right places

meanredspider

MisterMuncher wrote:

These days, Galibier Ginettaccio are my first choice, although like any leather product, they're best when well broken in rather than brand new. No padding to speak of, just double thickness leather in the right places

Leather is my preferred choice. Rapha GT in my case though the quality is dire if you wash them as suggested. My first set fell to pieces (though they looked properly gnarly just before they did). Rapha replaced them and the second pair have lasted much longer (no washing). I bought a 3rd pair for £30 at the outlet sale to salt away. The full price (I've never paid more than half) was utterly mad, even for Rapha.

ugo.santalucia

meanredspider wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Well, I am not going to tweak with my bike position 12 days before a 400 km Audax, am I? It seems to work with my back and neck, so that's the main concern.
It might well be that my current mitts have seen better days

No - probably not - but equally riding in new mitts sounds almost as daft.

Not really, worse case scenario is I ditch them half way through and ride bare handed

k-dog

Specialized BG gel for me - I have the short and full finger versions and when they wear out I buy the same again. Been through about 3 sets of each.

It sounds like they have the padding you're looking for - the base of the palm pad is useless for a road position but they have similar padding around the meat of your thumb which works for riding on the hoods. The earlier BG gloves didn't have that and weren't any better than bare hands.

I know you said no Rapha but I do like the look of their new Brevet mitts - bit steep at £60 though - https://www.rapha.cc/gb/en/shop/brevet-mitts/product/BIM01XX

w00dster

I use Specialized Body Geometry gloves, cheap as chips. Have used them for multiple long rides (longest being 220 miles) and multi-day 100+ rides. No issues what so ever.
Can be had for £16 at Cycle Store and if you sign up you get £5 off I think.
To be honest I never even noticed any pain or irritation in my hands...my feet on the other hand...ow!!!

meanredspider

k-dog wrote:

Specialized BG gel for me - I have the short and full finger versions and when they wear out I buy the same again. Been through about 3 sets of each.

These are exactly the ones I tried which just made things worse as the pads just acted as pressure spots. As per normal, we're all different (thank god)

thegreatdivide

meanredspider wrote:

Additionally, you need to think about how much weight you're bearing through your hands - I'm sure, as part of my 4-5 hour bike fit, demonstrating that there wasn't much load on my hands was part of the testing. Finally (and I doubt this is an issue for you), run wider tyres at lower pressures.

And this is why carbon bars are just bike bling.

meanredspider

thegreatdivide wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

Additionally, you need to think about how much weight you're bearing through your hands - I'm sure, as part of my 4-5 hour bike fit, demonstrating that there wasn't much load on my hands was part of the testing. Finally (and I doubt this is an issue for you), run wider tyres at lower pressures.

And this is why carbon bars are just bike bling.

Explain - I'm not making that connection. There's a world of difference between road buzz and pain, in my experience.

pippi_langsamer-2

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I think I am going to give the Spesc Grail a try... it might well be that the pad in the middle means I don't actually rub the bottom of the palm on the bars... AND 15 quid reduced price at Edinburgh cycles seems a pretty good deal... although in red only...

Oh well

Worth a try at that price I guess- you can always keep them for riding shorter distances if they don't work out.

I've got a pair of the Grail mitts (fluoro yellow LOL), and really like them- a very minimalist design allowing plenty of feedback. As mentioned, there's little to no padding, but that low profile blob in the palm might do the trick. I don;t notice it at all, so maybe it is doing it's job? Dunno....

mamil314

Hands are different and it is best to try and wear in gloves before picking favourites. My favourite pair are my 5 year old Alturas, well broken in and no faults or rips, just back turning into purple, somehow. Rapha classics somewhere in the draw, L was too small despite following guide to a mm and ripped thread while putting on.
For Paris-Roubaix used one of Chiba cushier options, they are good value and quality.

Thick/double bar tape does not work for me, spongy handle bar just feels horrible.

mercia_man

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Not looking for trendy looking mitts. Anyone has positive experience with some, riding over 8 hours?

I can recommend a couple of gloves that I've used successfully on three-week tours across France. Lightly padded slip-on race gloves like Assos are fine for me for shorter rides but I like thicker padding for multi-day tours to prevent pain on palm opposite thumb side. Both the following two mitts are designed for long rides and have fairly substantial but unobtrusive padding.

Chiba Gel Comfort Plus are £16 from Merlin, Tredz etc and have a slightly sticky synthetic palm.

I replaced them with Giro Monaco (£29.99 from Cyclestore, £31.99 from Tredz) which have Pittards leather palms which stiffen after washing and then mould to your hands with use.

ugo.santalucia

Mercia Man wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Not looking for trendy looking mitts. Anyone has positive experience with some, riding over 8 hours?

I can recommend a couple of gloves that I've used successfully on three-week tours across France. Lightly padded slip-on race gloves like Assos are fine for me for shorter rides but I like thicker padding for multi-day tours to prevent pain on palm opposite thumb side. Both the following two mitts are designed for long rides and have fairly substantial but unobtrusive padding.

Chiba Gel Comfort Plus are £16 from Merlin, Tredz etc and have a slightly sticky synthetic palm.

I replaced them with Giro Monaco (£29.99 from Cyclestore, £31.99 from Tredz) which have Pittards leather palms which stiffen after washing and then mould to your hands with use.

That is exactly the same pain I experience, thanks

mercia_man

I see Chain Reaction have just one pair of the Chibas in stock for £10.99 if medium is your size. Obviously everyone is different but they worked well for me.

ugo.santalucia

Mercia Man wrote:

I see Chain Reaction have just one pair of the Chibas in stock for £10.99 if medium is your size. Obviously everyone is different but they worked well for me.

Large hands stolen to agriculture

antonyfromoz

I have moved to the Spec Body Gel mitts and found them to be very good but i haven't tested them over 100 miles yet. I notice that Merlin have all sizes in both colours of those Chiba gloves for £16, which seems to be a very good price and worthy of trial...

webboo

What about Assos S7 mitts. I have an older version of these that I worn for a 9 hours plus ride or are these outside your price range.

milemuncher1

For me, the biggest help that the mitts give me is stopping my hands slipping when changing position on the bars, and from getting sliced by things poking out of hedges and the like.

mamba80

i use gloves with no gel padding, its a gimmick and just moves pressure points around, my favourite is spesh pro SL, single layer of leather, Edinburgh cycles were doing them for £15, they size up, so go down a size.

But should you be getting so much pressure on your hands?

jermas

Planet X "X-fit" mitts are the most comfortable I've used. They can sometimes be on sale for £3ish.
Another major benefit of wearing mitts is sun protection. The backs of my hands have been nuked in the past and now the skin is very thin -they look 30 years older than the rest of me.

mikecassie

I can vouch for the Specialized Grail mitts. I used other mitts, Endura, Spesh, Castelli and they all gave me numbness to various degrees. But I've used the grail and have not experienced any issues. I was sceptical of them but thought why not give them a go and to be fair they seem to work.
There's a couple loose threads which disappointed me but it hasn't got worse the last few months and they do a fine job of wiping rain and snot away when needed too.
Would I buy another pair? Yes I would, I'd buy them over the Castelli Ardenberg mitts I used before.

Moonbiker

What psi do you put in your tyres?

I prefer thinner paded mits don't like ones with over thick gel padding they feel more uncomfortable somehow.

Aldi/lidl ones. £2.99 in sale, they have various different types in ocassionally.

Had double wrap bar tape on my cx bike when I bought in but I removed it as didn't like squidgy feel of it.

Maybe handle bar shape/width would make more difference than mitts? ergonomics etc....

janwal

I have just bought a pair of these on eBay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172196190993
The padding by the thumb is superb,a proper gel insert and meshing on the palm for ventilation.Best gloves I have had for some time. Did a very hilly 8 hours yesterday around the Lakes including Wrynose and Hardknotts passes.Hadly sweated in them at all. Can't say the same about the rest of me !! Just going to order a black pair now I like them that much and the price is a steal for the excellent quality. My hand measures about 8-8.5 inches and the medium is just the right fit.

birdie23

I have these and find them very comfortable when I'm riding in an area where I wear mitts (normally ride bare handed but a few places I go have horrendous roads), I have worn them for around the length of time you are asking about on roads where bare handed I've ended up with the same area hurting as you describe.

Also wore them while testing a new build's bar/lever position without bar tape over rough roads and had no discomfort.

Plus, in certain colours/sizes they are currently pretty cheap and they are identical to the new model just with a different name (I bought both to see which I preferred)

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/sportful-gruppetto-pro-gloves/

mamil314

While bare handed would be most comfortable and slippage *might* be avoided with the right bar tape, i would advise everyone wear some gloves in case they come off, unless they do not need hands to make their living. I'd advise wearing a mesh baselayer under the jersey, way less rash when coming off at speed.

I do not like backs of my hands scorched by sun, either. Weather has been hardly tolerable, lately.

sungod

leaving aside matters of what works for one may not for another...

unless it's rough road surface, i don't think padding will help, it may make things worse by squashing into the 'unpadded' parts of the palm

i prefer minimum padding, my bars have flat/deep tops, no tape on that area, i prefer gloves with minimal padding or simply thicker 'leather' on the contact area you mention opposite the base of the thumb

birdie23

mamil314 wrote:

While bare handed would be most comfortable and slippage *might* be avoided with the right bar tape, i would advise everyone wear some gloves in case they come off, unless they do not need hands to make their living. I'd advise wearing a mesh baselayer under the jersey, way less rash when coming off at speed.

I do not like backs of my hands scorched by sun, either. Weather has been hardly tolerable, lately.

What if you don't like your hands being white when your arms are tanned though?

As I ride with the intention of staying upright I don't make clothing choices based on if I fell off, and if I did I probably would reconsider lycra.

mamil314

birdie23 wrote:

mamil314 wrote:

While bare handed would be most comfortable and slippage *might* be avoided with the right bar tape, i would advise everyone wear some gloves in case they come off, unless they do not need hands to make their living. I'd advise wearing a mesh baselayer under the jersey, way less rash when coming off at speed.

I do not like backs of my hands scorched by sun, either. Weather has been hardly tolerable, lately.

What if you don't like your hands being white when your arms are tanned though?

As I ride with the intention of staying upright I don't make clothing choices based on if I fell off, and if I did I probably would reconsider lycra.

Since you ask, i don't like tanning anywhere and wear arm screens.
You are quite not unique with such intentions, if only everything depended 100% on ourselves out on the road. Thus the compromising

ugo.santalucia

Received a pair of Specialized Grail 10 days ago... tried them in the Cotswolds for 5 hours... didn't seem particularly comfortable or uncomfortable.

Did the 400 km last weekend, so 16 hours on the saddle. Managed not to get unbearably sore hands, but then I've had numb small fingers (stemming from the bottom of the palm opposite the thumb) since then. Getting a bit better now, probably OK tomorrow.

So, mixed feelings, on balance not great, will probably keep them for commuting... NEXT please...

Alex99

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Received a pair of Specialized Grail 10 days ago... tried them in the Cotswolds for 5 hours... didn't seem particularly comfortable or uncomfortable.

Did the 400 km last weekend, so 16 hours on the saddle. Managed not to get unbearably sore hands, but then I've had numb small fingers (stemming from the bottom of the palm opposite the thumb) since then. Getting a bit better now, probably OK tomorrow.

So, mixed feelings, on balance not great, will probably keep them for commuting... NEXT please...

After realising that my un-killable pair of Gore mitts aren't actually very comfortable, I've just gone through my usual process of ordering loads and keeping one. I've settled on the DHB Aeron at £20. Not tested over 400 km, but they do feel good so far. Some sensible padding that seems to be in the right places without creating edges and ridges etc... I've noticed that some gloves put the stitching on the inside (to make the gloves look nice from the outside?) (e.g. some Gore and Altura) and some put it all on the outside keeping the inside smooth (DHB Aeron, Northwave).

BTW, if you are going to try them, Wiggle's size guide didn't work for me. Around the palm I was between M and L, I took the XL.