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Gloves or No gloves

  • Gloves

    Votes: 177 74.7%
  • No Gloves

    Votes: 60 25.3%

Gloves or No gloves?

35K views 91 replies 68 participants last post by  Benjamin Less 
#1 ·
#38 ·
Nicole is on the money on this one. I have trained myself to not put my hand out to break my fall. When people do this they break their collar bone. I have thought about this while riding. I have said this over and over to myself lying in bed the night before a race. I have been down in races a few times and it paid off. Even in that spit second of going down I said it to myself, kept my hand on my bars, tucked my head into my chest and took the hit on my shoulder. Got up rode away no prob.
Sticking your hand out might end up in someones spokes. Seen it happen. Ugly.
 
#42 ·
Gloves for me, since having a palms-down crash while commuting that skinned my palms. I wear full finger gloves for MTBing so I can remove thorns from my front tyre while on the move, and on the road bike to keep my digits pinkish when it's cold. Even in the heat of an Arabian summer I like to have the protection, cushioning and snot-wiping facilities offered by gloves. Plus, gloves = more cycling gear to have.
 
#51 ·
Generally gloves, mostly for padding and extra grip when hands get sweaty. But on days like today, when put on midweight gloves for the chilly morning commute but I forgot the fingerless gloves for the ride home, I'll be gloveless.
 
#57 ·
Ugh... What is it with meaningless questions and meaningless polls?

There are [at least] two absolutely orthogonal reasons for wearing gloves: protection from elements and protection from injury. People might/will have completely different habits/opinions with regard to each application.

So, what is this poll supposed to be about? Which specific reason?
 
#59 ·
I use gloves for all my riding, mostly out of habit. My hands also sweat a lot, so without gloves, my grip would be greatly compromised. Not a big deal on a road bike, but on a mountain bike it is a huge deal.
 
#62 · (Edited)
Another vote for gloves.


After years of skateboarding and layers of skin lost, I wear gloves for everything including sleeping sometimes :blush2: !

And since my work involves using my hands I take extra care of them.
 
#63 ·
In the beginning, when the world was created I never wore gloves. I had a handful [no pun intended] of falls with palm plants with embedded debris. Plenty of scars too. Back in those days we used our fingers to touch off the tubulars after riding through glass or sharp objects on rides. The guys that had gloves could ride their palms on the front tires but not the rears obviously due to seat tube spacing. Gloves in wet weather meant you had more wetness and weight, same goes with socks, soggy and heavy you road without them. In races during rains you'd just wear the ankle part of the "socks" cut from the bottoms for the refs who could disqualify a start to a race without them. As you get older you get wiser and realise there's some nerves that run through the palms which could reek havoc in sensation and numbness. Younger years never rode with a helmet either, never gave any of it much thought. The old saying on foolishness and Drunks, Americans and Babies from WC Fields.
 
#64 ·
I'm a glove wearer. As a kid, I peeled my palms pretty well in a bike wreck, and can still remember what it looked, and felt, like. Ain't gonna happen again.

Maybe others have faster reactions than I do, but when I've fallen, it's usually over before I know it, and I'm on the pavement, going "WTF"; I don't think about sticking out my arms, but it is an instinctual reaction.

Others' MMV.
 
#65 ·
So when I ride on the road with vehicles, always gloves.

When I ride in a group, always gloves.

When I race, always gloves.

When I'm on the MUT, no gloves.
 
#67 ·
Once again, the issue with this question is very specific: cyclists wear gloves for injury protection and cyclists wear gloves for protection from elements. People can (and will) have different answers, depending on which specific use you are referring to. If you are interested in meaningful poll, either clarify the topic or give people the opportunity to specify what they use gloves for.

Of course, if this was intended as just another "social" just-leave-your-mark thread, then it is perfectly fine as is.

P.S. Which one of them is Boonen?
 
#72 ·
Once again, the issue with this question is very specific: cyclists wear gloves for injury protection and cyclists wear gloves for protection from elements. People can (and will) have different answers, depending on which specific use you are referring to. If you are interested in meaningful poll, either clarify the topic or give people the opportunity to specify what they use gloves for.
Seems pretty simple to me: people say whether or not they wear gloves, and clarify why (or why not) in the thread.

E.g. I voted yes. I wear gloves for protection from both elements and in crashes, as well as to provide grip, cushioning and something to wipe my nose with. Also, I like to have more cycling stuff.

If you want to find out something more specific, ask your own question. It's free. :)
 
#69 ·
Definitely gloves. I've ridden without a few times recently, but my hands sweat and get really slippery on the hoods. Not sure why Sram made them so damn smooth.

In college, I rode my mtn bike around campus all the time, never walked, and always wore gloves. The one day I was late and forgot them, I wiped out on the sidewalk, went over the bars and scraped up my hands damn good. And that was on a fairly smooth sidewalk at kinda low speed. Can't imagine what would happen at 25 mph on asphalt.
 
#75 ·
It depends on how I fall but usually do not stick arms straight out and skid on palms. Gotta get more of the body to make contact and distribute the hit. I only wear gloves for cold. In warm weather it feels way better without gloves and it's worth it. Sometimes hands get cut, but no worse than elbows or hips do which usually is like a slide and burn right through the fabric layers and skin too. I do wear gloves all year on mountain bikes. Briers and whipping sticks are not cool on hands. Gee fun.
 
#78 ·
One other benefit of gloves: Sponsors have another placing for their logo.

The hands-only crowd has never understood this.
 
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