Cycling Gloves

Cycling gloves for Australian conditions

Gloves do three jobs at once: they cushion the ulnar and median nerves that run through your palm, they hold grip when your hands are wet, and they take the skin damage in a crash that your hands would otherwise take. Which glove you want comes down to which of those three matters most on the rides you actually do.

Short finger mitts for most of the year

Across most of Australia, a short finger mitt covers September to May. The variable worth paying attention to is padding. Thick gel padding feels reassuring in the shop and often makes numbness worse, because it raises pressure on a smaller area of the palm. Thin, well placed foam over the ulnar channel does more for a three hour ride than a thick pad does. If your hands go numb on rides over an hour, change hand position more often and look at a thinner pad before you go thicker.

Full finger gloves and the winter temperature bands

Below about 15 degrees, exposed fingers start costing you brake and shifter control, which is a safety issue before it is a comfort one. A light full finger glove covers 10 to 16 degrees. A windproof winter glove with a brushed lining covers 4 to 12. Below 4 degrees, or in the wet, look at a lobster or split finger design, which keeps fingers sharing heat while leaving enough dexterity to brake.

Wet hands lose heat several times faster than dry ones, so on Adelaide winter mornings a water resistant outer matters as much as the insulation behind it.

Sizing and closure

Cycling gloves should sit snug with no bunched fabric across the palm, since folds are what create pressure points and blisters. Measure across your knuckles and check the brand chart on each product page. Italian brands run smaller than Australian sizing.

A wrist closure is worth having on winter gloves so you can seal the gap against a jacket cuff. On summer mitts, a pull tab between the fingers makes them far easier to get off with sweaty hands.

The rest of the extremity problem

Hands are only part of it. Shoe covers and arm, knee and leg warmers deal with the other places heat leaves quickly, and a base layer keeps your core warm enough that your body keeps sending blood to your fingers in the first place. Our full winter cycling range covers the rest.

We stock gloves from Castelli, Santini, Pearl Izumi, MAAP and BBB, and our Adelaide showroom carries most of the range for sizing.