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Gloves with some protection on the lower palm(/upper wrist)?

Verskis

Monkey
May 14, 2010
458
8
Tampere, Finland
Today I crashed and landed hands first into some rocks. A rock made a pretty deep wound in to my hand, just where the thumb muscles end and the wrist begins. That got me thinking if there are any riding gloves that have some kind of protection on the palm/wrist area? I have always liked really minimal gloves with thin palms, so I do not want any big gel padding between my hand and the handlebar, but on the lower palm, that does not touch the handlebar, some kind of protective padding or plate seems like a good idea.

A brief search in web shops did not give great results, one of the only ones that seem to have something on the area I want are the Endura Singletrack 2's, but even these seem to only have two layers of leather, not any real protection: http://www.endura.co.uk/Item.aspx?dept_id=4&item_id=135

Do you know any gloves that give some protection for the palm in crashes?
 
Aug 4, 2008
328
4
Theres a reason why nobody makes such gloves. Its because they suck donkey's balls. Good gloves are as thin as possible.

The role of gloves is to maximize grip and comfort not to protect your clumsy paws. Learn to tuck your hands while crashing. It will save you many injuries.
 

Verskis

Monkey
May 14, 2010
458
8
Tampere, Finland
But the lower palm does not touch the grip at all, it doesn't matter if there are some padding or other kind of protection. I want the other parts of the palm to be as thin as possible.
 

Verskis

Monkey
May 14, 2010
458
8
Tampere, Finland
POC Index DH gloves also seem to have some protective plastic (?) on the outside of the palm. Any other gloves that have even partial protection?

I have now ridden and crashed for more than twelve years and still I land mostly hands first, I think I will not learn to tuck my hands.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,921
borcester rhymes
Sounds to me like you might like the Rockgarden Fortress or Fox bomber gloves. Specialized also used to make a carbonzed up glove. http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/6232461/

I think another good choice would simply be an abrasion resistant moto glove, if you can find one. Motocrossers do the same **** we do, only faster.

Of course, if you're a DH bro, then you don't need gloves and only ride in a full face D2 and a leatt. I really do not understand how you kids get away with wearing no gloves or tiny gloves. Do you people never wreck? I tried on a pair of 661 rajis last night, and I wouldn't use them for XC....there's no protection.
 
Aug 4, 2008
328
4
I really do not understand how you kids get away with wearing no gloves or tiny gloves. Do you people never wreck? I tried on a pair of 661 rajis last night, and I wouldn't use them for XC....there's no protection.
We wreck, absolutely. I once tore my palm (bout an inch long, 4 stiches) THROUGH the gloves, without the glove tearing at all. What is a bro supposed to do? Suck it up and take it like a man.
 

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,289
5,028
Ottawa, Canada
I've got a pair of Dakine defenders that sound like they match the description of what you're looking for. I also now have a pair of Fox Unabomber gloves, whose protection I also like, though they are much less padded.
 

Verskis

Monkey
May 14, 2010
458
8
Tampere, Finland
What is a bro supposed to do? Suck it up and take it like a man.
I don't want to take it like a man, I'm now missing all the riding during the last week of my summer holiday because of a stupid little wound.

Dakine defenders look pretty good on the palm side (even though they also cover only the outermost part), but I'd like the knuckle protectors to be a little more low profile, but I guess all the more protective gloves have those huge carbon bubbles.
 

Verskis

Monkey
May 14, 2010
458
8
Tampere, Finland
Now I have found a glove that fits my description quite perfectly: Race Face Ambush

There is full width kevlar across the lower palm, which should be enough to prevent cuts to the hands.
 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,629
5,443
Wow they actually look quite good.

Just bought myself some Nema something somethings and they suck, thought I'd roll with the semi-cool kids and get the velroless gloves. I hate them so much they will live in the glovebox for the day I forget my other gloves.

Let us know how the sizing is, pretty keen to get some.
 

Verskis

Monkey
May 14, 2010
458
8
Tampere, Finland
Let us know how the sizing is, pretty keen to get some.
Took a bit of a gamble myself too with the sizing, cause my only option was to order from web.
I usually wear large, but sometimes also medium. Tried Fox Unabombers at a store and medium fit very well, but Fox's medium seems to be 9" size, which Raceface labels as large.
I'll let you know about the sizing when I'll get the gloves.
 

Udi

RM Chief Ornithologist
Mar 14, 2005
4,915
1,200
The role of gloves is to maximize grip and comfort not to protect your clumsy paws. Learn to tuck your hands while crashing. It will save you many injuries.
Why just tuck your hands, when you can tuck your entire body into itself when you crash. This seems to be the latest ridemonkey philosophy, and if you do it right apparently you can turn yourself into a nonexistent being just before you hit the ground.
 

Verskis

Monkey
May 14, 2010
458
8
Tampere, Finland
I had the first ride with the Ambush gloves yesterday, and I've gotta admit I'm not that impressed with the fit. The size large gloves fit pretty good on the fingers, a little bit short on the thumb (maybe I've got some weird thumbs since I have this problem on most gloves), but the palm bunches up a little when I make a fist, and the wrist opening is a little bit too large, when I tighten them with the velcro closure it gets somewhat wrinkled and folded and the velcro then sits in a wrong angle. All that would be fine if they felt good on the trail, but for some reason the pinky finger is quite stiff (probably because the protective foam on the knuckles and the fingers restrict the movements) and I feel the glove bunching at the base of the pinky finger. Also the palm has some padding I'm not used to.
I have to get more rides with them, I suspect they may stretch and become more comfortable with some more riding, but maybe I should have gone with the Raceface Triggers instead, they have a similar kevlar strip on the lower palm, but no other padding on the palm nor on the knuckles.

By the way, the kevlar on the palm seems great, it doesn't interfere with the grip at all.
 

Tomasz

Monkey
Jul 18, 2012
339
0
Whistla
Fit is very personal with gloves. A lot of guys swear by the Oakley heavy gloves, but the fit me horribly.

I also don't understand the no-gloves thing. Any wreck at all and you're going to miss riding time, right? Color me confused.

I do have a pair of super thin Fox gloves. Wear them a lot... even the thinnest layer of protection is infinitely better than nothing.
 

Verskis

Monkey
May 14, 2010
458
8
Tampere, Finland
Now I have ridden with the gloves some more, and they have been getting more comfortable the more they are used. Still not the best fitting gloves, but they don't bother me anymore while riding, like they used to at first.