[Damo]

I've been riding with the Morewood/Kenda boys recently. Damn good fun. These guys have been here for a few weeks now. Great guys.

Anyways, I have always ridden in the thinnest gloves I can buy as I hate thick gloves. So far I have ridden with no gloves on. It was all good. When we had some light rain, I put my gloves on for the slippery grips.

Guess what? Sore hands/hand pump. So after that run, I took them off again and as before, it felt great.

The bad bit? Blisters on my thumb knuckles from the grip's flange. I am going to change back to ODIs as they have a lower flange than the Sunlines I have now.

Who here rides gloveless?

 

[ronan]

me, but i have my hands right at the edge of the bars (sunline v1s uncut) so flanges are no problem for me (running sunline logo thicks)

no gloves all weathers baby, just means i cant compete in french races

 

[PatBranch]

I usually have gloves on when I downhill or race slalom, but not dirt jumping or street riding. My dh, hardtail and bmx bike all have lizard skin logos. They are the perfect width for me and I like the smooth pattern.

 

[Gary]

I probably ride half the time in gloves half without.
it sound crazy, but i overheat far less without gloves (and when I do wear them it's the thinest I can find).
Always thought you had to wear gloves at races, isn't it in the rules?

 

[dhkid]

i normally ride with gloves incase i crash and generally cant be arsed to clean my hands all the time.

when i race, i try to go gloveless. unless its too hot and i sweat all the time, then its annoying. like you, i find that i get less arm pump. with out gloves you really feel the grips properly, and dont end up holding it harder than you need to. with gloves, there will be more movement between your hand and the grip, instinvely making you grip harder since you feel like the grips are moving around in your hands a bit.

 

[Yeti]

I really like the feeling of no gloves but since my hands sweat a lot I have to use gloves to get enough grip...plus the IXS cup races full finger gloves are mandatory.

 

[manhattanprjkt83]

I love riding without gloves but i absolutely cannot dh without them, my hands blow off the bars to much...

Try the Pro-tec bmx gloves, I have been running these for a while, they are cheap, thin (no padding) and vent well. I run these combo'd up with bmx ruffians that i hit with a dremel and its like my hands are glued to the bars...

 

[HAB]

I'll ride XC without gloves sometimes, but I can't DH without them. Doesn't feel right at all.

 

[jonKranked]

As far as the blisters go, those will only occur at first. Once your hands build up the callouses they need for riding gloveless they will be fine. Same with riding bmx.

FWIW I dh with gloves, same with xc and all mtb'ing. But for bmx, no gloves.

 

[Damo]

Yeah, I'm guessing the callouses will come in a bit. I've got the girly chef's hands from the winter. The callouses will be back soon.

France has **** rules where gloves & armour go.

 

[JayCee]

I always ride with gloves - albeit thin ones. I sweat like its my job, just can't stay attached to the bars when I don't have gloves.

Also, picking gravel/stones out of your hands following a crash etc sucks! This is the other big reason I ride with gloves!

 

[IH8Rice]

ask O.J. .....he doesnt wear gloves apparently

 

[slowitdown]

when you race DH gloves aren't really needed unless you are trying to save your hands in a wreck, or the grips are slippery from mud/rain. after all, a DH race is usually no longer than 5 minutes.

my trail rides average between 3 and 8 hours. there's no way I could go gloveless on such rides unless they were totally non-technical and no bike maneuvering was required.

callouses will build up, yes. but if you ride a lot, the callouses will get too big and they will be in the way -- making riding more painful than with babysoft hands. when the callouses get that big, use an emery board to sand them down.

gloves have to fit well to be worth wearing. if they're too large anywhere, the fabric will bunch up and cause discomfort. so it's not really about gloves as a category making your hands hurt, it's about whether the gloves you use actually fit your hands well.

is this thread just about wanting to imitate Sam Blenkinsop?:biggrin:

 

[IH8Rice]

when you race DH gloves aren't really needed unless you are trying to save your hands in a wreck, or the grips are slippery from mud/rain. after all, a DH race is usually no longer than 5 minutes.

looking at 99.9% of the Pros out there would contradict this statement.
do you not sweat?

 

[slowitdown]

looking at 99.9% of the Pros out there would contradict this statement.
do you not sweat?

hang on. you are aware the OP is asking about NOT wearing gloves, right? I'm talking about for people who are looking for reasons to not wear gloves. I'm saying that one of the things that might argue for no gloves is the short ride times. I'm not saying nobody wears gloves!

I wear gloves always. I can't ride without them.

yes, my hands sweat. I don't see what that has to do with my prior post. and I don't see how you got from my prior post to the idea that I am suggesting no pro racers wear gloves. if I wanted to say no pro racers wear gloves, that's what I would say.

 

[Huck Banzai]

I sweat like a faucet on full blast; no gloves = slipperoony for me!

I wasnt always this way, and def always preferred gloves.

 

[motomike]

A buddy of mine just got his fingernail completely ripped off the other day.

he didn't have gloves on

 

[ronan]

Yeah, I'm guessing the callouses will come in a bit. I've got the girly chef's hands from the winter. The callouses will be back soon.

France has **** rules where gloves & armour go.

sandpaper those things man, works great

and yeah france racing rules are bull****, i should be allowed to wear what i want when im racing~ obviously a helmet and goggles should be mandatory but gloves and elbow pads should not

 

[KavuRider]

Half with gloves, half without.
I should wear them all the time out here in AZ, since we have lots of sharp rocks.

In fact, both of my palms and some of my fingers are shredded right now when I went down Thursday. The rocks here are like a cheesegrater. Also...I rode in the wet one time without gloves - bad idea. Came down from a jump, hand slipped off the grip, head on into a tree.

I do like the feel of no gloves though - I might do what Damo said and try to find the thinnest ones I can. I'm currently riding with O'Neal moto gloves and they feel so bulky...

 

[Prettym1k3]

I used to be all about the thick gloves in all of their Carbon Fiber Knuckled glory. I've been through two pairs of Gracia's and a pair of Specialized Fortress gloves. With that said, The 661 Raji's are my favorite, but I think my next pair of gloves will be Royals. I like the look of the Palm on those gloves. I prefer gloves that feel the least like I'm wearing them, and feel lightweight and breathable. But I will always wear gloves.

 

[TrumbullHucker]

gloveless, idk i feel like i can grip better and feel it up better hah

i know one day ill pay but whatevs

 

[CRoss]

I will stick to gloves. I can think of several occasions where if I was not wearing gloves my weekend riding would have ended early. Two friends last year had there riding cut short do to a fall and not having gloves on. One friend peeled the palms of both his hands back towards his wrist. He was off the bike for a awhile waiting for things to heal.

 

[skatetokil]

yeah, i like the feel of gloveless, but i've had a couple of injuries that make me think twice. once slammed my hand between the bars and a stump, and another time i damn near tore then end off one of my fingers crashing in rocks. now for dh i get burly gloves. however i definitely feel like arm pump and blisters are an issue, especially with some brands. the rockgardn carbon knuckled jobs i had just chewed my hands up, but the fox bombers i'm running now are much better.

 

[haromtnbiker]

I've recently been riding without gloves pretty much all the time. Maybe I should, maybe I shouldn't, who knows. I just prefer the feel. And if I get sweaty hands, then rubbing some dirt on them acts for some nice grip!
And I wouldn't say it's to be cool either- after all, Sam Hill wears gloves.

 

[JRogers]

The only times I don't use gloves are when riding in warm weather on the road. I always use them for DH. The protection is one reason, but I can't grip the bars as well and I find my palms get more worn (blisters and such) without gloves. Really thin gloves like 661 Rajis feel great on the bars and controls, but my hands still get worked faster than a slightly thicker glove.

 

[gemini2k]

wow, riding downhill without gloves is just retarded, its like riding without a helmet or knee protection. For those 3 its not IF its gonna bite you in the ass, its when and how bad. Unless you're riding smooth dirt hardpack or something....

 

[4xBoy]

I don't care for wearing gloves unless it is cold out.

 

[4130biker]

Here's a trick if you like gloveless, but sweat:
Ghetto gloves!
1. Get your hands all nice and sweaty
2. Place your hands in dusty dirt
3. Clap them together 43 times for good luck
4. Haul A**

 

[elRey]

i actually prefer mittens when downhilling. they discourage me from braking so i go faster.

 

[rigidhack]

I never rode with gloves up until a few years ago. I tried them out and noticed all the good things that come with that - like grip. Now I always ride with them.

 

[JohnnyC]

is this thread just about wanting to imitate Sam Blenkinsop?:biggrin:

Kiwis are actually banned from wearing gloves, take a look at all the New Zealanders racing overseas this year, there's hardly a glove in sight!

 

[Damo]

Do you guys really think Sam was the first?

 

[slowmtb]

Do you guys really think Sam was the first?

Of course not. But at the Elite level, they sure find it amusing ( F1RST - says it all ).

 

[gonefirefightin]

no options for mittens?

 

[Damo]

Boxing gloves are mandatory at french races.

I was disqualified for not wearing any body armour once. My knee pads were stolen from the race tent the night before and my upper body armour wouldn't fit over my cast (broken wrist). I managed a 14th place, but got in so much trouble and was ultimately DQ'd. Bastards. At least I wore one glove....

 

[JohnnyC]

Do you guys really think Sam was the first?

Nope, but that doesn't make it less funny that everyone in NZ rides gloveless and flat pedals these days. Except Juzzo and Cam, they get special consent to ride in gloves and clips

 

[SupaTone]

Do you guys really think Sam was the first?

Very good thread Damo but have you explained to these lovely people on ridemonkey:
1) What country you come from
2) What bike you ride

 

[-C-]

I've been riding gloveless now for a month or so, it started because I actually forgot my gloves, so went on regardless.

I have to say though, I think I prefer it! I seem to have a lot more feel and no grip issues. I always had problems with gloves bunching at the bottom of my fingers and long term giving me blisters so its quite nice not to have that.

Haven't been riding much but we have a couple of weeks in the Alps this year again so lets see how my hands hold up!

 

[P.T.W]

Very good thread Damo but have you explained to these lovely people on ridemonkey:
1) What country you come from
2) What bike you ride

oh no he didn't!!!!!:biggrin:
hahahahaha SPRUNG!:biggrin:

 

[konastab01]

Can I guess.....

Is it NZ and a Yeti?

haha