[stoney]

I had a great weekend of riding with some buddies that was abruptly cut short when one of them clipped his hand on a tree, breaking the head off his 5th metacarpil (sp?). While we were in the ER making fun of him breaking his hand again, we started talking about proper protective gloves.

Specifically are there any gloves that have hard plastic or carbon knuckle protection? Does anybody have one of those gloves, and how do they fit? Do they actually provide impact protection?

 

[kickstand]

We have the fox bombers (my girl and I), both pairs of gloves are ripped on a seam. Which sucks, because otherwise the gloves are fairly well thought out design.

Except the knuckle protection is a bit narrow for me, they work very well for her.

 

[ICEBALL585]

I've had the fox bomber gloves for a few years now. They're fairly hot and don't breathe too well so I only wear them when DHing somewhere that there is a good chance of clipping a tree with your handlebar. They've definitely have saved my knuckles a few times.

 

[Full Trucker]

Here, let me Google that for you...

That and this right here should get you pointed in the correct direction.

 

[jonKranked]

as mentioned in the other thread, i really liked my 661 gracias.

but i've since converted to minimalist gloves.

 

[Nick]

I've tried the Fox carbon knuckle gloves and found them really uncomfortable.

Who broke their hand, and on what trail?

 

[Josef]

I have used the oakley ones in the past. Worked fine for what I was using them for (not biking). My current oakley gloves for biking are exactly the same but without the knuckle pro.

 

[HAB]

I found the knuckle protection on the Fox Unabombers to be pretty good. They never lasted very long though, and I've moved on to more minimalist gloves since.

 

[slyfink]

I have Fox Unabombers and DaKine Defenders. I wear the Fox ones most because that VPD stuff is more comfortable on my tendons... the hard knuckles (Defenders) tend to rub the tendon running over my knuckles raw after a big day of riding.

 

[stoney]

I've tried the Fox carbon knuckle gloves and found them really uncomfortable.

Who broke their hand, and on what trail?

Brett. He clipped a tree on Green World. Which is why we were making fun of him.

 

[stoney]

Here, let me Google that for you...

That and this right here should get you pointed in the correct direction.

Here, let me check the date: 2009 I'm looking for something current, but thanks!

 

[Full Trucker]

Here, let me check the date: 2009 I'm looking for something current, but thanks!

Jesus T.F. Christ could you be any moar of a mouth breather? Nearly every brand/model mentioned in that thread from 2009 still exists... links might be off but like I said: it should get you pointed in the right direction.

RockGardn Fate
Dainese
Dakine Defender
Fox Bomber
Oakley
TLD
Specialized




EDIT: in an attempt to be more helpful, I used to wear the Fox Unabombers, which were the 2-knuckle version of the Bomber. They were plenty comfortable, and as far as I know they did their job okay. I don't recall clipping any trees with my hands back then, but these were the days when a 711mm bar was über wide. I also owned a pair of the full-carbon knuckled Oakley gloves, which the model I had doesn't look like are produced any longer. They were also comfy, and the sides of the fingers were really thin mesh that kept them fairly cool despite the back of your hand being covered in plastic. They looked a lot like the 661 Gracia gloves, which are also discontinued. What? I said MOST of the gloves from that old thread still exist... not all of them. Anycrap, gloves all fit different people differently. I can't wear TLD stuff because of the cut, it just doesn't fit my paw... so YMMV and all that.

 

[6thElement]

I've been using rockgardn fate for the last 5 years, no complaints.

 

[kidwoo]

You ride with people who punch things that don't then fall down?



jeesh........

 

[Kanye West]

I try to always wear them.

I whack the HELL out of my hands on rocks and branches and whatever else. I've actually cracked the carbon knuckles before down the middle JRA. Really glad I had them.

The tradeoff is that they can be supremely uncomfortable on long rides. On long moto rides they will actually scrape off the skin on the top of my middle knuckle because that carbon piece is just hard on the inside of the glove, and doesn't conform over the knuckles real well. But usually if I'm doing a ride that long I try to take my hands over the knuckles and calluses. Seeing blood come out the bottom of my glove means the ride needs to be over soon, whether I like it or not.

And, they're not "carbon fiber" either. If I had to guess, I'd say a visual laminate over some formed HDPE or regular polyethelyne.

 

[MinorThreat]

as mentioned in the other thread, i really liked my 661 gracias.

I really liked mine too. They ran a little small, so I eventually gave them to my DIL A shame they were discontinued before I could replace them with larger ones. Probably would have saved me the knuckle on my #5 proximal three seasons ago.

 

[jonKranked]

I really liked mine too. They ran a little small, so I eventually gave them to my DIL A shame they were discontinued before I could replace them with larger ones. Probably would have saved me the knuckle on my #5 proximal three seasons ago.

i found they ran a little small too. does this mean that cedric has tiny hands?

 

[Sandwich]

I was going to say how surprised I was that there's no middle ground for gloves, you either have carbon knuckle guards combined with elbow length collars and more plastic than a toyota's interior, or you have a wispy silk thong of material that does little beside prevent blisters and wick sweat...

then I saw those dainese gloves, which combine a thin palm with big knuckle protection...those are neat.

I run fox Dirtpaws now, as my hand issues were solved by not having rockshox suspension.

 

[ButtersNZ]

Troy Lee Design GP for a month or two now, mainly in wet conditions. I like them, aside from the skull design on the palm. They're comfy, well made and provide good protection. I came from some no-name XC gloves. Huge improvement really.

http://ride.io/reviews/2011-troy-lee-gp-gloves-first-look/