One of the perks of being involved with Spoke magazine’s website is the odd bit of free kit from one of our advertisers (well, this is the first- come on guys ;)). A few months ago the guys at Cycletech fired through a message saying “pick a pair of gloves”, so I did.
I usually only ride gloves over winter, preferring to go ‘bare back’ over the warmer months. I use the old ‘rub a bit of dirt on your palms’ to dry things off when sweaty, and usually hate on full finger gloves being too hot, and I couldn’t be paid to wear short fingered ones. After surveying the POW catalog however I decided upon the ‘Hypervent’ glove. The Hypervent is a full finger affair with stretchy mesh everywhere – even on the palm, sides and ‘inside’ of the finger area. Perfect.
Once they arrived and I tore off the header card my first thought was “well, I wonder how these will last.” With lots of seemingly weak mesh and lots of stitching I wasn’t hoping for much. However to my surprise three months later these bad boys are still going strong, showing very few signs of wear at all. All the mesh areas offer superior breathability and keep things light and “almost not there”, as well as the fit being spot on (I’m assuming due to everything being ‘stretchy’). These are now an essential part of my riding kit and I no longer have to dust my palms in the dirt to keep things dry!
Ups: Super light and breathable. Some protection on palms along with some padding (just enough, not too much), and full fingered so you don’t look too roadie or ‘multi-sport’. ‘Snot wipe’ on the thumbs. Mellow colour options in black (pictured) or grey (Cycletech don’t do the White option shown on their website).
Downs: Having not crashed onto the palms I can’t really comment how they’d hold up to sliding around on the ground. I’d say equivalent to any other lightweight full-finger glove but certainly not as much as a full on downhill or BMX style pair (POW has plenty of offerings in this category also). Slip on style may not be ideal for some hand shapes?
More details? HERE
Lester.
So you have had these gloves for a “few months” but have yet to “crash onto the palms”! You need to resign as the glove tester and offer your services as a spin bike tester!
So you have had these gloves for a “few months” but have yet to “crash onto the palms”! You need to resign as the glove tester and offer your services as a spin bike tester!
Maybe…. Maybe…. Will report back once i take a good slide on my palms then…. Hopefully will be a while though!
Maybe…. Maybe…. Will report back once i take a good slide on my palms then…. Hopefully will be a while though!