Dissent 133 Ultimate Glove Pack review

The silk liners have a nice fine knit feel to them and I like the way the cuffs are long enough to cover the wrist. They’re very much like the kind of light weight glove I would use for fell running. On me, the mediums do have a slightly loose fit, and the small would have given a snugger lining layer with more of a ‘now I could steal some jewels’ kind of a fit. There are no reinforcements on this layer and it’s not intended to be worn on its own – it’s to go with the other layers to make them warmer. Both of my silk liners already show some signs of thinning and shininess on the palm, so I wouldn’t risk wearing them on their own for fear of reducing their lifespan further.

The Cordura touch fit layer is a cosy feeling knitted fabric, with gripper sections on the fingers, right where your last joint is – so the grip is on the articulation point where your brake levers will go. There’s also grip across the palms. On their own without the liner, these were a little baggy around the hand on me, but rather short in the fingers – the smaller size left me feeling like I had webbed fingers and the outer layers wouldn’t sit nicely over it. With the silk liners underneath, the fit in the medium was better. Again, this layer has a nice long cuff to it. However, I would warn that this knitted layer is very vulnerable to Velcro – it sticks to it like goosegrass to a dog, and has become a little pulled and fluffy in places because of it.

The soft shell and waterproof outers are very similar. Both have grippy print along the fingers and palms, although it is substantially peeling off on my test waterproof pair. There’s a snot wipe thumb, and both have a Velcro cuff fastener. This cuff is not like other Velcro cuffs – it looks rather like some sort of corsetry, and there’s a loop of tape on the outside to act as a pull so you can pull the Velcro apart and get your hand in and out. More on this in a moment. The soft shell outer was a little closer fitting than the waterproof one, and I definitely prefer the fit of the soft shell. Operation of small things like zipper pulls was much easier in the soft shell outers than the waterproof ones, which I usually ended up having to take off. And so, back to the cuffs.

The Velcro on the cuffs seems to be some sort of industrial standard. I have never experienced such grippy Velcro before. In fact, it was so grippy that eventually the stitching holding it onto one glove gave up and left the two halves of Velcro stuck mated together. I’ve been told if this happened to a customer, they’d be replaced. This superpowered Velcro is simply too powerful – with hands wrapped in gloves, there isn’t enough purchase on the tape pull to unstick the two halves. I some occasions I tried pulling with my teeth, but generally I just wriggled my hand out, leaving the Velcro stuck together.

Another factor in the stickiness of the Velcro was that, what with being gloved on one hand already, I could never quite get the halves to match up properly, leaving a bit of one side poking out – ready to ensnare the Cordura layer should I foolishly attempt to make adjustments without first removing it. What these cuffs need is a glove butler, to put your gloves on neatly and tightly at the start of a ride, and remove them again at the finish.

Indeed, between the multiple layers and the tricky cuff, I have to say that these are not well suited to the stop-start faffing nature of mountain biking. I can see that a long road ride, where you stick the gloves on and barely take your hands off the bars until three hours later, you might find these better suited. But for the mountain biker who wants to check a map, open their backpack, use their phone, or adjust the clicks on their suspension, there isn’t enough dexterity while wearing them and you’ll find yourself taking them off, and cursing the faff of doing so.

I’d also suggest that there isn’t enough distance in the functionality of the soft shell and waterproof gloves. The waterproof gloves are waterproof and windproof, while the soft shell ones are windproof only, and the splash proofing I found to be minimal. Since neither seemed to display any difference in warmth or breathability, I’m not sure why you’d wear the soft shell ones other than because they have a slightly closer fit. I think I’d rather do away with the soft shell option and just have a more snugly cut waterproof one. And maybe a nice waterproof and slightly insulated lobster outer option too, for the really cold days? The waterproof layer is nicely waterproof, although the snot wipe thumb holds water, giving a bit of a cold spot even though it’s not actually wet.

I need the medium Cordura layer for the length of the fingers, but the dexterity possible with the medium Cordura and small soft shell seemed much better. However, I think the snugger fit might lead to some compromise on the warmth of them – I didn’t test this as I was only trying on the small kit for size, rather than getting it mucky. If the cuffs could be redesigned, I think the small silk liner with medium Cordura liner, small waterproof outer cut to the size of the current small soft shell, and a new lobster style waterproof with a touch of extra insulation would make a great kit for all weathers. It would still be a little faffy to wear, but without the challenges of the Velcro cuff I think this would feel a lot more manageable.

Overall

The Dissent 133 Ultimate Glove was designed with the road in mind, and I think in the current guise they are much better suited to that. However, with some improvements to durability, fastening and fit, these would offer a flexible option for mountain bikers looking to stay warm in poorer weather. In my opinion, the layering concept is a promising one, it just needs refining if it’s to work well in an off road setting.