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Who rides gloveless and why? Has it always been that way or are you a convert?
I would rather ride naked than ride without gloves.
I hate riding without gloves. I had to much of last summer but I really prefer to have gloves on
Forgot mine the other day, by heck them nettles zing 😳
Always gloved up. Just got some ultra lightweight DHB summer full finger and they are really great.
just don’t understand how those who run gloveless don’t keep slipping off the grips with sweat!
Gloves for me...got a mate who doesn't wear them...even in the depths of winter and -2c. I'm convinced he is just forgetful and doesn't want to admit.to it, but apparently he doesn't own gloves!
Prefer no gloves.
just don’t understand how those who run gloveless don’t keep slipping off the grips with sweat!
Rub hands in dust before a run.
I only wear gloves if my hands are cold
They're usually just cold weather apparel for me as well, unless I know I'm going to some overgrown trails or a gnarly track where I've got all the pads on.
I always rode without gloves in summer before covid, then started wearing them during covid, and now it feels odd without them.
on the road/gravel, only when it’s cold. MTB always.
I was doing a few laps on QECP last week and the ION gloves I'd got cheap were a tad too small. The inside seams of the thumbs started to actually hurt. So I took the gloves off and tried to ride without them... christ it was awful, my hands couldn't grip, this was with Ergon grips. So slippery, it was downright dangerous! I guess there are people whose hands don't sweat, but gloveless certainly isn't for me!
Always gloves,always long finger. In the cold I need polar levels of insulation. I think I have not great circulation in my hands.
Only when it's cold, whatever the bike.
Always try and avoid gloves, probably for about 8 months a year except winter and the hottest weeks in summer. Not too sure why to be honest, just feels better.
As above, rub hands in some dust before a run in the summer and its mostly fine grip-wise.
When it's cold. However, the grips (Gusset lock ons) I recently fitted to my MTB are quite hard so currently wearing a really old very lightweight airy summer gloves I cut down to fingerless purely to reduce risk of shredding callouses. Other bikes with more comfortable grips no gloves.
rub hands in some dust before a run in the summer and its mostly fine grip-wise.
Hmm, nah. Gloves, thanks.
Another one of the golfchick positives of having no working central heating is my ability to go gloveless in the summer and still have bone dry hands. So definitely gloveless! I much prefer the feeling but it doesnt take much before it'll be too cold and I'll need gloves again.
I also don’t wear knee pads, unless on an uplift day.
Always. Picking road gravel out your palms is not funny. Got some burn marks on current Spesh BG gloves where I've come off in the past.
I do like riding without, when it's hot. But not enough to embrace getting whacked with branches and thorns and nettles, let alone the first crash
Take them or leave them, not that bothered. Briskers in the winter though.
i read the title of the thread and thought the OP was going to ask whether or not he should be using a condom...
Always no gloves unless its proper cold! Have spent a silly amount of money on gloves and hate that feeling of the fabric creasing in your palm🤢
Have never felt like my hands are going to slip off with sweat
Currently gloveless - arthritic knackered hands that swell up making it very uncomfortable to wear gloves. 🙄
Gloves always. Fingerless on the gravel bike this time of year or thin full fingers.
Briskers are great spring and autumn gloves. Not warm enough for proper winter (rain and wind) for me but I have poor circulation.
Winter I have a collection of various gloves having tried finding the utopia of dry/warm/comfortable/not too thick so you can actually function. Still a difficult thing to achieve!
In cold/wet weather, yes
Otherwise, on road no
On MTB, I don't bother on climbs but I generally put them on for descent (when sweaty hands means comprised grip). Leaving gloves off for climb means they aren't a sweaty mess when you really need them...
never worn gloves for riding.
wear gloves in proper cold to keep hands warm.
I tend to ride in them most of the time, but if I forget them then it’s not a bother. As long as they’re not baggy in anyway. I tend to go for the smallest size I can squeeze into (usually medium) and wait for the palms to give a little rather than buy the size that fits better to start with. But then I’m a bit odd.
I always wear gloves. Habit I guess. Got weird tan lines today after a 100k road ride in the sun!
Always. palmar psoriasis means my hands are in a poor enough state already!
Got weird tan lines
I think that was one of the factors that started me not wearing them, that and the fact that half of the summer gloves I bought were too hot in spring/autumn (before I turned 45 anyway).
TBH If it's warm out I prefer to ride gloveless.
That thin layer of fabric under my palm seems to cause more hand aches, maybe I grip too hard or my hands squirm, whatever but I just worked out one day that I prefer not to ride in gloves generally because my hands are.mkre comfortable if I don't...
I wore them religiously for years, part of the uniform innit.
I Still do if it's cold enough to need gloves, and often stuff a thin pair in my pocket if out on the MTB and I think I might engage in a bit more Gnarr riding (along with wearing kneepads).
But generally not keen on them this time of year...
The more interesting question might be what grips/tape for gloveless riding?
Dmr soft and thin for me much prefer the raceday ones but they only last about 2 weeks so get expensive so the softs are ok. Will put some racedays on in winter because i like the slightly extra grip.
On a road bike i dont care whatever roll of tape they have in the nearest bike shop when it wears out. Apart from one time i bought some in a shop in the alps and im sure it was a bin bag the most horrible sweaty crunchy thing ever. Was so bad i took it off mid ride
I cant even ride my bike down the street after a mech tune up without gloves. Makes me wince seeing people riding DH without gloves!
Always...and always Spesh gloves too
Another one of the only when it gets really cold. To be honest though, most of my riding these days is just bimbling.
Always. Picking road gravel out your palms is not funny. Got some burn marks on current Spesh BG gloves where I’ve come off in the past.
Yep,I tend to wear full gloves for safety,it’s become a habit.
I also went thru a phase of managing to cut my hands on branches,brambles,thorns and hidden Barb wire whilst hike a biking or go thru overgrown trails and I’ve slide down the road a few times.
Oddly there’s little of this where I ride now so I could probably not bother if pootling but habit.
Anyway,
I’ve never rode naked,I’m not particularly bashful but never thought it was practical and those annual naked bike rides always seemed to be a bit meh 🙂
Much prefer gloveless and never had an issue with grip. Never used to wear gloves outside of winter but do try to now to avoid grazes etc... (I fall off more than your average bear and pick up a lot of lttle cuts etc...) Unless it's really hot I wear some really thin 100% gloves now, probably wouldn't survive a biggy but stave off those little cuts and grazes.
I always rode without gloves in summer before covid, then started wearing them during covid, and now it feels odd without them.
Weirdly or not I did the opposite.
I started riding gloveless due to increased touchpoints and gloves being an obvious way to transfer these to your face.
(That is I rode different places to usual with stiles and gates and I prioritised the ability to sterilise my hands)
The feeling of being naked quickly disappeared.
What I have found though is grip suffers when it's really hot like now.
Crashed once without gloves and that was the bucolic Chilterns that was enough. Same as eye protection really, makes sense to me to wear them
I used to go without until repeated crashes demonstrated the benefits. Since then I've got used to it and use them all the time now even on road.
I tried without gloves once when I forgot them, my hands and grips were so wet with sweat after the first climb I just turned around and went home.
I do wear the thinnest and best fitting, to me, gloves that I can find. The modern synthetic palm materials are really good at staying dry, ideal for someone like me who sweats a lot.
Clarino and other synthetic leathers are just crap.
I always take gloves on rides (mitts take up barely any room in a pocket) mostly wear them, although on hot days I sometimes enjoy the wind through my fingers.
I am conscious of the protection gloves provide in the event of coming off but the primary reason I wear them is to reduce nerve compression, which ime can be significant.
Yeah, gloves on every ride, as above, another layer to get through in a crash before your skin and also handy for nettles, brash etc at this time of year
Depends 🤷♂️
I like to wear a lightweight long sleeve jersey when off road. Climb with gloves off and sleeves pulled up. Gloves on, sleeves pulled down before descending. Definitely helps keep the my arms and hands getting so savaged by the foliage.
I do have maybe a dozen pairs of gloves (not just riding gloves) in various states of wear and types.
I'm bad at riding without eye protection. 😖
No gloves
Tacky grips (Renthal super tacky push ons)
= lighter grip needed
Less strain on forearm (hand) muscles.
Tempted to get some longer summer gloves at this time of year. My fingers are full of thorns currently, and 800mm bars don't help that problem.
I only wear them if it's really cold or raining. I don't like the "squirmy" feeling of the material between the glove and grip, especially if it bunches up a bit, don't find it very confidence inspiring. Maybe I've just had bad gloves.
I rarely ride with gloves .I preferr the feel and don't like gloves bunching under my palms
I wear them to save my skin in case of crashes. Started doing at the same time as I got knee and elbow pads.
On a 'dress for the slide, not the ride' basis, it's fully clothed hands for me too.
If and/or when you do go down, you'll more often than not go down hands first.
Mitts in summer, full-finger in varying degrees the rest of the time - you really do need your hands if you can keep them.
Always med dem hanskarna. I feels so wrong to go out on the bike without them, to the extent that, when I forgot them the other day when I went to the office, even the 5 minute commute was full of nagging feeling.
I always jump in gloves too. Gloves give grip and mean that the sweat on your hands still allows you to grip things on the plane. I cannot see why people would jump without them.
I like riding without them but 9/10 wear gloves as the hands tend to be the 1st point of contact if I bin it and offer some protection from nettles ect. Thin Madison ones do the job for me this time of year.
Rub hands in dust before a run.
Had to do this for Stages 2/3/4 at Tiverton last weekend as i'd lost a glove... Must admit, i didn't like it.
recently started riding without gloves. Much prefer it. Just feel a bit more connected to the bike (some sort of phycological placebo effect).
And obviously you look much cooler/radder with no gloves!
I suspect when the winter comes i will have them back on tho.
Couldn't imagine riding glove less, or could and the thought of crashing with no gloves makes me shudder.
Only on the mtb....
Use full gloves on the road/gravel if it's cold. Don't feel the need in summer.
Always full finger gloves on the mtb. Because crashes happen and gloves are an easy way to avoid grazes / cuts etc. plus if you go through brambles / ferns / stingers etc then you’ll be glad of them.
Same for bmx.
Road bike it’s full finger when cold / half finger mitts when warm enough.
Gloveless. And push-on grips ideally.
Why? Better feel.
Risky business though.
Gloves and knee pads year round. Suffered the consequences of not wearing both and have therefore worn them ever since. Rarely have long sleeves and always wear shorts. Balance it out.