Do you wear gloves when cycling as a matter of course? Perhaps you only wear gloves when it’s cold out? There are good reasons for wearing cycling gloves other than when it’s cold though, and protecting your hands in a crash is one of them.
Tinkoff-Saxo’s Michael Rogers had a nasty reminder of the the downsides of not wearing gloves while partaking in the World Championships team time trial in Richmond, US over the weekend. Here’s his tweet from yesterday.He’s clearly kicking himself for not wearing any gloves. Looks nasty.
This is an example why you should ALWAYS wear gloves when you ride a bike pic.twitter.com/wJ9cZukgU6
— Michael Rogers (@mickrogers) September 20, 2015
If you missed the crash, here’s a replay. Michael Rogers and Michael Valgren hit the road at speeds in excess of 40mph after an innocuous touch of wheels. Riding a team time trial requires riding extremely close to the rider in front, leaving little margin for error. You pay a high price for even the smallest mistake.
"I think it was a simple touch of wheels. I don't know what happened, there was nothing I could do, I just went straight over the top,” said Michael Rogers in a post-race interview with Cyclingnews.
“It's just superficial injuries at the moment, nothing broken, just a little skin off the top. I'll be feeling pretty sorry for myself for the next couple of days, but there's nothing you can do about it now,” he added.
No one plans to crash of course, but accidents do happen. So, will you be wearing cycle gloves next time you go for a ride?
52 thoughts on “Do you wear cycling gloves?”
I didn’t when I first started
I didn’t when I first started out- but then after a nasty off which ripped great chunks out of my palms I have done ever since. Learnt the hard way.
Hang on – “just a little skin
Hang on – “just a little skin off the top”
Well what is it – deep lacerations that the padded heel-of-palm area of a glove might have prevented, or nowt to worry about?
Looking at my warm-weather mitts, it’s only the palm area that’s protected – not the fingers or back of hand at all. And nothing’s going to stop broken fingers.
I’d put the ‘importance’ of wearing gloves to prevent injury somewhere below shinguards.
Point is, in most crashes
Point is, in most crashes you’re going to instinctively break the fall by putting your hand out, which hits the ground palm first. That’s where gloves work. I’ve several at home with lumps taken out of them that I’m really pleased weren’t my skin.
Mitts rarely offer enough
Mitts rarely offer enough protection – have a lovely half moon crescent scar around knuckle of right index finger to attest. Peeled back skin off entire knuckle almost down to joint in collision with another cyclist. As its lunchtime won’t post the gory evidence…
road rash on knees, hips or
road rash on knees, hips or shoulders equals pain and discomfort. Road rash (especially from impact) on palms of hands can equate to lack of ability to use hands to eat, wash, type, and drive without pain.
gloves may not always look cool or pro, but even the flimsiest bits of leather on the palms can stop impact damage (but not broken bones)
themartincox wrote:road rash
Obviously the 50% of Danes and Dutch who cycle every day are crippled, claw-handed wrecks who end up eating through straws and typing through voice transcoders 🙂
Seriously though – sure, if you are going out planning to crash, wear gloves. For everyone else, just go with what suits you. General cycling (and I class club runs in there) is so ridiculously safe that if you think you must specifically protect about 1% of your body’s surface area you shouldn’t be on a bike in the first place.
*NOTE: in 10+ years of ‘serious’ road cycling ~5,000 miles a year on skinny tyres at speed in all weathers, I’ve only suffered one hand injury – falling off my fat-tyred Dutch bike, at about 5 MPH. No, I’m not about to start wearing gloves to ride to/from the pub/shops/school.
KiwiMike wrote:
Obviously the
hah! I’m calling BS on this! everyone knows the Dutch don’t crash bikes 😉
I don’t plan on getting crap in my eyes either, but I still wear glasses to stop it. Ive crashed/fallen a few times over the years, and can confidently say I’m glad the gloves took the brunt not my palms or knuckles – but as you say, each to their own
themartincox wrote:
I don’t
Ah now glasses are a totally different thing – sun/rain/wind/bugs/grit/mud in your face is a 100% certainty on pretty much any ride.
And I’m sure if I crashed once in a blue moon whilst wearing shinguards that saved me a dinged shinbone I’d be evangelizing them too as demi-compulsory.
I get why some like gloves – maybe their bartape isn’t nice to grip, or not padded enough, or – like many I suspect – they have grown up with gloves being the image/norm, therefore think it’s perfectly natural / required / sensible to wear them. I come from a MTB/BMX background, where you wore gloves for protection from frequent offs, undergrowth on the knuckles, grip when hands covered in filth etc.
I have a veritable drift of gloves on my shelf, for all temperatures and precipitations. But when it’s dry and warm, and with decent bartape, there’s simply no need I perceive. If I went out thinking ‘gosh I REALLY hope I don’t crash, I’ll wear thin gloves ‘cos they’ll make a difference’ I’d never get out from under the desk 🙂
It’s a bit like crash
It’s a bit like crash helmets: if you want to avoid painful skin loss and are entirely likely to fall at speed (let’s say, ooh, you’re careering down a gravelly rough track with rocks and tree roots, or are in a peloton, or doing a TTT) then they make a good deal of sense. Otherwise they’re not actually that relevant.
Your typical travelling cloggie falls in to the “not actually that relevant” category, at least until the weather gets cold and everyone’s wearing gloves anyway.
We’re not all riding for sport and going as fast as possible.
I do wonder at the apparent
I do wonder at the apparent pro ‘fashion’ for not wearing gloves. I landed a jump badly on my BMX as a kid, no gloves, I had bits of pavement in the fleshy bits between my fingers for ages.
Good grief, it’s the bloody
Good grief, it’s the bloody “helmet debate” all over again!
“While I respect your right to wear/not wear gloves/a helmet, I’m still going to tell you you’re wrong for not doing the same as me.”
~X(
harragan wrote:Good grief,
Well, look. I respect your right to drink White Spirit, but it’s still a godawfully stupid thing to do.
Toro Toro wrote:harragan
Well, look. I respect your right to drink White Spirit, but it’s still a godawfully stupid thing to do.— harragan
As if to prove a point. B-)
I always wear gloves as they
I always wear gloves as they stop my sweaty palms from making my bar tape dirty. It’s easier to clean a pair of gloves in the washing machine 🙂
Does the gel/padding in
Does the gel/padding in gloves not also dampen road vibration into the hands – 😀
I wear fingerless gloves. I
I wear fingerless gloves. I accept that they are unlikely to prevent anything other than superficial injury, primarily gravel rash. Besides avoiding uneccessary pain, if I do ever end up in Hospital with broken bones, I’d sooner not also have heavily bandaged hands. If nothing else I’d prefer not to have the added ignominy of needing to have someone else wiping my arse for me.
I really fail to see any downside to putting on a pair of gloves.
I did do a piece about this
I did do a piece about this subject on the forum several weeks ago. Why do cyclists wear gloves. It got some interesting answers.
So why do cyclists wear helmets then ?
Batchy wrote:I did do a piece
because it matches my gloves… 😀
(i’ll get my coat – actually, i’ll leave it, it doesn’t match.)
bigshape wrote:Batchy wrote:I
My helmet, gloves and Belgian booties do actually match. :B
probably useful if you’re a
probably useful if you’re a pro, especially (@KiwiMike surely you’re not suggesting that Mick Rogers went out intending to crash?!)
More for comfort reasons for us amateurs, I think – for long summer days in the saddle it’s good to control the sweat, reduce unwanted friction. rash, keep tape clean etc
As for winter – if you’ve experienced the pain of defrosting hands after riding with insufficient protection, you’ll know why they are necessary!
As for crashing – unlikely, yes, but good odds that if you do you’ll put your hands out to stop your fall whilst moving at some kind of speed.
Always wear them, mostly
Always wear them, mostly because they reduce blisters/calluses on my hands, obviously I never fall off….
I don’t wear them during a
I don’t wear them during a time trial or solo rides in the Netherlands less than 100km.
I wear gloves for precisely
I wear gloves for precisely this reason. I have rarely fallen off my bike, but don’t really want the added problem of grazed palms.
You can reduce the road rash by using the parts of your body that are protected.
But do whatever you want. I have no vested interest in anyone else’s palms.
I don’t get why everyone gets
I don’t get why everyone gets so shouty.
Most gloves offer some protection to your palm (which is generally what you use to stop yourself sliding across the tarmac). Some is better than none.
If you don’t want to wear them (I often don’t), then fine. But there’s no point in arguing about it.
It’s not like anyone is saying you HAVE TO WEAR GLOVES!
I’m not entirely sure that my
I’m not entirely sure that my track mitts (or any other gloves that I might ride in would be much use at 40mph (or even 25…).
stealth wrote:I’m not
I wondered about this. Would wearing mitts have saved his digits? Just how much protection is a padded mitt or a glove going to provide to your fingers or palm?
Michael Rogers’ opinion will only be of interest to me when he talks honestly about PEDs.
Simon E wrote:stealth
To the palm, quite a bit depending on the mitt – to the fingers, not much obviously, but why would anyone think otherwise. Looking at Mr Rogers hand, it may well have helped with the abrasion on the palm at the base of his thumb – which looks pretty painful.
I consider gloves as the
I consider gloves as the number one safety item for bike riding. If/when you fall off, it’s a natural instinct to try to protect yourself with your hands and as we use hands for pretty much everything we do, it’s really inconvenient when you do injure your hands.
Safety equipment is all about the trade-off between convenience and protection, but gloves are typically not inconvenient at all, yet provide gravel rash protection for your palms. I can understand people not wanting to wear helmets as they’re hot, big to carry around and can mess up your hair. Gloves have none of those drawbacks unless you have spectacularly hot hands and even then, they stop you getting too much sweat on your handlebars.
The main reason I wear
The main reason I wear gloves/mitts all year round is, apart from offering some protection to my palms, so I can wipe my snout without getting snot all over my hands…… :H
TBH I wear full finger gloves
TBH I wear full finger gloves all year round, for numerous reason. They offer some protection in a fall. I find without gloves my hands get sticky and the bar tape then turns sticky. If you chain comes off take your gloves off out it on, clean your hands on what ever is too hand, then out your gloves back on and not get the bar tape all dirty.
I dont think there is a right or wrong when it comes to gloves, it clearly a please yourself moment.
I wasn’t wearing gloves when
I wasn’t wearing gloves when I had my last accident (crashing into a van door X( ) and surprisingly there were no cuts, just a slight bruise/burn on the palm of my right hand which went within a few days. Unfortunately I did fracture my left index finger quite badly and I’ve had to have surgery on it; there are currently 2 k-wires in my finger and I will have to have splints for a few weeks/months. Can’t ride and even if I could my good bike is damaged from the crash, ironically making it my bad bike 😀 … Back to the point, I just don’t like wearing gloves and the tanlines they bring.
MHDennis wrote:I wasn’t
Kudos to you for typing then.
Gloves are totally like
Gloves are totally like helmets – if you’re heading towards the deck you’d be rather be wearing them than not, even if the benefit is marginal, but for everyday cycling that’s a remote possibility.
If I’m wearing cycling gear I’ll almost always be wearing gloves (a higher % than helmet wearing), always for MTB/races, but not for triathlons. If I’m wearing normal clothes ‘utility cycling’ and it isn’t cold I won’t be. If I drove to the start of a ride and found I’d forgotten gloves I wouldn’t cancel the ride (would anyone?)
Coming from motorbikes the
Coming from motorbikes the thought of crashing in Lycra worries me greatly. I may overcompensate by wearing helmet, gloves and glasses every time I ride. It sounds obvious that if you crash you put your hands out to break your fall, but fortunately my wife was wearing a full face motorbike helmet when she fell off (her motorbike) because she broke her fall with her jaw. Hence two days of agony and being discharged but having to be re admitted when they used a different angle on the x Ray and realise she had two hairline fractures and needed plates in. Obviously you’re unlikely to be doing 6ph on your road bike, but never assume you’ll have time to get your hands out!
Never wear gloves – I find
Never wear gloves – I find they compromise my ability to effectively interact with car drivers via digital communication. 😉
That’s what short finger
That’s what short finger gloves are for.
I wear fingerless gloves,
I wear fingerless gloves, came off and caught my nail on the brake lever https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/11902432_891512360937516_5767037721735997786_n.jpg?oh=31b4b37151f6d1ee293ae6386152814b&oe=569A5D54
(hope the url works)
The nail bent backwards half way up the nail, it wouldn’t snap back so had to trim it off.
(No subject)
:&
I usually wear mitts or full
I usually wear mitts or full gloves in the winter. Cos
They give better grip when hands are sweaty
They have towelling bits for wiping snot, dribble or sweat
They have gel & padded bits for extra comfort
Keep hands warm when it’s cold.
They’ll help prevent road rash if I come off which is nice, but that’s not the sole reason for them.
Gloves…… just in case.
Gloves…… just in case.
I wear gloves to keep my
I wear gloves to keep my hands warm when it’s cold, but not for riding about in the summer. I did wear gloves for racing, but now I’m not, I don’t bother.
I find that those extolling the protective virtues of such things are those most likely to fall off.
I really want to use gloves,
I really want to use gloves, but the only gloves i can tollerate are full gloves, something u can’t wear in the summer :(! If i try to wear fingerless gloves it’s painfull and itches between my fingers, and i’ve tried a lot of them!
I wear gloves so I can have
I wear gloves so I can have comedy tan lines and have white hands like Mickey Mouse
http://rouleur.cc/journal/rac
http://rouleur.cc/journal/racing/world-championships-2015-photo-gallery-mens-team-time-trial
Some more pictures of Mr Rogers
I’ve fallen off twice in four
I’ve fallen off twice in four years, and destroyed the palm of my glove twice. Each time, my own palm was left unscathed.
I don’t care what reasons people can come up with for not wearing them, but having twice avoided Mick Rogers’ fate, I know what reason I have for always wearing mine.
When I raced cars I wore
When I raced cars I wore gloves. And a crash helmet and booties with sticky rubber bottoms and sometimes a suit with a bunch of Nomex.
When I drive my car to races, or the grocery, should I also wear gloves and a crash helmet and sticky rubber bottomed booties and a Nomex suit?
I wear gloves when I race my bike. Should I also wear them on my upright Dutch bike riding to dinner? And please my meal makes with smelly hand and glove syndrome?
I didn’t realise how many
I didn’t realise how many pros don’t wear them. I bet the teams would prefer it if they wore them, more sponsor advertising!
I always always wear gloves,
I always always wear gloves, having gained the habit after a ridiculous 250k day in Belgium gave me a left ulnar nerve palsy that left the tips of my ring and little fingers numb for about five months, which is a moderately disabling injury for someone who drives a keyboard for a living.
Naturally I blamed vibration from the lengthy sections of paved cycle path there, rather than the smooth asphalt we all prefer. A glove upgrade* and an extra layer of bar tape *before* the start of the trip, rather than in Bonn, would have probably also been effective prophylaxis.
I also agree with Toro Toro that wearing gloves is a safety measure. The actual physical protection afforded is probably not that great (though not zero), but one’s willingness to make a positive head- or body-saving move with an outstretched arm is surely greater when wearing gloves than than not. That’s the move that’ll save you from more serious injury.
*I do find Specialized’s Body Geometry Gel mitts to be the very ticket.
Nerve damage would suggest
Nerve damage would suggest that the issue is too much pressure on your hands. Gloves may well alleviate this, but they are only masking the problem rather than addressing it.
I would be looking at my position on the bike.
I always wear gloves, mainly
I always wear gloves, mainly because the padding protects my hands against road vibration, but also to protect my skin if I come off my bike.
Always wore gloves for racing
Always wore gloves for racing – except time trials (I’d have to be really unlucky or silly to crash in a time trial). In racing they offer protection in a crash and much more importantly grip when sprinting!
When not racing it depends on the weather and the distance. If I’ve not been riding much my hands are a bit softer so if I then do a fairly long ride or if it’s cold I’ll wear gloves otherwise I generally don’t.
Am I scared of losing a bit of skin when out for a ride? Am I scared of being run down by a motor vehicle? Am I scared that I’ll go too quickly and recklessly crash? Not really – all those things could happen but if I worried about that stuff too much I wouldn’t wear gloves, I’d just stop riding – and there is even less chance of that!
Did he take this directly
Did he take this directly from the “helmet saved my life” stories? I believe that this helmet/glove/padding/whatever saved me from serious injury at least and probably death so everyone should wear one all the time. At least he stops short of demanding a law.