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review
Gloves - mitts
Hincapie Sportswear Nitro GlovesHincapie Sportswear Nitro Gloves

Hincapie Sportswear Nitro Gloves

7
by David Arthur @davearthur
UPDATED Thu, Oct 15, 2015 04:24

First Published Aug 11, 2013

1
£24.99

VERDICT:

7
10
Comfortable gloves but aero benefits are hard to prove.
Weight: 
45g
Contact: 
www.hincapie.com, www.evanscycles.com
How we test

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The Nitro gloves from Hincapie are comfortable and well-fitting gloves with a potential aero benefit, but which is hard to quantify without a wind tunnel.

The key to their design is the AT2 Tour Lycra Power (as used on the bib shorts that share the same name) that keeps the back of the gloves very smooth, with an extended cuff, keeping airflow smooth over the hand and wrist.

They're skin tight, but they're not uncomfortable as a result. Quite the opposite in fact. The fabric is light and very breathable, and worked well to draw sweat moisture away from the skin on hot rides. There's very few seams and they're well made, surviving plenty of crit races and longer rides.

Supposed aero benefits aside, the gloves are comfortable, with just the minimal padding on the palm providing just enough cushioning. I like a thinly padded glove as I prefer maximum feel through the bars, these ticked that box nicely. They're easy to pull on with a small tab on the cuff. Removal is aided with a similar tab between the two middle fingers.

Can a glove really be aerodynamic? Possibly not, but the Nitro's tight-fitting Lycra Power construction and extended cuff is closer fitting than most other gloves. You only need look at a professional time trial to see that quite a few teams use similarly long gloves, so there could be something in it.

They're a nice pair of gloves, and certainly feel fast and fit very nicely. Aero benefits are hard to prove in the real world though, and while they're comfortable, I'm just not convinced by the extended cuff over a regular pair of mitts.

Verdict

Comfortable gloves but aero benefits are hard to prove.

road.cc test report

Make and model: Hincapie Sportswear Nitro Gloves

Size tested: Medium

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Aerodynamic pull-on gloves with Lycra fabric and minimal seaming.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Lightweight, moisture-wicking AT2 Tour Lycra© Power reduces drag across the surface

Minimal seaming for maximum aerodynamic advantage

Comfortable chamude palm with perforated vents and a gel insert

Pull-on design

AT2 Tour Lycra© Power

Durable sublimation-ready polyester and Lycra© Power yarns blend to provide a supple yet durable fit that moves with your body while retaining shape and firmness. At 225gsm, this fabric is the perfect blend of compressive support and performance.

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10

Well made and have survived hundreds of hours and the seams are all still intact.

Rate the product for performance:
 
7/10

It's really hard to verify aerodynamic benefits, especially with gloves which offer such tiny potential gains.

Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10

Really impressed with how well they've stood up to lots of hard riding.

Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
 
7/10

Very good, nice thinly padded palm which I like, but not a fan of the extended cuff.

Rate the product for value:
 
7/10

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Aero aside, they're a nicely made and comfortable pair of gloves. But the aero benefit is the reason you'd be looking at these gloves over other regular gloves, and that's hard to prove.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Thin padding and good fit.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Extended cuff.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes mostly.

Would you consider buying the product? Probably not.

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Possibly.

Overall rating: 7/10

About the tester

Age: 31  Height: 180  Weight: 67

I usually ride:   My best bike is:

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: road racing, time trialling, cyclo cross, commuting, touring, mtb,

 

Hincapie Sportswear Nitro Gloves
David Arthur @davearthur

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes. 

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