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review
At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.
What the road.cc scores meanGood scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.
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- Very Good
- Good
- Quite good
- Average
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- Bad
- Appalling
If you've ever found yourself looking at your chic urban cycling outfit and sighed at the thought that your drab, mundane textile gloves are letting you down, then perhaps these are the gloves for you. Handmade in the UK from Rapha's African hair sheep leather (no we don't know what one is either), with a merino and silk mix lining, they are truly a thing of beauty.
The gloves feature a zip at the cuff, to make getting them on and off easier, and also feature ergonomically shaped palms with Pittards' military grade padding.
Haters will be moaning about the price tag at £160, but these are not your run of the mill gloves. They are designed to last for years and years (predicated on the judicious use of Rapha Glove Balm now and then) and just be, well, lovely on or off the bike. Yes, they'll look great with that evening coat too.
In use, they are extremely comfortable, very grippy indeed on the brake levers and a decent temperature for all but the coldest or warmest conditions. While they'll certainly stand up to a dose of the wet stuff now and then, they are probably best kept for drier days to preserve their good looks, snug fit and suppleness. The only niggle I had was that the zip at the wrist was a bit fiddly to undo single handed, which is strangely necessary.
Yes, they are expensive, but they really are rather fabulous.
Verdict
Expensive, but a genuine thing of beauty
road.cc test report
Make and model: Rapha Leather Town Gloves
Size tested: na
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?
Aimed at discerning urban riders looking for a super high quality leather cycling glove.
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
Handmade in UK from African hair sheep leather
Merino silk lining
Rifle grade padding
Riri Cuff Zip
Available in sizes S, M, L
Rate the product for quality of construction:
10/10
Superb quality of leather and extremely well made.
Rate the product for performance:
8/10
As a smart urban glove they perform very well. I'd have preferred a zip that was easier to undo single-handed though.
Rate the product for durability:
9/10
These will last for years as long as they are hand washed from time to time and maintained with Glove Balm to keep them supple.
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
9/10
Not really an issue but they're neither light nor heavy.
Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
10/10
Superbly comfortable.
Rate the product for value:
5/10
I've rated these "average" as if you're after uber high quality they are amazing value, but if all you're after is leather city gloves then they're not! Utterly an investment in hand crafted cycling elegance.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
Performed very well but I became obsessed with the weather.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
Style, fit, padding, comfort, quality.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
Price (obviously), slightly fiddly zip.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes.
Would you consider buying the product? Maybe if I won Euromillions or cycle commuted to a job in The City.
Would you recommend the product to a friend? A wealthy and discerning one.
Anything further to say about the product in conclusion?
An investment in real old-school leather glove craftsmanship and elegance.
About the tester
Age: 42 Height: 1.65m Weight: 73kg
I usually ride: Boardman Hybrid Fi My best bike is: Specialized Ruby Elite
I've been riding for: 10-20 years I ride: Most days I would class myself as: Experienced
I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, touring, sportives, general fitness riding, mtb,
Lara has been riding bikes for longer than she'd care to admit, and writing about them nearly as long. Since 2009 she has been working as part of the road.cc review team whilst championing women's cycling on the side, most notably via two years as editor of the, sadly now defunct, UK's first and only women's cycling mag, erm, Women's Cycling.
Believing fervently that cycling will save the world, she wishes that more people would just ride a bike and be pleasant to each other.
She will ride anything with two wheels, occasionally likes to go fast, definitely likes to go far and is always up for a bit of exploring somewhere new and exciting.
Latest Comments
- redimp 3 sec ago
And there was me. Ready to splash out £700 on a polo shirt, but they have made it with cashmere
- chrisonabike 5 min 56 sec ago
But it would stop them blowing resources in a less sustainable way on their children - a major source of increased consumption [e.g. here] -...
- AidanR 6 min 24 sec ago
"Smooth ride"? Looks like it has the vertical compliance of an RSJ.
- Paul J 31 min 6 sec ago
Madiot as "expert car door panel beater" - can the road.cc bigwigs please give Ryan an extra big christmas bonus for that. Brilliant. I'm going to...
- Pedal those squares 34 min 58 sec ago
Helmets have a 5 year live span (and shorter if you are unlucky and have a crash / get hit / etc), you should then get a new replacement one....
- Christopher TR1 36 min 13 sec ago
Good stuff. Mark embodies the golden era of British pro cycling - let's take every chance to remind the general public and the world!
- Simon's Two Wheels 1 hour 43 min ago
Sonder Colibri. https://alpkit.com/collections/sonder-colibri Don't fixate on weight, just enjoy the ride, which on Ti is sublime. Here's mine.
- Jamie Williams 1 hour 48 min ago
It is indeed, I will be using it until its demise - I kind of feel that I was fortunate to find a saddle that worked for me fairly quickly ...
- Zjtm231 3 hours 34 min ago
The standard is 40% in these types of cases
- eburtthebike 3 hours 55 min ago
I like the magazine.
Add new comment
46 comments
I know its Rapha, and you expect a price tag - but I literately sprayed my coffee over the keyboard when I saw the actual price...
despite the mess, that's the best laugh I've had in ages.
Doesn't explain the discrepancy though, does it love?
why is the site showing 6 comments, yet only 2 are visible?
If there is censorship occurring, at least make it clear that this is happening.
I guess they just imported the standard comments for all Rapha reviews.
1. How bloody much?
2. In my day we didn't have gloves/merino jerseys/bib-shorts we just set our hands on fire/caught our own sheep/stuck a steak down some lederhosen.
3. Anyone who wears that must be a Sky-fanboy carbon-fibre tosser who bought their first bike last week and I'll be riding past them on my Dawes Galaxy c1980.
That just about covers it doesn't it?
Yes. You've rather rendered the comments section unnecessary.
abudhabiChris wrote:
You forgot:
"I can buy a 5 pack of gloves that are just as good in Lidl for a tenner"
@crikey - I've often noticed a mismatch between the number of comments reported by the front page and the actual number of comments displayed. Perhaps that is why road.cc is recruiting a web developer
My personal Rapha dilemma... I was bought an Imperial Works winter jersey as a present - it was reduced, in the regular sale area of the Rapha website and not the super-seekrit section for people who have more money than sense even by Rapha standards. It really is a lovely jersey, both in looks and functionality - but will the Rapha haters think I am an even bigger tool than normal for wearing it? Or are the haters gonna hate equally regardless so I should just not care?
You should just not care. I bought an imperial works long sleeve off eBay - purely because it was all black and had long sleeves & I got it for a bargain. Win/win! You'd be hard pushed to even tell it's IW really.
I think you have everything upside down.
You buy or own something you prefer or like. Not based on what others think.
I actually don't care if the whole world is rapah haters (I know only a few anyway) and I would still wear their things as long as I believe they make good products and provide good service.
I wear my raphe items because I like it not because others wear it or care what they think.
My cycling wardrobe consists of many brands though and I mixed and match whichever I think does the job best.
Recently I find DHB pro long bib very very good for the price actually and keeps me comfy during the winter so I will buy more of those. I have Assos, Rapha, Castili, Pactimo long bibs and I actually find DHB pro the one I grab every time.
Its all about the gear and not the brand and all about your own personality what you choose to wear.
You're right, and if I didn't want to have/wear this item, I wouldn't have dropped hints that I might quite like to get it
So I've already worn this and the other couple of Rapha items I own quite happily.
That said, I'm only human and it's nice not to think that others are judging you negatively for your clothing choices, be they Rapha or Aldi - so if I was going to meet a bunch of cyclists for the first time I'm not sure I'd turn up in fancy IW gear.
And Rapha-ites out there: I used their toilet for a dump last week in Soho and when I was walking out I overhead the owner of Rapha say, probably to his lap dog: "yes I know people will buy anything with Rapha on" I didn't catch the rest. And if Rapha is listening in: fucking sue me
Road CC are twisting my mellow man. They've just re-added the serious discussion I started in the Culpines women's jacks. Cunts
Reckon you guys could branch out a bit and review some other brands besides rapha, vulpine and the usual crowd that disproportionately frequent the review section?
Be careful? You can call Armstrong a prick but be critical to products on Road CC and you will find your messages disappear. As I found out yesterday when I called Rapha-items who jerk of to merino jumpers still in their box to get a life and go for a ride, and Copypine women's jacket you can now found in the bargain basement of pound stretcher: and both messages disappeared. And when I pointed out women's Lycra crotch area is a serious discussion point, I was told to fuck off to the Women's Institute.
Rapha-ites. This Sinclair spectrum spell check is fucked.
They are just reviewing what other people want to or would like to buy without buying it themselves first.
Vulpine products have been reviewed.
My life is complete.
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