Kalf Five Mens Gloves

The Kalf Five Men's Gloves are windproof and water resistant and they provide enough warmth for most winter conditions, as long as you're happy putting a liner glove underneath when it gets down close to freezing.

• Pros: Comfortable, low bulk, grippy, good price
• Cons: Not waterproof

The outer fabrics (nylon/elastane back, nylon/polyurethane palm) and membrane make these gloves windproof, and that goes a long way to keeping your hands well protected when the temperature drops. Plus, you get C40 Thinsulate insulation in there and a fleecy polyester liner. Put these gloves on and they immediately feel warm.

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I've been using them on every ride in the recent cold snap and they've done a really good job, although I've been putting a pair of wool liner gloves underneath for extra insulation when the temperature has been below about 5°C. I tend to feel the cold more than most; you might be happy without a liner when it's close to freezing.

The Five gloves aren't at all bulky by winter glove standards, offering very good lever feel. I've been riding a review bike with Shimano Di2 electronic shifting recently and I've had no trouble distinguishing the upshift button from the downshift button, and that can be tricky in some deeply insulated gloves. As with most gloves (there are exceptions), I found that operating a Garmin Edge 1030 touchscreen while wearing these is a hit and miss affair, and using an iPhone touchscreen is impossible.

The palms and that area between your thumb and forefinger which you use for resting on the hoods feature a gummy silicone pattern that provides plenty of grip, as do the tips of the first two fingers. It works well. The snot/sweat wipe panel on the back of each thumb is effective too.

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The Five gloves aren't waterproof but they're water resistant enough to keep out spray, drizzle and light rain. Heavy rain will get in, slowly at first, but if it chucks it down your hands will inevitably get wet sooner or later. They offer a reasonable level of breathability and roll up small enough when not in use that the pair of them tuck easily into a rear pocket with plenty of space to spare.

When you take the gloves off, the fingers of the liner stay where they're supposed to in the fingers of the outer – they're attached in there and can't come out. One of my pet hates is faffing around with gloves that turn inside out at every opportunity. Life's too short for that.

One of my other pet hates is when you take your gloves off to do something mid-ride – use your phone or fix a puncture, for instance – and then struggle to get them back on because your hands are a little damp and sticky. Thankfully, these are fine in that respect, the Velcro cuff adjuster providing the slack you need to wriggle your hand back in. It's not the easiest thing in the world but it can be done. I'm not usually a fan of Velcro – if truth be told, I think it's the Devil's work, put on Earth to destroy all your best clothes – but this is the type where the hooks don't grab hold of everything they happen to brush past. You still have to be careful, mind.

The cuff extends just about far enough over your wrist to avoid any cold air getting in where the sleeve of your jacket or jersey ends – I'd prefer them a couple of centimetres longer, if I'm being picky – and you get a lot of reflectivity here: there's a broad reflective strip across the knuckles and the K logo on the wrist is reflective too.

Thirty-five quid really isn't much for a pair of cycle-specific winter gloves, especially for multi-layer ones that offer a good level of warmth. You don't get gel padding here like you do on the GripGrab Hi Vis Hurricane Gloves (£40) or the Gore Bike Wear Xenon 2.0 Windstopper Gloves (£49.99) that we reviewed earlier in the year, but these still offer good value for money.

Verdict

Comfortable windproof gloves that are suitable for most autumn/winter temperatures