Ashmei Windproof Glove

Ashmei's windproof gloves are great at resisting cutting winds despite their lack of bulk, but they could use a little more insulation to be three-season gloves for everyone.

• Pros: Fit, feel, build quality, wind resistance
• Cons: Lack of warmth, zero palm padding, no nose-wipe

In fairness to Ashmei, it says that if the temperature really drops you can use its merino liner to address the shortcomings of its very thin lining on the inside. However, even when temperatures are mixing it in the high single figures, I found I could have done with more insulation as a rule, rather than an exception.

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Now, I tend to get quite cold hands and struggle when I do, so if you tend to retain heat in your hands reasonably well you may wish to take this with a pinch of salt. Nevertheless, if you have a separate set of deep winter gloves to fall back on, I found these windproof gloves to be generally useful in ambient temperatures from around 8°C and above this winter. Don't be disheartened, though, because there's plenty to like here. The gloves are thin, which means your natural finger dexterity is maintained, and that means (as long as your fingers are warm enough) you get great feel at the brake lever and when shifting.

The fabric itself is said to be woven especially tightly to create the windproof effect, and there's a good level of water resistance thanks to the use of a DWR treatment. Great, in fact: I've used them on a number of rainy commutes when the temperature has allowed, and the tightly woven seams work well too, with very little wind and no water sneaking in (it beads off remarkably well). The cuffs are elasticated for a snug fit, while the stretch of the fabric also helps with general comfort and form fit around the fingers. Ashmei has also gone to the trouble of including red leather tabs on the undersides of the glove for easy removal – helpful given their snug profile.

The seams are also positioned well so as not to encumber the feel of the bar and levers in your hands. Even on comparable Gore gloves that I rated highly a couple of years ago and still use today, I sometimes find they snag occasionally as I reach around the levers to work them – there's no hint of that with these.

The palms and fingers are covered in a slightly tacky silicone material to give grip, and that grip works well whether you're using them in the dry or wet. There's no palm padding, though, so if you like cushioning in your gloves you're out of luck here.

The sizing is also well thought out. Fingers are long, while the palm size is well proportioned, which means you don't get any cutting down on the webbing of your hands. This test set was a size large, and with that in mind I'd suggest simply following the size chart Ashmei provides when looking for your own. That said, those with very large hands may struggle with no XL on offer, as I tend to fit between medium and large, generally speaking, and found the large perfect.

Aside from the thinness of the thermal lining, which is there to simply soften the inside more than anything else, there is one remaining shortcoming: no dedicated nose-wipe section. Of course, it's not the end of the world, but it's always nice to have a soft patch on which to dab your runny nose – you don't realise how much of a luxury it is until it's gone.

> Buyer's Guide: 21 of the best cycling gloves for keeping your hands warm & dry

Value-wise, £45 is fairly steep (Lusso's Windtex gloves are £30), though the protection from the wind and rain is very good, plus they have great finger dexterity, good grip and an unencumbered feel at the lever. They're not the warmest deep winter gloves, but they're a great layer to have in the spring and autumn.

Verdict

Lack of warmth and padding aside, these gloves offer great wind and rain protection for cool-to-mild conditions