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Lusso Summer Gloves

8
£19.99

VERDICT:

8
10
Slim padding keeps you comfortable but connected, and a great price too
Weight: 
26g
Contact: 

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.

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Lusso's Summer Gloves provide very good long-ride comfort for not a lot of money. They're nicely stretchy – though you might want to size down, even if the guide suggests you don't – and the padded palm provides enough protection without being overly deep and squidgy.

  • Pros: Cushioning; slim fit
  • Cons: Fit might not suit all (good in the palm, tight round the fingers, for me)

I started off testing the medium size, after slipping my hand into them in the office and finding that they were perfect, which the size guide confirmed. However, after a few months of testing and wearing in hot weather, I realised they were actually beginning to stretch in the palm and squirm about a little, especially if things got a bit hot and sweaty.

> Buy these online here

After one particularly long ride I ended up with a blister on the heel of one hand (not that I knew until I took the gloves off – it didn't actually hurt), which I put down to the slight movement. Trying a smaller pair – which were quite a squeeze to get into but then felt comfortable – I was much happier with the lack of movement.

Going down a size means they're quite tight in the webbing area between my fingers, and on long rides this can – suddenly, I find – start to hurt. A quick pull up on the fingers relieves it though, and is definitely preferable to the moving-around palm. (Those aren't my hands in the photos, by the way.)

lusso_summer_mitts_-_terrain_red_-_back_of_hand.jpg

Testing mitts once you have the remnants of a blister makes it tricky to work out whether it's just going to reappear whatever gloves you wear, but I certainly found that these Lussos kept me comfortable despite it. I had this great idea on one long ride to carry a different pair of mitts and to swap mid-way, but trying to wear those (non-padded) ones over the blister was an immediate no-no.

Although I'd reviewed a couple of pairs of non-padded gloves and found them both comfortable for long rides, a slight roughness at the heel of my hand with both (from Rapha and Supacaz) meant I chose these padded Lussos for the three-day Scotland leg of the Ride Across Britain. Again, that one blister reappeared, and again it didn't hurt, at all – on either the 112-mile day or the 119.4-mile day. I wore different mitts on the third day, but that was more to do with the odour after a very soggy end to the second day...

> 9 ways to make your bike more comfortable

Quality-wise, the Lusso Terrains are good – the seams are neat and are holding up well.

The stretchy tops are made of 80/20% polyester/Lycra and are all one piece – the only seams are where they meet the palms and the hem at the cuff. They're long, too, coming right up the wrist, which I like, though it can interfere with your watch if you wear one. They probably help masses with airflow, too, so your gloves aren't slowing you down...

Those padded palms that have kept me and my blisters so comfortable are made of suede, with slim foam for the padding. Having tried non-padded mitts, after some deeper-padded designs, I'm probably going to plump for 'slightly padded' from now on. (Or sort out some comfier bar tape.) The only thing I'd question is why you need the extra seams down the centre of the lower pad. I might be tempted to remove them.

lusso_summer_mitts_-_terrain_red_-_palm.jpg

There's no ventilation in the palm and they can get sweaty (and smelly), but you can bung them in the wash with the rest of your sports kit and they dry quickly. There's no dedicated sweat/snot-wipe area either, but they still do that lovely job just fine. I had no issues with grip in (torrential) rain or sun.

As well as this contour-line 'Terrain' design (in blue as well as red), you can have stripy or zig-zags if you prefer. I rather like the Terrains, but I do have a thing about maps.

> Read more road.cc reviews of cycling mitts here

All in all, for just less than £20, I think the Lusso Summer Gloves are a great buy. They're lots cheaper than the Rapha Souplesse and Supacaz SupaG mitts I tested earlier in the year, and ultimately, I've found them more comfortable. They even have helpful tags top and bottom to help with pulling them on and off.

Verdict

Slim padding keeps you comfortable but connected, and a great price too

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Lusso Summer Gloves

Size tested: Small

Tell us what the product is for

From Lusso:

Lusso Summer Gloves

Race fitting glove with all day comfort

Great flexibility and grip

Soft suede palm with HD foam padding

Second skin feel

4 way stretch fabric

Ultra Light

Hard wearing

Pull off tabs

80% Polyester 20% Lycra

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
7/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10

Comfortable even if you happen to have a blister on the heel of your hand...

Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10

Lasting well, after plenty of wearing and washing.

Rate the product for fit:
 
7/10

They do 'relax' a bit in the palm after a fair amount of wear.

Rate the product for sizing:
 
6/10

Tricky one... the medium 'should' be the right size for me, and felt like they were initially, but it became obvious that the palm was a little loose, letting the padding squirm around slightly. The padding on the small worked really well for me, though they are a little tight in that area between the fingers.

Rate the product for weight:
 
7/10
Rate the product for comfort:
 
8/10

A little hit and miss because of the sizing/palm stretch, but generally really good. I prefer the slight tightness between my fingers to having a slightly loose palm (possibly the cause of a blister – though it was only one hand).

Rate the product for value:
 
8/10

Other summer mitts I've tested lately have come in a lot more expensive than these – £50 for the Rapha Souplesses and £37.99 for the Supacaz SupaGs, neither of which had padding.

How easy is the product to care for? How did it respond to being washed?

In the wash with everything else; no Velcro to worry about.

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

Really well. Its real test came in providing comfort on two long back-to-back day rides, which I began with a blister.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Long ride comfort, even if you have a blister...

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

To get the right fit across the palm meant slight tightness between the fingers, which I'd have to relieve by taking them off every so often or pulling them up my fingers slightly, with my teeth, while riding.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your overall score

For the comfort they provide they're very good, and great value too.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 54  Height: 169cm  Weight: size 10-12

I usually ride: Vitus Venon  My best bike is: Paulus Quiros

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, sportives, general fitness riding

Tass is our production pedant, who boldly goes hunting for split infinitives, rogue apostrophes and other things up with which she will not put. She joined road.cc in 2015 but first began working on bike magazines way back in 1991 as production editor on Mountain Biking UK, then deputy editor of MTB Pro, before changing allegiance to road cycling as senior production editor on Cycling Plus. She's ridden off-road but much prefers on, hasn't done half the touring she'd like to, and loves paper maps.

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1 comments

Avatar
StraelGuy | 4 years ago
0 likes

You make a good point here Tass, especially for new cyclists. You should buy cycling mitts that feel far too small when they're new. That way they'll mould to your hands nicely with use. Nothing worse than baggy mitts .

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