Hirzl Grippp Tour SF

As Liam found with the Hirzl Grippp Light SFs, the Hirzl Grippp Tour SF gloves certainly live up to their name as the tacky nature of the leather palm gives you unbelievable grip on even the wettest and shiniest of bar tapes. Minimal padding means plenty of feel can come through the handlebar too, in a good way.

• Pros: Excellent grip levels, hardwearing palm
• Cons: Not as easy to pull off as some

I like my gloves to be simple when it comes to padding, the more minimal the better, and the Hirzls strike a lovely balance. You get a small strip under the fingers and a square section at the base of the thumb. It's the perfect layout for longer rides without actually feeling like there is any padding there at all.

This means you are still totally engaged with what the bike is doing, through the handlebar, without the high-frequency buzz associated with road noise.

The palm is made from kangaroo leather, often praised for its suppleness, and it really is a great material for glove use. I've owned cow leather mitts in the past and after wet or sweaty rides the palms can harden and need softening up again on your next ride, but you don't get any of that here.

The finish to the palm has a slightly sticky feel to it, which comes from the Grippp polymer that is added. This gives excellent grip levels on either the bar tape or the hoods. I wore these on some seriously wet rides and no matter how many bumps or whatever you hit, they aren't going to slip.

Off-road on the gravel bike I'm testing, hitting tree roots and potholes never saw me lose grip on the hoods or drops even in the wet; the grip levels are really impressive.

The upper is a synthetic Lycra which is pretty breathable, and you get a few vent holes in the palm too to let the heat out. They aren't the coolest gloves I've worn but they are fine until things get seriously hot, like 25°C and above.

The wrist is held in place by a Velcro tab which is quite small so you don't feel it digging into your skin at all when you have your arm at quite a steep angle.

The two middle fingers have tabs to aid removal when your hands are hot, but while they help, they aren't as good as the tabs on the palm side of the fingers found on the Mavic Cosmic Pro gloves I've also tested.

Quality-wise, things are pretty good. Everything is finished nicely and there are no rough edges or untidy stitching.

> Read more road.cc reviews of cycling mitts here

Against a lot of the competition the Grippps are quite pricey, but you have to remember that they are using leather rather than a synthetic palm. Saying that, though, the Prologo CPC short finger gloves have similar levels of grip using elastic polymer 'volcanoes' for suction and they are still pricier than these Grippps by a fiver.

If you want a minimal, well-made pair of mitts that have a very supple palm then these Hirzl options are some of the best out there.

Verdict

Unbelievable grip levels from a very comfortable and supple pair of mitts