# Is it better to wear no gloves for the summer



## John445 (Dec 19, 2017)

I understand the functions of most gloves for bushwacking and a little bit of shock absorption/ protection when falling. But if none of those are real issues, would the gloves be unnecessary and make your hands more overheated than bare hands. My hands still do get sweaty on rides without gloves, and I'm wondering if getting a pair will make that worse no matter how ventilated it is or is that not the case and the gloves work rather like socks? I definitely would not ride without socks.


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## shekky (Oct 21, 2011)

personally, i will not ride without gloves no matter how hot it gets.

additionally, gloves will absorb your sweat. do you want to have sweaty, slippery hands on your grips?


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## jcd46 (Jul 25, 2012)

I forgot my gloves once, it sucked big time. I too, always wear them, but do have short finger gloves for hotter days.

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## Mudguard (Apr 14, 2009)

I wear them purely to protect them. I don't care about feel or temperature. Recently I left my gloves in the car when we were shuttling, after a few hours I could barely hang on, my hands were so sore.


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## Dropper (Mar 1, 2018)

my cousins hand. Nice little ride, nothing to speak of...no gloves.


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## adaycj (Sep 30, 2009)

I can only tell you what I do. I only wear gloves when I need protection from cold. There is more risk, and I have had to pick gravel and a piece of glass from my hand over the years. Some Ergon and Lizard Skin grips seem to work just fine with sweaty hands, in fact sometimes they even grip my hands a little too much. 

This conversation has turned into an insistent case for injury prevention in the past. In my opinion you should just try it and see how you like it. If the risk bothers you, keep them on.


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## RAKC Ind (Jan 27, 2017)

Dropper said:


> my cousins hand. Nice little ride, nothing to speak of...no gloves.
> 
> View attachment 1200050


Omg this made me gag a little and wince in pain.

I don't ride without gloves either. Mainly cause sweaty hands get slippery and too long get blisters. Also rubber grips get gross and break down rather quickly making for that feeling under your hands and crap on your hands.

Secondly is I crash enough I couldn't imagine not having gloves, I need my hands to work.

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## Dropper (Mar 1, 2018)

RAKC Ind said:


> Omg this made me gag a little and wince in pain.


and he was on vacation visiting. On the way to the airport for his trip home we stopped by TLD and he picked up some gloves.


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## natas1321 (Nov 4, 2017)

I have to wear gloves when riding no matter how hot it may be otherwise it just does not feel right. Probably stems from many years of riding motorcycles.


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## Pedalon2018 (Apr 24, 2018)

Gloves have several purposes like protecting your hands in a crash, keeping your hands warm and providing some cushion to your hands. The most important for me is having a way to clear the sweat from your face/eyes. The absorbent back side of the glove saves me on my hot runs. Yesterday during a mid day ride, sweat pored down my face on a long uphill climb. Without my glove to clear my face, I would have been blinded. Hot hands and a clear face.


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## Mr Pig (Jun 25, 2008)

shekky said:


> personally, i will not ride without gloves no matter how hot it gets.


Once you see what a fall with no gloves can do to a guy's hands, you will always wear gloves. I used to wear mitts in the summer, not any more. Full-finger gloves, nothing less.


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

Dropper said:


> my cousins hand. Nice little ride, nothing to speak of...no gloves.


I could post a pic of my knee ripped up like that but I bet not everyone here wears kneepads on every ride 

Thin summer weight mtb gloves don't seem to make me feel any hotter than without so I always wear them.


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## sturge (Feb 22, 2009)

I've ridden a few times with no gloves...sweat affects my grip without gloves so I prefer wearing them. I ride in the woods of New England - there's lots of shade but it does get very hot and humid. I would say 90% of riders around here wear them. Could be different for those who ride in desert areas.


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## Oh My Sack! (Aug 21, 2006)

Just as with motorcycle riding, I ALWAYS wear gloves. My preference is to be able maintain some dignity after a get off and be able to wipe my own ass.

Think about that for a minute.


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## Mr Pig (Jun 25, 2008)

Just home, warm day and I could ring the sweat out of my gloves. Only notice when you take them off though. While riding there are no down sides.


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## 127.0.0.1 (Nov 19, 2013)

from a performance and recovery perspective, the cooler the hands, the 
better you can perform. but as mtb rider, I'll take skin protection over the small
percentage loss of warmer hands


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## shekky (Oct 21, 2011)

Mr Pig said:


> Once you see what a fall with no gloves can do to a guy's hands, you will always wear gloves. I used to wear mitts in the summer, not any more. Full-finger gloves, nothing less.


^^^^^^
exactly!


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## Legbacon (Jan 20, 2004)

Protection and better grip. I do the 1st 1/2 of my ride, the long climb up gloveless in the summer to even out my tan, and wear them on the way down. When I put them on at the top they are still dry, which is a bonus.


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## d365 (Jun 13, 2006)

Sweaty, wet grips and hands es no bueno. I live in a pretty humid climate, so hardly anything evaporates. Soaking wet gloves are better than no gloves. I hardly notice them to be honest... unless I take them off and put them back on...


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## mtnbkrmike (Mar 26, 2015)

Always gloved. Even commuting on the MUP in plus 30C/90F temps. 

I still have (what were at the time) brand new RaceFace gloves from last summer that I was wearing when I went down at high speed on a pretty buff roller kinda trail. The left glove is 100% shredded along the outside of my baby finger, all the way up the outside of the palm to the meaty part before the wrist (same place as the carnage in the photo above). 

I don't even want to think about how bad things would have been had I not been wearing those gloves. I got lots of cuts and abrasions on my right knee and elsewhere, but nothing that prevented me from biking within a couple of days. My baby finger and palm, though, would have almost certainly been destroyed had I not been wearing my gloves.

Unless you are Sam Blenkinsop, don the gloves. Every single ride.


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## John445 (Dec 19, 2017)

Thanks for the responses, it seems to be the same with helmets and any other type of gear. Does make your head hotter, but the advantages of protection outweighs the increased temperture. 

I won't be overlooking my hands now anytime soon.


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## RAKC Ind (Jan 27, 2017)

Well gloves you probably aren't going to loose use of your limbs or loose your live not using, where as helmets you have a lot better chance of minimal injury and walking away than without.

I watched some stupid kids on trails this weekend without a helmet that were already way outside their skill levels and no helmets. I was literally waiting to see paramedics come into the park for one of them. Way too much rock and plenty of areas that were techy in places going off the DH side of the trail meant a long way down unless face is stopped by a tree.

Gloves are protection but NOTHING compares to a helmet. I swear my helmets have saved my life more than once (of course at the sacrifice of my helmet)

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## John445 (Dec 19, 2017)

This is all the gear I have as of right now.

























Giro disciple, fox armor, and some cheap pair of goggles which are very flimsy and hold in my sweat with its foam.

I don't have any lower body protection yet which kinda makes me look silly.


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## jcd46 (Jul 25, 2012)

No wonder you get hot! 

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## Miker J (Nov 4, 2003)

Bare handed feels best to me but sweat eventually creeps in and then things get slick. So, I wear gloves. Sliding across rocks on your bare palms ain't so great either. So, I wear gloves. But I do prefer the thinnest gloves I can find.


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## Mr Pig (Jun 25, 2008)

It might help if the body armour wasn't black...


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## MozFat (Dec 16, 2016)

Always gloves. Some are pretty light weight. Even the dreaded fingerless are better than nothing. At least they protect a heavy landing on the palm of your hand like the horror pic above, and let you use your fingers for phone, GPS touchscreens etc.


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## Osco (Apr 4, 2013)

I've forgot my gloves before, was no big deal but I do prefer the safety and the feel of gloves.
I have I think seven different pair from fingerless to Insulated.

It's kinda nice to take off a glove and have a clean hand to eat with or pick your nose, Or pick your nose and eat,,No wait !


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## Oh My Sack! (Aug 21, 2006)

Mr Pig said:


> It might help if the body armour wasn't black...


That's racist!

But only in the USA.


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## str8edgMTBMXer (Apr 15, 2015)

funny, cause I never wear gloves in the summer...40+ years of riding. BMX and MTB. Can not stand not being able to feel the grips, levers and shifters. Have had more wrecks than . I can remember, but still never considered gloves....till this spring, when riding started rubbing the skin off of my thumbs, right around the joint. I must be gripping differently now, but I am now wearing the liners of my cold weather gloves all the time. I hate it, but it allows me to ride longer, and be able to use my hands the next day

Still don't wear them on BMX, but am also not riding as "constant" in that activity. 

Helmets...I always wear a helmet. No questions. Have never used any other kind of protection, but I also have never bombed downhill etc...I like fast, but not stupid fast anymore. Also don' t wear stuff other than a helmet on BMX...just deal with it. It is what I am used to from growing up


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## BadgerOne (Jul 17, 2015)

I hate gloves and don't wear them, because I'm a) apparently a bit stupid and b) asking for trouble. I use ESI extra chunkys, and sweat isn't an issue. Padded gloves give me all kinds of hand cramps and problems, even unpadded gloves cause tactile weirdness, and the idea of having really white backs of my hands doesn't help either. I'm also a guitarist, so I suppose not wearing gloves is extra-stupid. But unless I can get thin, unpadded gloves at a reasonable price I guess I'll go without.

Helmet? Come one, who goes without one of those? They at least need something to bury....


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## Mr Pig (Jun 25, 2008)

BadgerOne said:


> I'm also a guitarist, so I suppose not wearing gloves is extra-stupid...


How upset would you be if you could no longer play? It just so happens that I have a friend who almost took his finger off doing DIY. If it doesn't heal well enough he won't be able to play guitar any more and it's looking iffy to be honest. It happens.


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## JoePAz (May 7, 2012)

John445 said:


> I understand the functions of most gloves for bushwacking and a little bit of shock absorption/ protection when falling. But if none of those are real issues, would the gloves be unnecessary and make your hands more overheated than bare hands. My hands still do get sweaty on rides without gloves, and I'm wondering if getting a pair will make that worse no matter how ventilated it is or is that not the case and the gloves work rather like socks? I definitely would not ride without socks.


I ride with half finger gloves year round. Summer riding at 100F I still wear these gloves. I only switch to full finger when it gets too cold. For me the gloves protect my palms and cushion my hands a bit on long rides. Plus are good wipe sweat off your brow and good when hands get sweaty. I did ride once with out gloves when my ESI grips got wet in the rain, but once "dry" I put them back on. If you crash they help.


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## adaycj (Sep 30, 2009)

Mr Pig said:


> It might help if the body armour wasn't black...


I have the same kit in white.


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## jjc155 (Aug 9, 2011)

shekky said:


> personally, i will not ride without gloves no matter how hot it gets.
> 
> additionally, gloves will absorb your sweat. do you want to have sweaty, slippery hands on your grips?


This right here for me too.

J-


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## gtsum2 (Jun 28, 2017)

I wear gloves every ride. Too sweaty not to for me


Ibis Ripley LS x01 Factory

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## SteveF (Mar 5, 2004)

If you have issues or concerns with sweating too much in summer weight gloves, just dust your hands with powder, baby powder, whatever, before you put them on. It helps quite a bit.


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## BadgerOne (Jul 17, 2015)

Mr Pig said:


> How upset would you be if you could no longer play? It just so happens that I have a friend who almost took his finger off doing DIY. If it doesn't heal well enough he won't be able to play guitar any more and it's looking iffy to be honest. It happens.


Frankly, damn upset. I'm fairly accomplished, have toured and recorded regionally, and done studio work and other composition. I also play the drums and keys.

Yeah, I should probably don gloves.


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## Joules (Oct 12, 2005)

BadgerOne said:


> Frankly, damn upset. I'm fairly accomplished, have toured and recorded regionally, and done studio work and other composition. I also play the drums and keys.
> 
> Yeah, I should probably don gloves.


it's hard for me to believe that the type of injury that would be career-ending would be prevented by gloves but who knows. I can easily see "can't play for a month" cuts and scrapes resulting from a bare-hand crash.

I'm amazed that people can ride without them - mine get nasty with sweat in a couple seconds of riding, but the times I've tried riding without, within about a minute my grips got so slick I almost couldn't hold on. Just life in a humid climate I guess.


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## Mr Pig (Jun 25, 2008)

Joules said:


> it's hard for me to believe that the type of injury that would be career-ending would be prevented by gloves but who knows.


I see what you're saying but I still think any protection is better than nothing.

Years ago I was using an angle grinder and managed to brush my finger against the spinning disk. Barely touched it but it went straight through the thick leather gloves I was wearing, didn't cut my skin at all! What might've happened had I not been wearing the gloves?


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## JACKL (Sep 18, 2011)

Joules said:


> I'm amazed that people can ride without them - mine get nasty with sweat in a couple seconds of riding, but the times I've tried riding without, within about a minute my grips got so slick I almost couldn't hold on. Just life in a humid climate I guess.


Same here, really frustrating to ride without them. Even soaked in sweat they grip fine, unlike no gloves. I keep a few spare sets in my car in case I forget.

I wear fingerless with padding on the palms, and terri-cloth on the back to soak up sweat.


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