I never leave for a ride without a pair of cycling gloves. I think it is important to protect your hands in the case of a fall. Gloves are a cheap insurance policy. Nothing is worse then picking gravel out of your hand after a crash. With the variety of sizing available everyone should own at least a pair of gloves. Gloves should be the first piece of clothing purchased, even before a pair of cycling shorts. While shorts are a key piece of clothing the safety and comfort offered by gloves shouldn’t be overlooked!
For the last year or so I have been riding with Pearl Izumi Gel-Vent Pro Gloves. These gloves are available in both a short finger version and a long finger version. I own both, the short finger version that I use for most of my road riding while I mountain bike with the long finger version in addition to using them for moderately cool road rides.
Two things really attracted me to theses gloves. The main thing was that the gloves have a vented gel palm padding which Pearli Izumi calls its “direct vent construction.” The gel has holes through it and is held in place by webbing over it. When your hand is clamped around the bar the vents are completely sealed from outside air. If your hands are a little hot just open your hands and let air up into the vents to cool them off. I really like the feature of this venting and above all it works as it is designed to do. I first saw this concept on a pair of Louis Garneau winter gloves that we carry which is called Ergo Air. While they both achieve the same thing in different ways the concept just makes a lot of sense. I really like the Garneau Ergo Air in a winter glove where sometimes it is easy to have your hands over heat as the ride progresses.
When looking at the gloves you can see the quality of the gel padding that Pearl Izumi uses. Many companies that call their gloves “gel gloves” don’t truly use gel padding. They use a form of silicone or some other version of “gel.” Descente uses true gel padding in their gloves which help explains the expense of their gloves compared to the competition. This fact came to light when I saw a few pairs of gloves that had been cut apart. Not only is the gel located in all the right places Pearli Izumi has used just the right amount. I haven’t had any discomfort in the area between the thumb and forefinger like I have in other gloves.
I tend to like less padding for my mountain biking and in the past have used gloves with no padding in the palm. With the Gel Vents I find them to have just about the right amount of padding. The long finger version has a little bit of padding across the top of the fingers to offer a little extra protection. The tips of the fingers are reinforced to further increase the durability.
The second feature that attracted me is that there is no closure device around the wrist. These gloves are just slide on and slide off. To ease the removal of the glove the short finger version has a pull-tab on one of the fingers to make it easier to grab for removal. These gloves are very comfortable since there is no binding around the wrist. What is very unique to the gloves is the anatomical shape of the opening around the wrist. The designers have place curves in all the right places so the glove doesn’t move or have fabric bunched up around your wrist.
These gloves have the other standard feature off terry cloth along the thumb. Pearli Izumi calls it a micro fleece backing which is soft compared to other gloves. The micro fleece as held up over time feeling just as soft as the day it was purchased. It hasn’t shown any wear like some of the other gloves I have owned tend to do in this area.
It is hard for me to find much to dislike about these gloves. The logo has worn off the palm of the gloves, which I would expect since it was silk screened on. The gel padding is red and has discolored or appears to be black in some areas over the padding. This color hasn’t managed to wash off but doesn’t seem to affect performance in anyway. The gloves have held up well over multiple washings. I have two pairs of the short finger version. One is always “in service” while the other is being washed.
They are made in both a mens and women’s each in a long finger and short finger version.
Pricing: Full finger: $44.99 Short Finger: $39.99
Color Availability: Black/Red – Mainly a black glove with a red Pearli Izumi logo stitched on the back with a silk screen one on the palm.
Sizing: Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large. – I have found that these gloves run true to sizing of other Pearli Izumi gloves as well as other manufacturers.
It seems that I am not the only one who loves these gloves. I think almost every employee of the Crofton Bike Doctor owns one of the versions of these.
