Product Review: Pearl Izumi Elite Thermal Glove: RMM’s GoTo Glove

Gloves are one of those things that competitive cyclists constantly think about. In changing conditions, it is difficult to strike ideal the balance between sufficient insulation, low profile and breathablity. In the colder months, I generally bring two pairs of gloves on every ride, a super warm pair and a more moderate pair for when the mercury or the exertion level rises later in the ride. 95% of my rides find me packing the Pearl Izumi Pittards Elite Thermal gloves.

I have found that these gloves are good for a relatively wide range of temperatures and conditions. The wind proofing on the backside is moderately water resistant, but not water proof by any stretch. Generally, I use them at temperatures ranging from 35 to 55. Obviously the length and type of ride as well as weather/wind conditions will help determine which glove is appropriate. These are not cold weather gloves. They are more suited to early season road racing, cyclocross, fall commuting, and cold mtbing. The wind proofing helps maintain warmth even when saturated, which is nice when an unexpected rainstorm drenches you in a 70+ mile April road race.

These gloves have been extremely long lived. I have thrashed them through 2 entire cyclocross seasons, a winter of heavy outdoor use, an early spring of road racing and a few cold, nasty MTB races. I have crashed while wearing these more times than I can count and other than ground in dirt, they show no damage. They have been saturated in mud and washed multiple times and they still maintain their shape, suppleness and superior grip.




The gloves fit tight like…er…a glove. While the fit is snug, the fingers are long enough for my nose pickers. Over time, the gloves have resisted stretching and deforming. 1.5 years of heavy use and they are still snug and comfortable.

While on the bike the snug fit allows you do everything that needs to be done on a bike without glove removal. This includes precise shifting, braking, feeding, checking messages on the cellular, skipping songs on the iPod, and controlling the cycling computer.




Grip. I have commented before on Pittard’s Leather’s incredible quality of becoming more grippy when wet. In a race, these gloves prove their worth when the weather turns nasty. As an aspiring hardman and habitual sprinter, I value gear that helps me push through adversity. These gloves have allowed me to remain confidence while sprinting in vision obstructing downpours as well as mud spattered cyclocross races.

The Velcro wrist closure is minimal, but works perfectly. The snot wiper is adequately soft and absorbent.

Value is a difficult thing to peg. After 1.5 years of heavy abuse, I found the $40 MSRP to be a great value.

Bottom line: these are my go to gloves for most cool/cold rides. They are dependable and still going strong. They fit me perfectly and I have absolutely no complaints (which for me is really saying something).

Popularity Kills: My Excuses for Canceling the Battenkill Alternative Ride

I owe my readership an apology.

My last post intimated that I was organizing a challenging bicycle ride for April 10th of 2010, the same day as Battenkill. In fact I was.

While I was investigating routes and formats, I was inundated with positive responses. Friends as far-flung as Tennessee (isn’t that where you are now Zach?) planned on traveling to Cambridge to participate. Normally, positive responses are a good thing. In this case it was not. Given the sheer number of riders who are ready to drop Battenkill and come do a gentlemen’s race, the event has to be cancelled for a number of reasons.

1. This is impossible to do safely. I don’t see how we can responsibly have a 50+ person ride on local roads without marshals (see below). Sure we could do it, but it is a recipe for disaster. Can you imagine the chaos at the townlines and on the KOM’s?

2. This was not going to be a race. It was going to be a giant loop. So we can’t act like a race and have rolling enclosures, marshals, etc.

3. Since it is not a race, I hadn’t planned on charging anyone beyond a few dollars to cover a couple of neutral rest stops/feedzones stocked with tools, tubes, food and drinks. As such, this ride had no budget (see insurance below).

4. Insurance. I would never invite strangers on an organized ride without insuring the ride. People who I don’t know have contacted me about the ride, which began to make me think about liability. As structured, this ride is uninsurable at a reasonable rate.

5. I am comfortable with how most of my friends and teammates ride bicycles; I became concerned when strangers indicated that they were planning on doing “my” ride. We all know what sketchy riding looks like and how dangerous it can be. How would I ever screen these people out when I don’t even know half the potential riders? And what about riders who can’t handle the distance or the pace? Can we really have a “no drop” ride with dozens of competitive cyclists across multiple categories? Are we to abandon the unfit out in central Mass and hope that they get home OK?

So, if you are a reader of mine and had planned on doing this ride, I apologize. I am not up to the task of organizing it.

If you want to take up the reins and organize a ride, I’ll be happy to post it here. Otherwise, you should contact your teammates and friends and organize a barnburner of your own for April 10th.

BTW, be sure to check the comments sections of the previous two posts about Battenkill (here and here), there have been a few interesting developments in the last few days.

Check out this promotional video for The Ice Weasels Cometh. It is somewhat funny. But most importantly, it does a great job of making fun of me and my team. Bravo.

Tour of the Battenkill—More Thoughts on the Fee Increase.

My post last week about Tour of the Battenkill’s fee increase stirred up a hornet’s net of opinions and counter arguments. Overall, the debate that took place was good and at times productive. Dieter explained that he will use your increased registration fee to make T shirts and rent timing chips. Neither of these additions will improve our experience during the race.

While I am skeptical about the need for timing chips, I have to admit that they may help Drake and his staff get results posted a little faster than the +5 days that zencycles points out that it took last year.

Curiously, Drake did not mention improving racer support, such as neutral wheel cars for lower category races or even having multiple “wheels in, wheels out” cars per race.

The key for me would be seriously increased wheel support. Drake didn’t mention anything about neutral support. Therefore most of his “improvements” for 2010 are aimed at peripheral details, while failing to address the most people’s central complaint with Battenkill: LACK OF RIDER SUPPORT.

If you talk to people about this race or read cycling blogs you know that flat tires are common in this race. More importantly, there was little to no support for racers who flatted.

If I drove 4 hours, paid for a hotel, paid a $75 race feel and got a flat and had to walk to the finish, a T Shirt and accurate results would not make me feel any better.

You have a choice. You can take Dieter Drake at his word and believe that you $75 will be well spent and that the race will be markedly better than it was last year. Personally, Dieter’s comments on this blog failed to convince me that the race will be worth $75.

Maybe I am wrong. Perhaps Drake is trying to limit the number of registrants in order to provide a higher quality race. But if we consider his past behavior in this regard, we should conclude that this is likely not his intent. Last year Drake opened multiple lower category races in order to gather as many $45 registration fees as possible. As a result the race suffered from botched results and riders suffered from inadequate support during the race. Even riders who finished without incident passed dozens of riders walking duckfooted up the dirt climbs while pushing bicycles with flat tires.

Again, I could be wrong. The race could have been suffering from growing pains that an extra $50,000 in registration fees will massage away. Its your money to gamble with.

For my part, I plan on hosting a very long ride (race) on the same day as Battenkill. I have been exploring formats and routes, trying to devise a format and a route that will prove challenging to competitive cyclists while offering an acceptable level of safety. It won’t be a popularity contest; I won’t be offended if friends chose to race Battenkill.

I am looking for suggestions about route and format.