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).

Product Review: Gore Tool Glove--Warm Enough, But Not Very Durable

When I first got this glove, I thought it was the best glove I had ever used for between 30 and 40 degrees. It was has great temperature and moisture regulation, and the silicon gripper on the finger tips added confidence when braking and shifting. They are moderately water resistant, but even when wet, they retain some warmth (though not as much as when dry). The glove is effectively windproof, which is their best and most reliable feature.

It was a short lived infatuation. First, the silicon gripper strips started peeling off during my second ride with the gloves.




Unfortunately, the fabric under the silicon gripper is rather slippery, so the glove went from confidence inspiring to slippery and unreliable. In fact, they are so slick that I don't use them in adverse conditions anymore. Too bad, as they are warm enough for use in Spring training, but I can't risk slipping off a wet brake lever in an emergency. These gloves are no longer in my race bag, they are relegated to commuting on my fixed gear where fingertip grip is not important.

I value durablity. I plan on cycling for many years to come. When I buy a piece of cycling gear, I expect it to last for more than a season. In addition to the gripper issue, the seams of the glove are not robust. My left wrist fastener is ripping after light usage. I have had these less than a year and have used them infrequently (I have 6 other pairs of full finger gloves) due to the above mentioned issues and yet they are ripping. I should add that I am careful with my clothing. I have 10 year old cashmere sweaters that that still look despite regular use. I don't beat on clothes; there is not good reason for the ripping seams other than low quality.





There are other seams ripping and stretching all over the gloves. Overall, I have found the finish work on the gloves to be poor.

The Velcro closure on the wrist is rather thick. While this secures the glove firmly on the wrist (until the flap rips), it has the side effect of rubbing against your jersey or jacket, this results in pilling and unnecessary wear on the end of the sleeve. If you are careful, you can position the flap to guard against this, but is this something that you want to be thinking about?

While I find the gloves to be comfortable and well designed overall, the lapses in quality force me to give these gloves a poor review. On top of all of the problems, these gloves are very expensive at $55.99 MSRP. For the same money, you could buy a set of Pearl Izumi gloves with leather palms and fingertips that will last for 10 years. I wouldn't recommend buying these gloves for any price.

Product Review: Pearl Izumi AmFib Lobster Claw Gloves: Can't Beat Them in Extreme Weather

In the dark days, before I was a competitive cyclist, I was a commuter, a civilian. I also had far more money in the bank, as I had no need for carbon fiber babbles and doodads. The thought of spending $60 on a single clothing item for cycling seemed outrageous and foreign. But my hands were frozen on my way to my night job and the shop employee convinced me that these gloves would keep my fingers toasty no matter what. More than six winters later, I am still using the same gloves and my fingers are still warm. It was perhaps the best $60 that I have ever spent on an item of clothing (besides my codpiece).
My first reaction to the design of the gloves was to laugh. I still think that when the claw is held up in a certain way that it mimics an obscene gesture.
Made in the same material, with the same filling, at the same density, mittens are warmer than gloves. The AmFib lobster claw design has the warmth retaining qualities of a mitten, while offer more mobility for the fingers. The split between the Vulcan fingers allows you to still safely use a hand brake, whereas the same operation with a mitten is tricky and inconsistent.







I have had little trouble operating my shifters while wearing these gloves.










it should be noted that I use Campagnolo shifters, so I only have one finger lever to manipulate; while Shimano users may have more difficulty since they have two finger lever to manipulate and those levers are close together. B-Bike_G was kind enough to share his experience with these gloves :"Shifting Shimano levers are a bitch in these. The fat mitt at the end of two fingers has too much material and it make shifting somewhat unpredictable. This could be due to the aforementioned sizing issue, but in my case it ends up meaning that I choose to shift less often when wearing them, and that has it's own effect on a ride of any length. Ideally, when I wear these I am on a fixed gear and simply ignore that problem." See the comments section for his full thoughts on these gloves.
The palm of these gloves is Pittard’s leather. It offers good grip when dry and excellent grip when wet. In all of my winters of riding in these gloves, I have never felt like the gloves caused me to lose my grip on the bars or hoods. I have even gotten caught in a storm with freezing rain, where my handlebars were icing up on descents (roads had been salted) and I felt secure in my grip because of these gloves. The positioning of the leather and of the seams is logical for the gloves ‘intended usage, cycling. When riding on the hoods, tops or in the drops, the gloves have a good grip and deform to the surface.
The glove is articulated, or in laymen’s terms, curved, so that it is well suited to gripping handlebars. The gloves do not resist your efforts to wrap your fingers around a handlebar, like non-cycling specific winter gloves sometimes do.






I have never actually succeeded in saturating these gloves. The outer fabric is water resistant and wind proof. When in a drizzle you can watch the water bead up on the surface. I never felt the wind through these gloves.
These gloves are incredibly well made and durable. They are still as warm as the first day I used them and they have never needed mending. Unlike some other products that I have recently reviewed, I have never found a stray thread dangling from a seam. The inside is still soft and comfortable with no discernible tears or holes.
I have crashed twice while wearing these gloves and they are barely scuffed. In fact the scuffs on the leather sort of disappear over time (as they do on my Mitchell Gold sofa). I have worn away the coating on the thumb, but this is of no consequence for the glove’s performance.
Other thoughtful design elements include: durable clips to keep the gloves together when they are not being used, a Velcro wrist fastener, long wrist cuffs to prevent a gap between jacket and glove.











Also, reflective piping on the outward facing part of the glove.




I have only two minor complaints with these gloves. First, they are too warm. If you start a ride on a cold morning and the temperature rises above 30 degree Fahrenheit, then your hands start to sweat, which can then make you feel cold later. Second, instead of a terry cloth nose wiper, Pearl Izumi put a rubberized coating on the thumb.



This can feel harsh when you rub it on your nose in the cold and by definition and by deliberate design, it is non absorbent. If you use it to wipe your nose, you are likely to spread the offending snot around instead of removing it from the end of your nose.
I have been quite pleased with these gloves. I continue to use them regularly into their 6th winter. I see no need to replace them any time this season. They remain in regular rotation in both my race and training bag. Obviously I have many pairs of cycling gloves and this is but one pair in the arsenal. But when the mercury and the barometer drop, I double check to make sure that I have packed the Lobsters.