I got these a little while ago as I really did need some winter gloves. At £39.99 they’re not cheap and I was a little disappointed but there has been a partial remedy but I still need some better gloves.
What these gloves are
These are marketed as winter gloves and available in S, M, L and XL sizes. They claim to dry faster than natural down; offer wind resistance and be breathable; to be as warm and soft as down and excellent water resistance. The makers claim the gloves are also thermally efficient, which I guess means they keep your hands warm. They are made from 45% polyester, 35% nylon and 20% polyurethane.
The insulation
On the various tags and labels they make quite a bit of this. It is PrimaLoft ONE and describes itself as “ultimate performance and comfort”. Quite a bold claim! PrimaLoft’s website is http://www.primaloft.com/uk/performance/home.html and you can apparently get a free challenge kit. I have ordered one of those although I still don’t know what it is. As for agreeing to their privacy policy, forget it. You try to open the link and you’re taken to another page which is nothing to do with privacy. Ahemmmm.
Design
First impressions in the Local Bike Shop (LBS) are good enough to take a chance on them. The cuffs are quite long and that’s good for cycling, it is also elasticated. The actual physical weight isn’t too bad and there is a gripping surface on the underside together with a gel filled area on the palm.
Grippy surface and gel filled palm pad
There are a couple of little clips so you can clip them together when not in use. I thought that was a curious feature and depending on your outlook in life – you can either keep both safely together and easier to find, or without the clips you can lose just one at a time (this is just as infuriating as losing both at the same time).
My verdict
Sorry, I didn’t like them when I took a closer look at home. In spite of them being XL size, I thought they were still too small for my hands. Every other bit of me is medium so I can’t figure out what I suddenly need XXL gloves. So I conclude the sizing is a bit mean.
The strange aspect to the sizing is about the fingers.
The position of the fingers are different to my hand
The glove’s fingers just don’t seem to line up with my own fingers so it makes bending your fingers around a handlebar a little difficult. I just couldn’t get on with them so I took them back.
Just a minor point, the label has a spelling mistake with an extra letter ‘t’ – ….conditionst.
So apart from the actual fit not being very good, it is hard to assess their performance. Having taken a look at other people’s reviews they do seems to be liked so maybe it’s a matter of getting a good fit first as the priority.
If these are for you, try them for size first and then decide.
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