What gloves with loads of padding?

Will be looking at getting some gloves for Morzine trip soon – with plenty of padding on the palms/fingers.
I did a day at Stiniog in September and my hands were **** so a week in the Alps will destroy them.
What can I do to keep them ache/blister-free for as long as poss?

I’d look at technique before gloves. Trying to get the weight off your hands. Heavy feet, light hands as they say.

Gloves will help but I’d avoid padding. Tight fit so there are no creases. No seams on the palms. Can be worth having 2 pairs. Change if one set gets damp.

Nik’s about avoiding padding. Padding means you’re increasing the layers between your hand and the grip giving a lot more scope for things to move around, so actually making the blister situation worse.

I’ll be running the thinnest palmed gloves I can find, which are currently Fox Sidewinders

What grips are you using?

I can’t stand bulky gloves as I find they just bunch up under the palm and create hot spots which end up bruised. I switched to ESI chunky grips last year, a comfort revelation after using lock-on grips for years!

+1 for not using thick gloves. By all means try it out but I suspect it’ll make things worse, not better. What forks are you running? Do they need servicing?

Perhaps your hands are soft? Seriously! If you don’t do regular work with your hands the skin will become soft and the muscles weak. Try a good DIY project like building something before you head for the Alps. Don’t stick a nail through your finger though or anything careless.

Fit is more important just want some that will not move around or bunch up.

661 Rajis are a good super thin glove. Fox Reflex Gel are a good padded glove, depends which works best for you, I’ll be taking both to the alps and swapping between them

+1 for ESI grips, so much better than lock-ons.

I am a bit soft!

http://www.riskracing.com/pages/Palm_Protector_Page.html

I use the above under my normal gloves, I saw Cal crutchlow using them in motoGP and thought I would give them a bash.

My normal gloves are Fox bombers and the palm protectors fit under nicely.

I ony use them for uplift days, but they are pretty good and stopped me getting blisters. (soft office hands!)

maybe useful for when you get some A hole on the trails

Chiba Gel Comfort Plus work well for me on long Alpine XC stuff – fingerless though so may not be so great for more DH-orientated stuff. Gel Premium and Gel Pro also worth looking at although I’ve not tried those.

matt_outandabout – Member
+1 for ESI grips, so much better than lock-ons.

I didn’t like silicone a bit too squidgy so lost diameter and feel. ODI Rogues are king for me.

Spesh BG Gel long finger. I don’t really find them any more obtrusive than unpadded gloves, but do notice my hands get less tired. The padding is quite dense, so it’s not like it’s move around or owt.

I also use (and like) ESI grips.

I use Troy Lee XC Gloves as I find them light and airy, and I’d sway towards the thinner no padded type if you are suffering from blisters, as others have said you will create hot spots and when they get sweaty the gloves will give you shit.

Look at grips, rebound setting and seat height.

Get some surgical spirit from a good chemist and wipe it on your affected area even when the hands are blister free it will help harden the skin, apply with round disc that girlies use to take make up off, apply whilst your hands are hot and sweaty like after a ride when your gloves come off or when you get out of the bath.
I couldn’t use those Palm protectors, they would just break me, although my hands looked like when I used to ride BMX,

Keep us posted and when and where are you going to the Alps?

The best gloves I’ve ever used are actually very thin but very windproof. They are a snug fit and well shaped with no padding at all, but they keep my hands warm while allowing plenty of feel and grip, even in winter. Maybe you are wearing gloves that are too hot and sweaty, which is what’s making your hands sore? The same thing happens with over-squidgy saddles.

Hmmm…I’ve opened a real can of works here haven’t I!
I have some padded Endura ones at the mo but they are well past their best.
I have quite hard grips – like Ergon but different (German I think) brand.
Used to have Raceface Good & Evil cback in the day without problems.
I use a Mac all day so I have soft lady-like palms which will rip up in no time.
Gonna get some grip strengtheners so that might make me more of a man by the time I go – forearms could do with be less girly too.
Anything that’ll help will be adopted – don’t wanna be crying off after a few days riding having waited 8 years for this 😉

So chunky soft grips and no padding seems to be the consensus.

Also told that having brakes/shifters ‘flatter’ in front of you as opposed to pointing further down will ease hand pain…true or BS?

Very true. You can drop your wrists and plant your feet which is better for control but should also put less weight on your hands and more through your feet.

So chunky soft grips and no padding seems to be the consensus.

Only if you have massive hands. Thin grips and gloves for me, and the vast majority of DHers

+1 for having your brake levers flatter, this puts your hands in a more relaxed position, reduces arm pump and battering.

Tried a few minimalist gloves on this weekend as opposed to heavily padded gloves in the original post.
Fox Demo were very nice with a one piece palm, as were some Thor Voids I tried.
I totally get the lack of padding – shouldn’t be any folds/ripples in the palm if they fit well – the Fox have tiny perforations in the palm too which should help with sweaty palms.
Just stopped these too:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/661-rage-gloves-2014/rp-prod112612#bazaarvoice_reviews_tab
Any use these – sound like what I’m after but not tried them on…might take a punt for a tenner anyway.
Going to adjust position of controls and run forks a touch softer all to help my lady hands 😉

+1 for thin gloves, decent grips and right technique.

I cant stand padded gloves. My favourites are my old Race Face ones with a simple suede (fake) palm, a good sizes snot area with split so it articulates and a tight mesh back. I use ODI Rogues on all my bikes.

Oh and I don’t have large hands. I can squeeze into a medium lab glove so around a size 8.5/9 in glove size.

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Mechanix-Wear-M-Pact-2-Gloves_46502.htm?sku=121912&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=AdwordsProductAds&utm_campaign=Adwords&gclid=CKT1przH4sQCFUPLtAodM1kA-w

We use these in the work and they are very robust but not great if you are wanting ventilation