Gloves....'You Get What You Pay For'?

[MidnightSerenity]

Hi Everyone

Not so long ago, I bought a pair of motorbiking gloves from Aldi.

Aldi Gloves.jpg (34.9 KiB) Viewed 2485 times

I think they were about £14.99, which was within my budget at the time since I had to also buy a helmet and boots as well. I know Aldi can be hit and miss with some things, but after reading the spec of the gloves, I thought they would do….at least for the short term, until I could save up for some more.

Now, the gloves are great when the weather is fine, but the slightest bit of rain (and cold), and my hands turn blue….even with liner gloves, they are pretty useless really! It’s time to purchase some new gloves, but which ones? Any suggestions? My budget is still limited, but I also realise ‘you get what you pay for’ and with the Aldi gloves, I certainly did!!

[Udders]

Alpinestars every time! Cost a bit but worth every penny.

[Tyrant68]

No idea what your budget is Midnight but I bought these for trailriding /roadwork in the winter and they have done fairly well.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ALPINESTARS-L ... 231159f327

[Bushman_uk]

Or wear a pair of marigolds on the outside !!!

[prooney377]

I had a look out of interest at those gloves in Aldi when thy had them last year. They are made to look like an expensive pair but as far as I could see have NO protective qualities. For example I folded over the knuckle guard in store and it creased without me trying, leaving a white line like you get with plastic when it folds...

I think the rule of thumb with bike kit is always to buy the best you can afford. I don't know your budget but what I can say in advice is that I had a bad off about three years ago and besides my other gear, was wearing Alpinestars GP Pro gloves and am convinces that they saved my pinkies. So much so that I bought the same gloves again (the first pair were wrecked but did their job amicably) when I got back on the bike three months later.

Hope you don't think I am preaching, I know everyone has a budget and I had to save up to get my gloves but now won't go out in any others

[Roadcat]

I think it might be a bit of hit and miss. I've bought 2 pairs of gloves from Aldi now. The first pair lasted me throughout winter last year and despite getting rained on, sleeted on and snowed on lasted pretty well. They did start to get a bit tatty towards the end of winter but for the price they were money well spent.

This year I bought a pair that have been absolutely crap. In fact they were so useless I threw them in the bin less than 3 weeks after I bought them and got another set off ebay, which have done slightly better. Personally I don't really expect gloves to last much more than a year (or occasionally two) and I certainly wouldn't expect more than a single winter out of a pair that I got from a budget supermarket.

[Udders]

Gotta look after your digits. Not good trying to wipe your backside with stumps. :pinch:

[mark1150]

I agree with Udders, take Ben / Number One Son, he went down the road recently in a pair of Arlen Ness race gloves, broke his fingers as well as ripping some finger nails out.
I'm convinced that it wouldn't have happened with A stars, but we'll never know.
For summer I use the A stars leather supermoto gloves, I think the model is called Alloy? superb comfort and grip, and shrugged off a proper road bike crash a couple of years ago and are still in use to this day.
Winter I use a pair of leather Nitro winter gloves, comfy from the off, warm shower proof and large enough for under gloves; Two things though 1) Heated grips will transform your riding if you suffer from cold hands, Doctor Bike were impressive, but I hear Oxford are just as good; coupled with decent wind protection eg, Acerbis brush guards and wind deflectors / extensions. 2) don't have the gloves too tight so as restrict circulation, which will only serve to make you colder.
OK I know I said a couple of things, but bar muffs work, they ain't trendy, but better than misery.

[backofbeyond]

I have wondered whether the factory that makes stuff like the Aldi gloves just puts them in bags marked "biker gloves" for part of the year and bags marked "ski gloves" for the rest of the year. Probably a few bags marked "gardening" or whatever else they can think of as well.

At the last count I had six pairs of biking gloves ranging from some 1%er H.D. thin leather gloves I was given at a promo event (perfect for dry UK July days) to two pairs of heavyweight "winter" gloves (a pair of ancient Frank Thomas leather ones and some recently bought Halverson mixed textile and leather ones). The "winter" ones are just about good enough for spring and autumn. I've not found anything, in over 40yrs of biking, that you could really call winter gloves - something that will keep your hands warm enough to still operate the controls after, say, 100 miles in temps around 0C without assistance from electric grips or muffs or something.

[Tramp]

Hi Midnight..

gloves are a personnel thing and what keeps someone warm doesent others..

for summer its leather gloves...cool and safe.
spring/autumn- lidls etc with gortex outers for the real rain...

for winter its my "toasty" down skigloves ..fully waterproof and leather handside real warm .

Heated grips are a must for cool/cold weather as well as wind deflectors either Bar muffs of hand guards, long gauntlets are a must for the inclement weather.

my alpinestar cost £15 end of season sale and the ski gloves £30 all both a real bargin.

with biking you have 3 wardrobes summer heatwave ..spring/autumn..then winter cold but being a women a different set of clothes for every eventuality should not be a problem..