Do you wear cycling gloves?

I always always wear gloves, having gained the habit after a ridiculous 250k day in Belgium gave me a left ulnar nerve palsy that left the tips of my ring and little fingers numb for about five months, which is a moderately disabling injury for someone who drives a keyboard for a living.

Naturally I blamed vibration from the lengthy sections of paved cycle path there, rather than the smooth asphalt we all prefer. A glove upgrade* and an extra layer of bar tape *before* the start of the trip, rather than in Bonn, would have probably also been effective prophylaxis.

I also agree with Toro Toro that wearing gloves is a safety measure. The actual physical protection afforded is probably not that great (though not zero), but one's willingness to make a positive head- or body-saving move with an outstretched arm is surely greater when wearing gloves than than not. That's the move that'll save you from more serious injury.

*I do find Specialized's Body Geometry Gel mitts to be the very ticket.

Nerve damage would suggest that the issue is too much pressure on your hands. Gloves may well alleviate this, but they are only masking the problem rather than addressing it.

I would be looking at my position on the bike.

I always wear gloves, mainly because the padding protects my hands against road vibration, but also to protect my skin if I come off my bike.

Always wore gloves for racing - except time trials (I'd have to be really unlucky or silly to crash in a time trial). In racing they offer protection in a crash and much more importantly grip when sprinting!

When not racing it depends on the weather and the distance. If I've not been riding much my hands are a bit softer so if I then do a fairly long ride or if it's cold I'll wear gloves otherwise I generally don't.

Am I scared of losing a bit of skin when out for a ride? Am I scared of being run down by a motor vehicle? Am I scared that I'll go too quickly and recklessly crash? Not really - all those things could happen but if I worried about that stuff too much I wouldn't wear gloves, I'd just stop riding - and there is even less chance of that!

Did he take this directly from the "helmet saved my life" stories? I believe that this helmet/glove/padding/whatever saved me from serious injury at least and probably death so everyone should wear one all the time. At least he stops short of demanding a law.

I didn't realise how many pros don't wear them. I bet the teams would prefer it if they wore them, more sponsor advertising!

When I raced cars I wore gloves. And a crash helmet and booties with sticky rubber bottoms and sometimes a suit with a bunch of Nomex.

When I drive my car to races, or the grocery, should I also wear gloves and a crash helmet and sticky rubber bottomed booties and a Nomex suit?

I wear gloves when I race my bike. Should I also wear them on my upright Dutch bike riding to dinner? And please my meal makes with smelly hand and glove syndrome?

I've fallen off twice in four years, and destroyed the palm of my glove twice. Each time, my own palm was left unscathed.

I don't care what reasons people can come up with for not wearing them, but having twice avoided Mick Rogers' fate, I know what reason I have for always wearing mine.

http://rouleur.cc/journal/racing/world-championships-2015-photo-gallery-...

Some more pictures of Mr Rogers

I wear gloves so I can have comedy tan lines and have white hands like Mickey Mouse

I really want to use gloves, but the only gloves i can tollerate are full gloves, something u can't wear in the summer :(! If i try to wear fingerless gloves it's painfull and itches between my fingers, and i've tried a lot of them!

I wear gloves to keep my hands warm when it's cold, but not for riding about in the summer. I did wear gloves for racing, but now I'm not, I don't bother.
I find that those extolling the protective virtues of such things are those most likely to fall off.

Gloves...... just in case.

I usually wear mitts or full gloves in the winter. Cos
They give better grip when hands are sweaty
They have towelling bits for wiping snot, dribble or sweat
They have gel & padded bits for extra comfort
Keep hands warm when it's cold.

They'll help prevent road rash if I come off which is nice, but that's not the sole reason for them.

I wear fingerless gloves, came off and caught my nail on the brake lever https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/11902432_8915...

(hope the url works)

The nail bent backwards half way up the nail, it wouldn't snap back so had to trim it off.

Never wear gloves - I find they compromise my ability to effectively interact with car drivers via digital communication.

Coming from motorbikes the thought of crashing in Lycra worries me greatly. I may overcompensate by wearing helmet, gloves and glasses every time I ride. It sounds obvious that if you crash you put your hands out to break your fall, but fortunately my wife was wearing a full face motorbike helmet when she fell off (her motorbike) because she broke her fall with her jaw. Hence two days of agony and being discharged but having to be re admitted when they used a different angle on the x Ray and realise she had two hairline fractures and needed plates in. Obviously you're unlikely to be doing 6ph on your road bike, but never assume you'll have time to get your hands out!

Gloves are totally like helmets - if you're heading towards the deck you'd be rather be wearing them than not, even if the benefit is marginal, but for everyday cycling that's a remote possibility.

If I'm wearing cycling gear I'll almost always be wearing gloves (a higher % than helmet wearing), always for MTB/races, but not for triathlons. If I'm wearing normal clothes 'utility cycling' and it isn't cold I won't be. If I drove to the start of a ride and found I'd forgotten gloves I wouldn't cancel the ride (would anyone?)

I wasn't wearing gloves when I had my last accident (crashing into a van door ) and surprisingly there were no cuts, just a slight bruise/burn on the palm of my right hand which went within a few days. Unfortunately I did fracture my left index finger quite badly and I've had to have surgery on it; there are currently 2 k-wires in my finger and I will have to have splints for a few weeks/months. Can't ride and even if I could my good bike is damaged from the crash, ironically making it my bad bike ... Back to the point, I just don't like wearing gloves and the tanlines they bring.

TBH I wear full finger gloves all year round, for numerous reason. They offer some protection in a fall. I find without gloves my hands get sticky and the bar tape then turns sticky. If you chain comes off take your gloves off out it on, clean your hands on what ever is too hand, then out your gloves back on and not get the bar tape all dirty.
I dont think there is a right or wrong when it comes to gloves, it clearly a please yourself moment.

The main reason I wear gloves/mitts all year round is, apart from offering some protection to my palms, so I can wipe my snout without getting snot all over my hands......

I consider gloves as the number one safety item for bike riding. If/when you fall off, it's a natural instinct to try to protect yourself with your hands and as we use hands for pretty much everything we do, it's really inconvenient when you do injure your hands.

Safety equipment is all about the trade-off between convenience and protection, but gloves are typically not inconvenient at all, yet provide gravel rash protection for your palms. I can understand people not wanting to wear helmets as they're hot, big to carry around and can mess up your hair. Gloves have none of those drawbacks unless you have spectacularly hot hands and even then, they stop you getting too much sweat on your handlebars.

I'm not entirely sure that my track mitts (or any other gloves that I might ride in would be much use at 40mph (or even 25...).

I don't get why everyone gets so shouty.

Most gloves offer some protection to your palm (which is generally what you use to stop yourself sliding across the tarmac). Some is better than none.

If you don't want to wear them (I often don't), then fine. But there's no point in arguing about it.

It's not like anyone is saying you HAVE TO WEAR GLOVES!

I wear gloves for precisely this reason. I have rarely fallen off my bike, but don't really want the added problem of grazed palms.

You can reduce the road rash by using the parts of your body that are protected.

But do whatever you want. I have no vested interest in anyone else's palms.