Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => The Knowledge => Topic started by: TPMB12 on 12 December, 2019, 08:30:25 am
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Just been given cycling gloves as a present and they kind of half fit. Brand sizing chart says they are right. I'm 10cm across the knuckle or within 5mm of it which makes the glove the right size. They're not right.
Lengthwise they're perfect, one or two fingers slightly too long but as good as I'll get. Open hand they fit too. But when I form a fist they go tight across the knuckles. I know you don't form a fist cycling (unless forced into fighting with a motorist on you commute - hasn't happened yet) but even in a grip shape it gets a little tight.
My question is should I size up? Do your gloves tighten over knuckles? Is it better to be snug or loose?
The gloves are endura winter gloves with reflectives for commuting. They're size large and are for hands 10cm across knuckles. Next size it's xl which is 11cm across the knuckle. Nowhere seems to stock them near me so unable to try some xl on. Don't want to return to wiggle only for xl to be too big. Does length increase with change from l to xl? Anyone know that?
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Depends how tight they go. If it's not too much, and as long as the fingers aren't tight up against your fingertips when you grip the bars, I'd keep them and hope they'll stretch with use. The next size up will leave empty bits getting in the way all the time, but I've yet to find a glove that stays windproof when the fingertips are continually under strain. My current Sealskinz have too-short fingers, so that I get sweltering hands and frozen fingertips.
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I'm wondering about sizing up and using fingerless mitts inside to adjust fit to between sizes. Added benefit of more padding.
I think they're endura deluge gloves, didn't pay attention to the label so not sure. Look good gloves.
Current sealskinz ones aren't cycling specific and I had to size down but now they are a little tight. I guess I'm pretty useless at judging glove fit. I'm often f finding out gloves don't actually fit after a few months of use.
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Winter gloves - go large.
You don't want the gloves to be a bit tight and restricting circulation. If they are tad large and you have some flappy bits at the ends of your fingers, that is inconvenient. It isn't as inconvenient as too-tight gloves that, once wet, compress blood vessels and you get cold hands.
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Not sure relevant but broke a knuckle once so one knuckle sticks out a bit. So I could be awkward and need different sizes for each hand (not paying twice for that). Guess I'll stick to large not xl if it's not too tight. In guess that's like socks, I'm at the boundary between sizes often so go smaller , if I don't I get folds of excess fabric or heel section of the glove up my ankle a bit.
Thanks for your advice.
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I'm at the boundary between sizes often so go smaller...
Every time my mum took me shopping for clothes or shoes when I was a nipper, I'd hear "he's just at that age...". I think most of us still are.
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I think it's easier to size up for clothes on the body but hands are different, feet too. Too much variety in size and shape with less scope to make do.
Trousers for example you can buy to fit you but if you're slimmer at the waist use a belt. Or fat calves don't buy skinny fit jeans. Gloves are say 5 sizes at most to cover tiny up to giant club like hands. But everything scales up and there's no options for hands that don't fit standard shape. Footwear comes in various width fittings. Different brands have different fits ranging from wide to narrow at different parts of the foot too. Pick your brand to fit.
Gloves possibly offers brand fit differences but I think less options. Perhaps thinking too much about this.
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I think the saying "fits like a glove" probably dates from the age when all clothes where handmade to measure. There might be fewer sizing options for gloves but perhaps more importantly, gloves need to fit more precisely, because hands are our most precision-acting part of our body.
This doesn't really help with the too small or too large dilemma, unless, perhaps, the gloves have a bit of stretch in them.
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All clothing has to fit three dimensions, VOLUME and movement.
I have girly extremities (quelle surprise!) they are LONG for their depth and volume in parts but men have much longer ring and little fingers than women.
So a men's glove that is the right length for my middle finger will have flappy bits at the ends of the other digits and will be too wide and baggy all round.
A short glove will numb the fingertip; bagginess gets in the way, decent women's stuff is often unobtanium.
My usual preferred option is fingerless mitts with stretchy polypropylene glove liners.
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Unobtanium? Gloves and trousers with me.
Why do they not think a 6'5" tall person with typical leg length for my height always comes with a 40" waist? Seriously leg length goes up from xs to medium then stalls until you're into the rarely supplied xxl sizes with waistlines that are too big to get adjusted by a professional seamstress/male equivalent title. Unless you're happy with pockets coming out of your behind!
Of course I could go custom made with gloves and trousers. Or Scandinavian expensive for trousers. Both pricey I bet.
Then there's hats. One size fits all is a marketing fiction. Even hats that come in two or three sizes don't fit me. I don't look like I've got a big head, everyone thinks I've a small head. Not utter. Tilley measuring tapes define my head size in French as "tres exceptionelle"! If my head was bigger such that it looked big then I'd probably need two measuring tapes from tilley! It's funny how size of body parts can be misleading.
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I have grouched elsewhere about men's trouser sizing for my 'averagely dimensioned' David.
Clothing mostly fits the flabby and paunchy; David is neither.
Hats and helmets have to fit both cranium and face. Big men have long faces. Women and children have shorter faces but their head circumference may not be small.
'One size fits few'...
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Then you've got the rigid peak of a cap. If the inside curve isn't big enough radius it can cause discomfort. Some caps fit but the peak is too curved so digs in.
So trousers, footwear, gloves and hats . Any other items of clothing with particular issues? I guess there are but might be heavily gender based. Is there a women's section on here?
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My problem I have with gloves (of the non-stretchy cycling type) is they're never easy to get on, so I end up getting the biggest ones and then they're far too big once on. Can't win.
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As a hand surgeon I am particularly sensitive to poorly shaped and fitted gloves despite a fairly average size 7.5 hand.
The vast majority of glove makers try to reduce the fabric in the first webspace between thumb and index finger. This puts a stress on the thumb joints which can cause significant pain for many people.
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My issue with gloves is cold middle finger. Usually the middle finger part of yet glove is tight on me which causes it to cool down sooner. Alternatively I have reynauds or a nerve issue. I've got other issues that make me wonder if there's a nerve issue with the hand but I've been told by gp I've got reynauds though.
If only I was like my dad, he never feels the cold and never wears gloves. Although he's started last couple of years, must be age related.
My glove habit is feeling the size isn't right and swapping it for another size only to realise after a month of use that the first size was right afterall.
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I just get the largest size available for winter, and put up with dead space. It helps when your gloves are soggy if there isn't much contact between hand and glove shell.
If it's not winter, no gloves required
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If its proper cold, get pogies. Especially if you have issues with Raynaud's. Sizing of pogies is usually a bit simpler.
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Pogies are the ultimate generously sized glove.
The problem arises when the weather blows hot and cold - they aren't quick on and quick off
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The problem arises when the weather blows hot and cold - they aren't quick on and quick off
You can wear different gloves inside the pogies. Fingerless mitts inside the pogies can be good for not so cold weather.
Or ride with your hands outside the pogies. Can be a good way to cool down. Depends on the style of bars and pogies. ie with drop bars, can put your hands on the tops.
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Because I ride with my hands in multiple locations at various points, I found that in really cold weather, buffalo mitts are the thing for me. Plenty of room in them so I can flex my fingers to keep circulation up. If there's snow or rain, they keep that out just as well, and I retain full control of everything on the cockpit. They aren't cheap tho. https://amzn.to/35hA1KP
I got mine in bright yellow with reflective bits on, for when you accidentally put them down...
J
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I prefer loose fitting gloves, I find even close fitting uncomfortable let alone tight gloves.
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Isn't the pertex fabric of buffalo mitts slippy on bars in wet weather? I've borrowed a pair after a wet winter's walk and whilst glad of the indication over my existing gloves found they weren't good at holding onto my ice axe.
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If its proper cold, get pogies. Especially if you have issues with Raynaud's. Sizing of pogies is usually a bit simpler.
Good call. Though I've never used them with drops.
Googling "pogies" shows rowers use the term for something very similar but slightly different. You can even get them in sets of 3!
https://www.rock-the-boat.co.uk/products/pogies-fleece-set-of-3
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Or ride with your hands outside the pogies. Can be a good way to cool down. Depends on the style of bars and pogies. ie with drop bars, can put your hands on the tops.
With most pogies, trying to ride with your hands outside would have significant problems, like loss of access to brakes and shifters.
Google "Bar mitts" for drop bar pogies
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Or ride with your hands outside the pogies. Can be a good way to cool down. Depends on the style of bars and pogies. ie with drop bars, can put your hands on the tops.
With most pogies, trying to ride with your hands outside would have significant problems, like loss of access to brakes and shifters.
But still a much better option than problems with cold hands, then chilblains or frostbite.
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Similar to pogies but more adaptable is mountaineer's overmitts.
Basically they are waterproof unlined mitts. Do for your hands what wearing a wind and waterproof top does for your body.
I have a pair, bought ages ago. Pack down to nothing. Pull on over other gloves, go halfwayup my forearms. A bit clumsy to use with some shifters, but not as clumsy as frozen fingers.
In summer they can be popped over fingerless mitts when an unexpected rainshower and wind turns things a bit chilly.
Something like these: https://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/p/mountain-equipment-mens-drilight-overmitt-A3215780.html?colour=124 (https://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/p/mountain-equipment-mens-drilight-overmitt-A3215780.html?colour=124)
I found some dead tough ones for under £20. Never regretted buying them.
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I'm sure they do the job but the idea of pogies to me is you don't need such thick gloves, so maintain dexterity, because your hands and the whole lever area are sheltered, their own portable windbreak.
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As a hand surgeon I am particularly sensitive to poorly shaped and fitted gloves despite a fairly average size 7.5 hand.
The vast majority of glove makers try to reduce the fabric in the first webspace between thumb and index finger. This puts a stress on the thumb joints which can cause significant pain for many people.
[Slightly OT]
Try being a woman in theatre! (Not really!)
6½ - numbingly short on the middle finger, 7s - comfy but baggy...
I think the little nursies that could wear a 5½ might have had a better fit...
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If you want to learn about how gloves were made to fit a hand and about glove-making in general then read American Pastoral by Philip Roth, especially pages 117 -132.
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Wind proof and not too tight on the hand works well for keeping hands warm. You can also get stretch windproof gloves if you want a good fit but not cutting off blood supply. Mountaineering gloves are a good choice for winter.
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Arthritis means I have very knarled and twisted fingers, so in most gloves my fingers are constricted, that's if I can even get them on.
I also have Reynaulds quite severely.
I have two drawers full of "the latest and best" gloves and mitts, and have spent a fortune on them over the years - none of them will keep my hands functional in even slightly cool conditions.
But Pogies (bar mitts) do work because they create a microclimate that covers hands, wrists, bars, brakes, and shifters. I vary what I wear on my hands under them from nothing up to fingerless mitts plus thin overmitts to keep disposable handwarmers in position. There's enough room to stash the extras (and the flapjack) if I get too warm. They are easy to put on and remove, but are bulky to stash away.
Mine are HOTPOGS - made in England from the same sort of material as traditional saddlebags, and I could not ride at all in winter without them.
BUT - they only work with flat bars. I did try a different brand that fitted drops, but the bike was uncontrollable in even a slightest draught.
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If anyone wants to try out my Hotpogs, I live in the Durham Dales.
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I always thought if gloves are sized SML fashion the maker does not care about fit. One winter I bought a particular glove in the LBS size L which fitted best then the following year I bought the same type in size S which fitted best. So much for glove sizing. When I buy gloves that have British/German gloves sizes (Its a Bog standard) the gloves stay the size specified. Measure your hand order the gloves. Add size if they are lined with wool. Fits like a glove.