PeteHski

He probably wishes he had worn gloves at this point.

MoAlpha

Mine smelled so bad I stopped using them for anything but racing, and when I stopped racing decades ago they went by the wayside. If I ever want warm weather gloves again, I'll cut the fingers off a pair of the lightweight mechanic's gloves I use in mild cold. They have nice, tacky silicone stuff on the palms.

Trakhak

Not sure if joking . . .

If not: I've never done any racing above the regional level, but even I understand that if the peloton isn't strung out single-file or close to it, the guys in the back of an amoeba-shaped bunch with over a hundred riders can be putting out something like 40% less watts than the ones in front. (If you have a power meter, that would be the difference between maintaining, say, a steady 200 watts for several hours and doing the same ride at a steady 120 watts.)

Their bars are obviously positioned forward and low, allowing for the greatest efficiency when the crunch comes, so naturally they have elbows locked when they're lollygagging along.

genejockey 

I find my grip is better with gloves if my hands are sweaty. I also find any kind of padding makes my hands MORE likely to go numb, so no padding for me. I'm currently using Giro ZeroCS gloves. I keep my eyes peeled for sales because most of what I see out there are padded and gel gloves. No thanks!

RB1-luvr

I've noticed the lack of gloves too. Hard to believe when your hands are your first line of defense in a crash.

Someone posted a finish line sprint crash picture on Fb recently with three riders all heading for the pavement with outstretched arms and no gloves.

Eric F 

Until this thread, I never paid attention to whether or not pros were wearing gloves. Watching the finish of today's Giro stage, I was surprised to see how many are gloveless.

indyfabz

And fewer tan lines.

chaadster

I’d think that slamming directly onto the shoulder would be a greater risk to the clavicle than going arm first. I don’t recall any footage of Cavendish’s fall at last year’s TdF, but in any case, there are probably a lot of other possible fall types other than clavicle-fracturing ones where a little hand protection from a glove might come, if you’ll forgive the pun, in handy.

chaadster

The SupaCaz SupaG glove has an unpadded, Clarino (synthetic leather) palm. They fit me great, they’re thin and lightweight, but well made and durable. I have two pairs— short and full finger— that I’ve been using for years, and really like them.

https://supacaz.com/product/supag-sh...ves-twisted-2/

slow rollin

No idea why some pros would stop, or not wear. My guess is they prefer the feel/lack of gloves like some mountain bikers do. I crashed too much mtbing so I always wear gloves, I also like the UV protection. Currently wearing old low protection motorcycle gloves since I like full protection with no large palm pads.

Duragrouch

Everyone seems to want unpadded palms. I want padded and thick, nerve pain pushed me to recumbent but in this hilly region I'm back on a conventional bike with aero bars. Padded gloves had been hard to find, but hadn't searched on amazon and now seeing a plethora of choices. I used to use padded gloves and grab-ons. My fat bar-ends appear to be 27 or 28mm, I need to find grab-ons that will fit those, I currently have thin urethane foam taped around them. But the money is probably best spent getting my aero bars raised and somehow making the forearm pads wider apart, then I don't need padded gloves, all the weight is my forearms on wide padded rests. I'll still wear fingerless gloves in hot, mountain gloves cooler, insulated fleece gloves if cold.

Duragrouch

Maybe just me, but his aero bars look at 4 o'clock, his wheel is at 12 or 6, and I think his centerstand dropped might have something to do with the bike pitching forward like that. Front tire looks a bit low. He's doing a Jedi Mind Trick to the pavement, "Stay. Stay." This is after saying to himself, "If Batman can rotate forward to on his stomach while driving the Batmobile, so can I."

PeteHski

I think he had a simultaneous front tyre and bar failure! Not wearing gloves was probably a bad call in this case 😂

Trakhak

That's not a center stand/kickstand - it's a crank arm. The low resolution of the photo makes it impossible to see details, but since pro bikes don't have kickstands, that must be a crank arm with the pedal angled downward, in line with the crank.

You probably meant to type "Batcycle" (or whatever it's called), not "Batmobile."

bruce19

Have you checked fingerless motorcycle gloves? I have no idea if that would work but maybe worth a look.

jonb5

I find gloves cut into the skin between my thumb and index finger while breaking on my road bike, so I don't wear them on a ride with a long descent.

Other than that I always wear them.

chaadster

There really is no problem getting cycling specific, unpadded cycling gloves. Specialized, Assos, Castelli, Pearl Izumi, POC, the aforementioned SupaCaz...there are so many options.

Rick_D

Slide unexpectedly across a stretch of pavement palms down and ponder life not wearing any.

Admit I have not noticed racers wearing them or not, but can't conjure a reason to skip them. I do recall the odd tan I'd get back in the crocheted glove days and the utter lack of padding provided by the celo bar tape.

Eyes Roll

I always ride with gloves on. They give me a lot of confidence when riding my bikes compared to when they are not on. Let's say, if I hit a rock, pothole, or the rails of a railroad track and happen to fall, wearing gloves would minimize or prevent scratches on my hands. In the winter, gloves will also keep your hands warm. In the summer, gloves will cause your hands sweaty and develop some sweaty odor, but I have developed a habit of quickly washing hands (and face) after each ride.

I also feel more confident riding a bike when I am wearing full sleeves than half sleeves. An additional layer of clothing gives me additional assurance.

bboy314

I hear the pros are getting palm callous transplants these days

bikecrate

Its harder to punch fans with the gloves on.

shapiroeric

I only wear them for warmth otherwise I prefer bare hands.....I think the pros are mixed

terrymorse 

Ah yes, the dreaded "glove stank". I have conquered mine with the following method. After every ride:

While rinsing out my bottles in the kitchen sink, I remove my gloves and drop them in the sink, letting the water run on them. Then I give them a couple squirts of hand soap, smush them around for a few seconds, rinse throughly under the tap, and wring them out. Then I hang them in the water heater closet. Next day, they are dry without even a hint of "stank".

indyfabz

They went out of fashion long after wooden wheels did.

Trakhak

Pedantry alert: "callus," not "callous" (i.e., uncaring disregard for others).