Roadwanderer

I'm in Florida. It is unseasonably hot ALL year and it is humid. I can't imagine wearing gloves... although, it would cut down the need for sunblock on my hands.

That said, I think if you're the sort of person to have a kit, your kit should probably match your bike, and that would make your question moot. ;-)

And that said, I wear regular clothes when biking. I'm a bit old fashioned like that. I say wear what you like. I do think reflective gloves is an excellent suggestion, though. Do that.

79pmooney

Wow! We are on to the third page about glove colors! For me, gloves are all about comfort (before, during and after crashes). I spend very little time looking at my hands when riding. And a wise person once told me that it was none of my d*** business what was going on between someone else's. My guess as to their perception has nothing to do with my choice of glove colors.

That said, most of my gloves are black though a long fingered brown MTB glove is one of my favorites. Really bright colors would make sense as they would be easier for motorists to see when signalling a turn. But black and brown are the best for road grime, an integral part of the life of a cycling glove.

Oh, and I have a small superstition re: expensive gloves. Gloves are ruined in most crashes. Paying a lot for them is asking Murphy to get involved.

Ben

dragoonO1

Reflective material is useful for hand signals if you ride at night.

I've never given any thought to the appearance of cycling gloves because their purpose(to me) is to serve as crash pads to be abraded on the road rather than having my flesh flayed off.

kickstart

The nice thing about inexpensive synthetic work gloves is that they can be thrown in the wash when dirty.

molten

Anyone's small hands ---- will be even smaller: if such a person be the type who bites his/her own fingernails. Add that assures of no snagging to the material.

NYMXer

I could be mistaken but I think gloves (like the vented 1/2 finger type) might help in this situation. I know that when I'm wearing my vented gloves, it helps with grip of sweaty skin on the bars. When I ride and forget my gloves, there is a noticeable difference in grip quality and the sweatier my hands are , the more compromised my grip becomes (without gloves).
I guess it all boils down to personal preference.

bobwysiwyg

Mine as well.

indyfabz

It's impossible for weather to always be "unseasonably hot."

indyfabz

+2. They also provide more grip during rainy rides AND they make good snot rags.

10 Wheels

Reynolds 

No need to match exactly, but avoid terrible mismatching IMO.

rydabent

Worrying about something like this is at number 943 on my list of what to worry about.

FBinNY 

That high?

As far as I'm concerned, this entire thread is out of place. It belongs on some kind of fashion forum rather than here.

Roadwanderer

It's hyperbole. ;-) It's my way of saying it's hotter than it reasonably should be all year.

Oh, sure we get a few weeks of tolerably cool weather here and there in December and January, but it tends to be punctuated with with what could pass as summer weather in other parts of the country.

rekmeyata

gee let me think about this, I can't decide, maybe if we knew what color underwear you wear we might be able to color coordinate your gloves.

10 Wheels

All about being a Cool Rider.

the sci guy 

I take pride in the fact that my jersey doesn't match my bike and my gloves don't match my jersey.
I will admit I do have a Syracuse jersey that I wear tall argyle Syracuse socks with on some t-shirt rides because it's fun. But it still doesn't match my bike or my glvoes.

OldsCOOL

I used to be a buyer at Walmart.

ltxi

Guess I should be buying flesh colored gloves.

rekmeyata

If he's that anal about his gloves he probably wears underwear under his cycling shorts.

Camilo

I don't understand why people have only one pair of gloves. You probably have a few sets of shorts, a few jerseys, a few socks. I wash my gloves almost as much as I wash my other stuff, so have 3 pair in circulation. One pair is go-with-anything black, one is go-with-anything white (crochet) and one is red... which I only wear with my red jersey and red and white socks, and the bike with red handlebar tape. Or not.

Nah. Every cycling glove in the world can be washed in the washing machine without consequences. I don't know why anyone would think they're fragile in any way. They probably are made of the same sort of synthetic materials as your work gloves (which btw - I agree are excellent substitutes, especially for cold weather). Seriously, you'd wear gloves without washing them? I'm no germ prude, but cycling gloves get disgustingly filthy - hell, look at your bar tape sometime (unless it's black, in which case, don't bother).

Roadwanderer

Alright. I'm sold.

I hadn't thought about that angle because I haven't fallen off of a bike since 1991.

My gloves will not match my bike, and I don't have a kit. So there.

modelmartin

I thought everyone had a multiple matching kits for every bike. I guess I am not normal.

Phil_gretz

...that the terrycloth thumb back is where snot gets wiped, right? 2nd reason to wear gloves, after, of course, not leaving palm flesh on the road during a crash.

topslop1

I've got like $4 workman gloves that I wore throughout the winter this year. They worked, they weren't pretty, and they fit so-so.

They are brown and don't really match anything I don't think.

This whole matching of the kit business is funny to be because it's like people who put rims and tints on their cars and lower them to 'look better'. I can assure you that no one is giving very much thought at all to the totally anonymous rider on a bicycle that goes by them (as I'm almost hit by cars half the time) let alone what they were actually wearing.

If you're in a club ride and you mistake it for a fashion show, I can understand at least the idea behind it - but for just killing it out on the road solo.. no point.

I had some full clad cyclists go by me in the other direction a few weeks ago and I was wearing an orange hunting hat, black long sleeve jersey with a puffy blue down jacket over it, black long pant riding bib, oversized glass-cracked Wayfarers that had been spray painted / speckled white, and a mouth with dip in it.

I nodded and waved to a few confused looks.