big john

Maybe, but who's putting enough pressure on their hands to get blisters? Maybe a fixed gear rider who is honking on the bars while climbing?

WhyFi

There are usually a fair number of fat bikes at gravel rides in MN. I mean, they're usually in the minority, but there's a fair number.

big john

I was mountain biking with a friend who was on his Pugsley. The trail had steepish switchbacks filled with loose rocks and sand. He had a clear advantage in those turns.

WhyFi

This summer, I only had two or three days where my bare hands made the unwrapped portion of my aero handlebars slippery - those were very humid days and I probably wasn't wearing sun sleeves (I find that a lot of my "hand sweat" is actually arm sweat that's migrated down). The wrapped portion and hoods have never been an issue (except on a previous bike that had somewhat slippery Fizik tape on the bars).

WhyFi

Yeah, I haven't ridden the Filthy, but I've done others where the inclines and gravel were making my rear tire (38mm) break loose, 'specially when standing - a large contact patch would probably be nice at times like those.

Hypno Toad

The Filthy 50 has a fatbike category, there are normally a good number of fatbikes at this race, you don't see the other fatbikes cause they are a long ways behind me. ... last year, I was the fastest fatbiker

There's a long story behind this oddball set up, in brief: I got into gravel racing about 10 years ago, at that time, I'd ride my commuter bike on commuting tires or slightly wider ties with more traction. I had a really bad day riding the Almanzo course with deep/soft gravel and high-speed descents (no wrecks, but just a lot of white-knuckled descents). So I went overkill and set up my Pugsley with drop-bars to race gravel. It's a good setup for me, my bike-handling skills are weak, but I can put out power to turn over those big tires all day.

I have a typical gravel bike too, so I'll pick the bike that fits my goals and the conditions for that race.

vespasianus

I don't wear gloves for my hands, I wear gloves to wipe the sweat and crap off my face.

CoogansBluff

I've never worn gloves. Just figured they're more trouble than they're worth. 1. They cost money. 2. They get lost. 3. They have to be washed and taken care of. And what's the payoff? I know it's possible that they would help in a crash, but since getting a road bike, I've yet to have or see a crash in 10,000+ miles and 75+ group rides. I know they happen, but then should I also use a mouth guard and hip pads?

sfrider 

I don't wear gloves on short rides. First, it helps reduce tan lines. Second, HTFU so on long rides, on which I do wear gloves, I don't get hot spots.

Bassmanbob

Yeah. Maybe my wife and I should start wearing gloves.

oldwinger14

I used to race cars and always wore gloves. I also always wear gloves when cycling. I wore gloves in both cases so that, irrespective of the weather and how sweaty my palms got, I always had a consistent feel for the steering wheel or handlebars. As for cycling, they are also nice to have on if you take a fall.

Hypno Toad

As a person that converted to gloveless riding at the start of '18, a key is the right bar tape. For gravel bikes, I use Salsa Cork tape because of the extra padding; for the road bike, I like Vento Microtex 2MM Tacky . I ride in very sweaty conditions and never had more/less grip issues versus years of wearing gloves.

If you fall, glove might be nice, but I'm not a pro and don't get paid to ride or race ... so I'll avoid riding that close to the edge of control. OTOH when I race CX, I will wear gloves because CX = hitting the ground.

oldwinger14

I am not a pro cyclist either nor do I ride on the edge often. But many falls occur at very innocent, non-threatening times such as cornering when you might hit an unexpected patch of sand, a wet surface or, perish the thought, when you forget (or cannot) unclip fast enough when coming to a stop. These are all unexpected incidents that can happen to all of us on any ride. I prefer to be prepared for these as well as my desire for a consistent feel I mentioned earlier. We both enjoy riding but look at some things from a different perspective.

Cowboy905

sorry not everyone rides like you

Hypno Toad

To be clear, I've had one paved road fall in the last ~10 years - a wet round-a-bout at speed. I haven't had a clipless fall in 15 years; and as a gravel enthusiast, I have just enough skill (just barely enough skill) to avoid falling on sandy corners. For reference, over the last 10 years, I've biked roughly 5,000 miles per year, in all conditions, year-round (in MN). Falls can happen (I could start a YouTube channel of my winter & CX falls), but are exceptionally rare for me and therefore don't justify wearing gloves when road riding. And that's the OP question, why do you see more people riding without glove. I will not ask you (or anyone) to ride without gloves, you do you!

Psimet2001 

Cupcakes are delicious.

Back in 1990-ish I was a Patrol Leader for the "venture patrol" in boy scouts. I had been cycling for a few years and thought it would be cool to pursue the cycling venture crew badge/certification. In order to do that i had to give a presentation to the patrol about bicycle safety equipment or some such. I caovered the topic with my scout master who was also an avid cyclist on the side.

When I finished he said, "you didn't cover gloves."
"Gloves aren't safety equipment."
"You ever crash without gloves on?"
"Hmmmm..."
"Gloves are as important as a helmet. Wear them."

In the years since I have regarded them as safety equipment. Just what I do. Sure I have ridden without them. I have also ridden without a helmet (shhhhh don't tell anyone). My default now is not only gloves but full finger gloves.

Preached this enough to the team that I had the whole masters side wearing long finger gloves. One guy wrecks and comes over and shows me the torn up gloves and complains because he still has rash on his hands. "So much for wearing gloves to protect your hands!" - "Imagine what they'd be like if you didn't have the gloves.".... "oh...hmmmm. Good point."

I don't care who wears them. I wear mine for myself.

Sure beats having a handlebar bag though.

Seattle Forrest

Someone explain to me riding without goggles.

Psimet2001 

I think you misspelled sun glasses.

Seattle Forrest

Those don't look like sun glasses to me, it looks like triathletes who wanted to save time in a transition. Look at the ones on the guy with the cigarette!

nomadmax 

Well played

Sorg67

I did not ride with gloves until I crashed and took a big chunk out of the palm of my hand. Now I almost always wear gloves.

Psimet2001 

Psimet2001 

The look is also back for 2020

WhyFi

When the previous generation of Rapha glasses came out, the advertising imagery was unapologetically 80's -

superpletch

I agree. no gloves in winter doesn't make sense. I sweat a lot and my hands get slick when not wearing gloves so i always wear gloves, usually with little or no padding or gel. I wiped out on my gravel bike a couple weeks ago and lost a lot of skin, including on my fingers that were not covered by my fingerless gloves.

wear gloves, or don't wear gloves just don't tell me what I should do.