Reading a Cycling Glove Specification Panel by Panel

Most glove listings say breathable and padded. A real glove specification lists a different material for the back of the hand, the palm, the purlicue, the wrist binding and the padding, because those five areas do completely different jobs.

The purlicue is the part you have never heard of

Purlicue is the web of skin between thumb and index finger. On a bike it takes constant pressure and rotation, and it is where gloves wear through first. Our gloves specify it separately: True Ultra CBL-1 on the full finger glove and the 43 gram half finger glove, True Super on the lighter models. If a specification does not mention the purlicue at all, nobody thought about it.

SBR is what is under the palm

SBR is styrene-butadiene rubber, a closed-cell padding. Closed-cell matters because it does not soak up sweat and go soggy. Our half finger gloves carry SBR padding, and the 43 gram model specifies 3 mm of it, which is the thickest in the range. If your hands go numb on long rides, that 3 mm figure is the number to look for.

Three-dimensional palm rest against flat padding

Two of our half finger gloves specify a three-dimensional non-slip palm rest rather than a flat pad. The difference is that the padding is shaped to the palm, so it sits under the heel of the hand where the ulnar nerve runs, rather than lying flat and moving around. Numb hands are a nerve compression problem, not a cushioning problem, and placement matters more than thickness.

Back of the hand fabrics

This is where gloves differ most. The 40 gram plain weave glove uses a B054 single warp plain weave. The breathable model adds elastic microfibre and silicone-printed pull tabs. The 43 gram glove combines plain weave with fine towelling and a 30 gauge mesh, which gives airflow plus somewhere to wipe sweat. The full finger glove uses spandex check panels so the fabric stretches across the knuckles instead of bunching.

Pull tabs are not a detail

A sweat-soaked half finger glove is genuinely difficult to remove, and riders damage the seams pulling on the fingertips. Silicone printing on the pull tabs, as specified on the breathable model, is what makes the glove come off cleanly. It is a small thing that changes how long the glove lasts.

Conductive fingertips and washing

Our full finger glove specifies washable conductive microfibre on the thumb and index fingertips. The word washable is the important one: most touchscreen fingertips are a printed conductive coating that stops working after a few hot washes. Wash cool and air dry either way.