Hands - Point of Contact #2

• Posted on 16 March 2022
• By KW
• 2

When you're riding your bike, there are basically three points of contact - your hands, your feet, and your butt (OK, if you count everything as pairs, then it's six...).  We've discussed shorts and saddles here in the past; if you haven't read those posts, you really should.  Point number two in the contact department is hands - what happens with them, where do they go, how do you protect them, etc.

The obvious answer to protecting them is, of course, gloves.  But we'll get back to that.  Let's start with the idea of what your hands are doing on the bike in the first place.  They have lots of jobs to do when you really think about it, don't they?  They're shifting gears, they're applying brakes, they're steering, they're pushing up your sunglasses...  All kinds of stuff.  But their most important job?  Well, they hold you up, don't they?  They support a fair amount of weight depending on your riding position.  So we need to make sure they are also supported!  They do a lot of things! 

Most cycling gloves have a series of pads and vents in order to keep your hands comfortable and cool.  The pads are placed to alleviate pressure on your ulnar nerve, which helps keep away that tingly feeling you sometimes get from being in one position on the bars for too long.  Breathable material on the tops and palms prevents your hands from getting too warm in the summer, and extra insulation keeps them warm in the winter.  

Full finger or short?  Well, that usually depends on the season and/or what kind of riding you're doing.  Most folks on the MTB trails opt for the full-fingered version, because it's on the trails where you're most likely to scrape or scratch your hands as you're riding.  Short-fingered ones are fine, too; as with much of cycling, there are no hard and fast rules here.  Most road and gravel riders go for the shorties in the summer.

Speaking of getting scratches, let's get back to that protection idea for a minute.  One of the reasons to wear gloves of any kind while you're riding is protection in a fall.  They probably won't stop anything from breaking in a hard crash, but they certainly do help save you from some road rash.  If you're crashing, one of the first things your reflexes are going to tell you to do is to break your fall.  With your hands.  So if you're crashing on the road, on the gravel, on the trails...  You can see how your hands might suffer from the experience.  Gloves help with that as well.  They provide a nice layer of protection between you and whatever surface you are about to crash on.

Come in to the shop and check out the selection of gloves from Pearl Izumi.  We are very happy with the quality and fit of these fine gloves, and of course they are available in short and long-fingered styles. Take a load off your hands!