FMFT Product Testing

What do you do if you forget one of your gloves?

Riding in gloves makes a lot of sense, in fact I never ride without them. They keep you warm when the weather is turning as it is at the moment, and keep your grip on the bars, without tearing your palms apart. They also help you out if you come off the bike on the road, or anywhere. The pain of falling and sliding on tarmac with bare hands isn’t really worth finding out for yourself if you don’t already know. Take my word for it and wear gloves. It’ll mean you get back on the bike instead of crawling home with bloody fingers.

What do you do if you forget both of your gloves, or, even worse, just one of them? I can exclusively offer a solution, thanks to intense and thorough FMFT testing. Obviously forgetting one glove when I was going for an off-road ride would be far too stupid, so let’s pretend that I didn’t actually do that.



So, my solution in this case was latex rubber gloves. I was able to acquire them from a convenient reception area (so this might not be ideal for those remote rides) and can give a complete review for you, here:

Latex medical gloves. Blue. Price – free if you find yourself somewhere with first-aiders.

These gloves provide an excellent grip on the handlebars, almost as if riding bare-handed. They are wind and water-proof, and are warmer than you might expect, especially when doubled-up as I did (wearing two is also very useful if you have to fix a busted chain, letting you put one on each hand and keep the chain-grime off your skin). They give excellent feel for anything you might want to do off the bike, so digging in your pockets for change or keys, or any fiddly adjustments become a breeze.

One thing we didn’t test was crash resistance. I couldn’t bring myself to throw my body off the bike, even for the sake of journalistic integrity. I can be sure that if you do damage yourself you’ll be well equipped to start dealing with your own injuries, already kitted up like the professionals.

In summary these are great emergency gloves, as long as you can deal with your hand looking like you’ve been in the bath for four hours after wearing them. Maybe they’re not a replacement for your trusty regular gloves. If only you can remember to take both of them with you. Excellent value for money, mind you.

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