Do I Really Need Gloves for Bike Rides?

Do I Really Need Gloves for Bike Rides?

Do You Really Need Cycling Gloves? The answer is an absolute yes. However, some people do not take cycling gloves very seriously. They don’t like getting their hands wet with sweat. They believe that the extra fabric on their hands prevents them from tightening the grip. But the facts are completely opposite to the consequences of their speculative conclusions and suppository observations.

We know that accessories made a world of difference for your comfort on the bike. Cycling gloves protect your hands, absorb vibration and improve grip. It’s also important to wear gloves in both winter and either summer season. And choosing a suitable cycling glove depends on the weather condition probably, that you live in.

Why it is Important to Wear Gloves?

Most mountain bikers find gloves very useful to give them a predictable level of grip on the handle-bars. Cycling on a warm day will get your hands sweaty, your hands can easily slip around the handlebars and you will lose control.

Some types of grips in particular actually get quite slippery once sweat or rain is introduced into the equation. Thankfully gloves are pretty inexpensive pieces of mountain biking gear, so it’s easy enough to try different styles to see what works for you.

There are a number of reasons why experts put pressure on wearing bike gloves. These reasons are the motive behind the research and writing of this article.

Let’s take a look at the importance of wearing bike gloves every time you go out cycling.

1- Provide Better Grip

Sometimes, you have to ride in hot and humid weather. Therefore, there is a high probability of sweating in the hands. Sweaty hands increase the chances of losing grip on the handlebar. In this type of situation, you should wear cycling gloves as they soak up sweat, helping you to keep your hands dry quickly and keep your grip on the handlebars as strong and secure as possible.

Although human skin is springy and dries out quickly, cycling gloves help you to grip and hold the cycling pad firmly. Grip aids made of silicone dabs or any other material are intended only for the purpose of enclosing you in position, especially when riding with wet hands.

2- Protect From Injury and Nerve Compression

Because cyclists do not wear gloves, most cyclists suffer from a disease called ulnar nerve or cyclist paralysis, carpal tunnel syndrome, etc.

Ulnar Nerve or Cyclist palsy is numbness, clumsiness, pain, and cramping of the ulnar nerve caused mostly due to the pressure exerted on the hands on the handlebars. This also leads to neuropathy by the stretching and compressing of the nerve passing from wrist to hand. This is mostly caused by the hyperextended position of the wrist on the handlebar. On the other hand, compression of the median nerve, causing tingling of the thumb, index finger, middle finger, and ring finger is known as carpal tunnel syndrome.

As described in the literature, the prevalence of non-traumatic compression of the ulnar or median nerves of the hands and wrists (appearing in sensory or motor disorders) is 10-70%. Therefore, it is recommended to wear cycling gloves as they can disperse the forces on these nerves and reduce the risk of injury.

3- Provide Strong Safety

Accidents are unintentional. We know that no one wants to be destroyed on purpose. But if you or someone else bumps into your motorcycle, you should be prepared to fight the case. This is a normal unintentional reflex action, if you have an accident and fall on the road; your hands touch the road first. If you wear proper gloves, you can protect yourself from cuts, wounds, and grazing.

4- Keep Your Hands Warm

Most of the time riding on the road becomes uncomfortable in cold, rainy, and snowy weather. With the matter of controlling brakes and shifters, fingers become less adept once they get cold. Your extremities get less blood supply and thus get cold very easily and quickly. In these kinds of scenarios, there is a big chance of getting numbness, snow bite, and lack of feeling and sensation and thus making your upper limbs immobilize.

For the purpose of safety from these harsh and unusual situations, it is very necessary to consider cycling gloves every time you come out for street commuting and downtown trips. That is the only safer way to avoid such jarring and rasping dilemmas.

5- Help You to Wipe Your Face and Sweat

It will not be wrong to label this feature as one of the most interesting features and use of cycling gloves. Once you get a huge capacity of sweat after cycling for hours, French terry wipes sometimes called microfiber wipe allows you to clean sweat from your face. It usually features a soft pad along with the thumb. Some riders also use it to clean their nose as well and could indeed use it to mop their brows.

6- Give an Extra-Ordinary Comfort

The padding on cycling gloves aids in cushioning your hands from the vibrations passed through the bike and handlebar to the hand’s main contact points.

When riding, you are laying pressure on your ulnar and median nerves. By entrapping them, you will start to feel numbness, tingling, or even pain in your fingers. This will affect your grip strength and how well you control the bike.

Therefore, wearing gloves will help to reduce the vibrations, eliminate hand discomfort, allowing you to enjoy longer rides.

Summing Up

Following conclusions are drawn from the above-described reasons:

  • Cycling gloves are of highly notable quality providing various useful safety measures.
  • It provides comfort to the audience sitting in their homes and got around the table.
  • Nerve compression can also be prevented by the wearing bike gloves properly.
  • Strong safety has been provided to monitor law and order.
  • Unique feature is their terry black wipe.
  • It also help to commute in comfortable manner.

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