So recently I found myself in the market for some new gloves. The Athletic Racing Squad Gloves caught my eye. I'm a big fan of the Athletic and what Mr. Dunn and crew are doing out in Portland. Many moons ago, Mr. Dunn and I used to have some fun battles back in the Killer B class. After reaching out to Mr. Dunn regarding sizing, Jeremy asked if I would be willing to be a glove tester of the Athletic's new cross gloves and write a review:
I was very excited for this opportunity and certainly didn't want to let an old friend down. I am very proud to be an Athletic Official Glove Tester. Unfortunately, my knee decided to take a 10 day break. I, however will not be deterred from my assignment!
First, I tested in in the office:
The gloves preformed wonderfully. My mouse control was the best I have ever experienced.
Next, taking the recycle and trash bins out. I hate coming down the driveway, and feeling like the bins are getting away from me. I felt like I did the best recycle bin driving that I have done all year with the Athletic Racing Squad Gloves. I had complete total control of both the trash and recycle bins. This is not something that I can say with confidence from week to week.
The final test was at the local skate-park. Sure I can't pedal, but I can drop in and carve all day long!
I tend to hit the park early, and temps in the Mid Atlantic are feeling very November at this time. The gloves kept my hands warm, and were comfortable enough to not inhibit my carving around the park. The two 10 year old kids that were ripping the park to shreds took notice of my gloves and insisted on giving me a fist bump after watching my lines! This old guy admiration clearly tied to the gloves.
In short, I'm very excited with the feel and performance of these gloves. I'll guess that the fine folks at The Atheletic appreciate my testing in non-cyclocross settings, but rest assured I do plan further testing of these bad boys in actually cyclocross bike driving very soon...
thanks to Mr. Dunn and the fine folks at the Athletic!
thanks for reading.
respect
fatmarcVDB
(still cuter than James Franco)
3 comments:
Hi Fatmarc! It seems I spend more time cheering for Fatbrother (even less fat than the original) these days, but... Great review! If, once you're able to move past skate park/mouse clicking/recycling bins testing phase, you could identify an effective temp range and some size comparisons, that would be awesome. Since smaller accessory brands are crowded out in most stores, you wind up buying these things blind. Size-wise, I have wide palms and short-ish fingers (it's a theme) so that ratio is a huge element of which gloves will work at all, and if they work which size to get. Garneau gloves have CRAZY short fingers, for example. Oakley, too. Some others seem like they used Montgomery Burns for a fit model. And then warmth rating. I only wear gloves when I need to because of the cold, and I've wasted who knows how much dough on gloves that get worn once when it's around 40 (my "racing with gloves" mendoza line) but don't actually keep me warm, so they wind up clogging the closet. Last last thing, some people like padding, others don't. Are these hand diapers or more of a lambskin-esque "the feel is real" type of glove?
Thank you for your unending dedication to blogging, product testing, and everyman CX racing!
Dave K
Dave,
I would say temperature wise these would be good mid 30s-mid 50’s, depending to some extent on your cold tolerance. Historically, I avoided wearing gloves until the temps got into the 40’s, but who knows perhaps with old age I am getting soft, as I find myself going to gloves much, much more. I have a weird manual dexterity thing, which I blame on skateboarding, and I really don’t like a lot of padding in the palm of a glove. These have a little on the side of the palm, actually the perfect amount. My go to glove to the point have been the fox paw protectors, I also have a pair of specialized gloves that I train in, but won’t race in- again weird manual dexterity, bike driving thing… I wear a large in those, and the sizing on these has been consistent. The fact that I could skate in them, makes me believe I’ll be stoked riding with them too. (Did I mention my weird manual dexterity thing?) So far I am super excited for how they feel. In the interest of full disclosure, I did not type this response wearing the Athletic Racing Squad Team Gloves (by castelli).
Hopefully that was helpful, and if you have more questions, shoot me a note on FB…
Respect
Fatmarc
Fabulous, thanks. As a fellow recent inductee into the 45+ field, I am definitely even more softer than the very soft I was before. I would honestly credit the purchase of a completely weatherproof and quite not inexpensive Gore jacket and pants (lovingly referred to as "the biosphere") for warming up with much of the incredible enjoyment that this season has brought. But cold is a raging challenge for my joints. I can't wait to see what 60 feels like.
Thanks again
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