Gore Bike Wear Road Gloves GTX-1

The Gore Bike Wear GTX-1 gloves are very well made and provide excellent protection from the cold and wet, though on longer rides in the rain they can get saturated and your hands a bit sweaty.

Gore describes them as a lightweight, unisex design. The soft and breathable material is very comfortable, providing a warm cocoon for your hands during winter rides.

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I've used the gloves during several training, commuting and fun rides over the last few months, in very wet and windy conditions. The gloves are warm, waterproof and comfortable on shorter rides, but on wet rides of over a couple of hours the fabric got saturated and heavy, and my hands sweaty – though still warm.

They're particularly suitable for early morning commutes, when the air is cold and windchill is your biggest enemy. Unless you are riding more than an hour each way, when their lack of air permeability means there isn't enough airflow to ventilate your hands, these gloves will be all you need for the winter months.

Fabric

The main body of the gloves is 83% polyamide and 17% elastane, with an internal Gore-Tex®Insert lining to keep your hands dry. Gore-Tex claims its Gore-Tex fabric is "an extremely thin membrane that's durably waterproof, windproof and breathable".

In my experience, any windproof and waterproof products leave my hands extremely warm and sweaty during training rides of any substantial intensity, and these were no exception. The fabric is very good at repelling rain or moisture in the air, but I found breathability a problem.

Comfort and padding

If you're used to gloves with gel padding, you might notice the lack of such here – comfort over long distances isn't what they're designed for. The only padding provided is more of a token gesture: three pieces of cloth on each glove.

When dry the gloves are very comfortable, but if saturated they feel like a wet cloth wrapped around your hand. Saturated, they still kept my hands dry but would move around under my palms, especially when riding out of the saddle, as the two layers moved against each other.

Fit and adjustment

Velcro straps make the gloves easy to adjust and ensure that they stay in position. Even with their internal lining, they're easy to remove to open doors, answer a phone or find your front door key. In the past I have struggled with lined gloves, with the lining usually pulling out when taking them off, but here it stays in position even after several hours and when the gloves are completely saturated.

They also seem to be lasting well: in my experience it is difficult to find gloves with an internal lining that doesn't pull apart or rip after just a few months, and these have remained as good as new after heavy use.

> Check out our guide to the best winter cycling gloves here

At £59.99 they are at the upper end of what you'd expect to pay for such protection, but they do what they are designed for and they do it very well. If keeping your hands warm and dry is important, at least for a couple of hours' riding, look no further.

Verdict

If keeping your hands warm and dry is a priority, these are all you need for short to medium length wet and wintry rides