Castelli Diluvio gloves

Castelli's Diluvio gloves are basically wetsuit gloves, made for cycling. They work too, keeping your hands toasty despite being fairly thin. They're totally windproof, but a side effect is they're as breathable as, well, a wetsuit. They start to pong fairly quickly and they're expensive compared to gloves from wetsuit manufacturers.

Billed as a glove for cold and wet conditions, the Diluvio is made from Japanese neoprene – I'm guessing they've mentioned that because the Japanese make good neoprene – thermally welded on the inside seam and sewn on the outside. That makes them completely wind- and waterproof for those cold, wet rides. You get the ubiquitous scorpion writ large, a beaded grip and that's it. No clever closures, snot wipe or anything, just neoprene made into a glove shape.

And do they work? Yes, they work. I'll qualify that by saying that they'll work better for some people than others. I have big hands, and they don't tend to get too cold when I'm riding; I find full winter gloves bulky, and these Diluvios were just the ticket. Warm enough to keep my hands functioning in freezing rain and hail, thin enough to make gear shifts and braking simple.

If you suffer from chronically cold hands, my guess would be that they'll not be warm enough for you when the temperature really drops, but for warmer-blooded types they should be enough for all but the fiercest frosts, when you could break out the full winter gloves, or sling an overglove on top of these.

Initially I was worried that the gloves would slip around on my hands, but about a minute after you put them on your hands start to sweat which sticks the gloves in place pretty well and makes control pretty good, certainly better than other winter gloves I've tried. The downside of the sweating and the lack of breathability is that they soon start to reek; mine are good for about three rides before I'm bunging them in the washing machine. So far they've stood up to that okay, though the scorpions are starting to crack a bit.

In use they don't really feel clammy like you might expect, they're more like a second skin defending against the cold and wet. Wear them long enough and your hands do start to get a bit prune-like but it's not a big issue.

So thumbs up then? More or less, although it has to be said that 35 quid is a lot of wedge for a pair of neoprene gloves (they were £40 last year but the price has dropped). That's towards the top end of what you can pay for a pair.

There aren't many other similar cycling-specific options, though realistically there's not much cycling-specific about these other than the manufacturer; they're quite similar to standard wetsuit gloves with a beaded grip for better purchase on bars in wet conditions. They're available for a fair bit less than RRP online.

Verdict

A different approach to warm hands through the winter that will work for some riders better than others.