Castelli Tutto Nano Gloves

The Castelli Tutto Nano Gloves are very impressive – their minimalist design is warm, impressively water-resistant and quite frankly the best I've used in years.

One thing Castelli has become particularly synonymous with in recent years is its minimalist transitional kit, and in my experience there are very few companies who have focused so successfully on this time of the year.

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Therefore it's fantastic to try the Tutto Nano, a minimalist and simple glove designed to be both warm and water repellent. The latter comes courtesy of Castelli's Nano Flex 3G fabric, with its extremely effective proprietary treatment – water beads on these gloves the same way it will on a brand new waterproof coat.

I tested these in a torrential downpour, and whilst the rest of me got thoroughly drenched, my hands remained both dry and warm. Given that the material itself is fleecy and soft to the touch, this is a very impressive feature.

Castelli markets these for 'cool' conditions, with a suggested range of 12-20 degrees, but I used them down to around six degrees without any problems at all. These offer impressive wind stopping too, which helps.

While simple, there are still some cycling specific features. For instance on the palm there is a large silicone gripper, which helps, although given there isn't anything on the thumb it doesn't work quite as well as it could. Even so, I never found my hands slipping off.

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The only other feature (aside from a black-on-black logo) is the touchscreen-friendly finger and thumb. They're a little hit or miss, but then that's fairly standard – of the dozens I have tested, only a few have been 100%. These rank about median for those I've tried.

The lack of design features, rather than taking anything away, in my mind is a great thing. The lack of seams allows for more dexterity, and the thin fabric makes them a perfect under-glove for extremely cold temperatures.

Value

Their £45 tag is fairly good compared to others on the market. For instance the Altura Firestorm Gloves are £5 cheaper, but do not offer the same level of water resistance. You could also look to the Santini 365 Win XF Winter Glove, which is £2 more expensive, but is bulkier and has a palm that waterlogs easily.

Overall I was very impressed with these gloves. I have to admit that my favourite cycling kit is simple but done well, and these embody that perfectly. Warm, effective and great in the rain, these are genuinely one of the best pairs of gloves I've used in the past two years.

Verdict

Fantastic, dexterous cool weather gloves with impressive water resistance