Velotoze Knitted Waterproof Gloves

The Velotoze Knitted Waterproof Gloves are comfortable, dextrous, and offer worthwhile protection from rain. Cold air will slowly chill them at speed, though, and they get sweaty if it's mild or the sun appears, but in wintry rain they're worth it. They're generally something you're glad to be wearing – though only within quite a narrow range of temperatures.

Check out our guide to the best winter cycling gloves for more options – for spring, and maybe summer too... (Only joking! – we do have a guide to the best summer cycling gloves too.)

> Buy now: Velotoze Knitted Waterproof Gloves for £42.90 from Velotoze

The three layers of these gloves comprise a soft, fuzzy inner acrylic liner, a waterproof but quite breathable membrane, and a knitted acrylic outer. The outer has some stretchy stuff mixed in (spandex and elastane), and the result is comfortable and unrestrictive.

There are no seams either, which only helps.

The cuffs are long and slim for a good seal and easy pairing with jackets and jerseys, while the silicone printing on the palm and fingers gives good grip. Sizing feels right – the chart says I should fit a large, and the chart is correct. No complaints about fit, size or ergonomic comfort against handlebars. The fingers even work on screens.

The comfort that their performance brings is shakier. At times my hands would be chilled to numbness, while at others they were sweaty. The average over a long ride was generally good enough to sit on the 'acceptable' side of comfortable when it's 5-8°C, which is towards the lower end of the recommended range.

If that sounds like faint praise, it is... but don't be too put off. You feel very insulated from rain, hail and sudden blasts of wind, and outside of prolonged high-speed sections (15mph+ for 15+ minutes) they tend to stay warm. In fact, if MY hands can warm up inside these having gone numb, Velotoze must be doing something right – my hands get cold very easily. And in most gloves, once they're cold, they stay cold.

Still, giving the waterproof membrane a bit of breathability seems to have come at the expense of some windproofing. Though draught-free and resilient on short descents or brief blusters across open ground, along fast sections the warmth will steadily leach away.

On slower sections it will just as steadily come back, but on long or sheltered climbs it can rise enough to get sweaty, even in 5-6°C air temperatures. Velotoze says these are good up to 19°C in rain, but while I haven't seen such temperatures during the test, or for actually... let me check my watch... 1,000 years, I wouldn't be choosing these on a day that warm. Or even close. I found 12°C eventually too sweaty on wet, cloudy days.

I personally would avoid these at anything over 10°C. I would also avoid them (or add liners) below 5°C. That doesn't leave a huge window of opportunity, though sub-10°C and raining is hardly uncommon during UK spring, autumn and winter. And summer.

These can easily get hot and sweaty if it dries up and the sun comes out, though.

The insides are very slow to dry, too; it's worth hanging these up with the cuffs wide open to air them out. At least they're easy to get on and off however soggy, because unlike more traditional 'padded' gloves, the three layers can only move as one.

All of this sounds quite negative, and sorry about that – in the right conditions I actually quite like these gloves. Yes, they get cold at times, but they will warm up again. And yes, they get sweaty at others, but they don't get slippery or wildly uncomfortable unless the air is warm. In truth, they work pretty well – so long as it's somewhere between 5-10°C and overcast.

For the majority of such chilly and wet rides they feel sleek, comfortable and very protective against rain and gusting winds. They're grippy and rugged, too.

Value

And at £42.90 they're reasonably priced for waterproof gloves, which seems fair as they're quite simply constructed compared to some. The Gorewear C5 Gore-Tex Thermo Gloves got a great review from Iwein recently, for instance, but cost considerably more at £74.99.

Meanwhile, the Altura All Roads Waterproof Gloves are built much more like the Velotoze – reviewer Shaun found they 'follow the narrative of a waterproof sock' – but despite Altura's reputation for strong value, they still cost more at £55.

The also-very-similar GripGrab Waterproof Knitted Winter Gloves, which John reviewed back last winter, are also more expensive for 2024 at £53.

The Stolen Goat Climb & Conquer 4 Seasons Gloves that Mike reviewed and liked back in 2021 are slightly cheaper, though, at £40.

Conclusion

Overall, these are well made, well priced and comfortable. They're no magic bullet, and can struggle for both warmth and breathability across a fairly narrow spectrum, but for typically cold (but not freezing) wet UK weather they work perfectly well. Their relative cheapness and rugged build are plus points too.

Verdict

Comfortable and protective, though only in a pretty narrow range of conditions