Looking for full fingered gloves? Well sus these two offerings from Giro, the breathable but tough Rivet and the rugged all-mountain all-action Xen.
Sus the Giro Rivet
Giro’s Rivet gloves are based on their LZT road gloves and are designed to be all-purpose but lightweight, providing a thin layer of protection and comfort while enhancing grip and bar feel. Or that’s what the advertising material says.
From a rider’s perspective they do all they set out to. They’re definitely lightweight and breathable, with ample ventilation on the back panels. They do take a little getting used to tough.
Don’t for example wipe your eyes with the textured finger tips designed to allow you to use your touch screen bike computer or phone while on the go (there’s a special panel on the back of the thumb for that). The lack of a Velcro closing strap is also a bit of a mind bender at first, but if you’ve got the right size the glove sits snugly enough for you to question the need for Velcro closing straps on any glove.
They’re not going to protect your hands in the case of a major spill at speed, but then not much will, but their supple feel on the bars combined with comfortable grips will provide you with the right blend of control and comfort.
The downside is as usual finding the right fit. The 4-way stretch upper doesn’t stretch as well where it needs to and if the fit isn’t 100% you could end up with the gloves bunching around the webbing of your fingers. So make sure you get a pair that fit perfectly.
The Rivets are available in bold Blue or Red colouring or a more muted Black & White. Expect to pay in the region of R460.
Sus the Giro Xen
The Giro Xen gloves are the Rivet’s big, all-mountain, badass big brothers. Constructed with Clarino, synthetic leather, they’re low on palm padding but high on bash guards for your knuckles.
They feature a 2mm Technogel® pad on the heal of the palm to dissipate the worst of the impacts and the supple Clarino palm panel looks set to provide good protection in the case of a crash but still allows for ample feel on the bars.
The Xens are surprisingly breathable for such heavy duty looking gloves and also feature the touch screen technology finger tips on the index and middle fingers of both hands.
When trying these gloves on it’s important to give the touch screen finger tips a quick test on your phone though (if you have your bike computer with you, then that too, but carrying it around with you in the shop is sure to raise a few eyebrows – weirdo). The test pairs worked perfectly on the Garmin Edge 810, Bryton Rider 40 and Samsung Galaxy screens, but no amount of pressure, or lack thereof, could elicit a response from the Sony Xperia. So the moral of the story is check with your more expensive device for compatibility first.
The Giro Xen gloves are Brown, Black, White and Red colour schemes and you can also expect to pay in the region of R510.
