TLD Sprint Glove
Gloves are one of the most useful contact points going, and if you’re a gloves-free rider you will hate to hear that. But the right gloves give you better tactile feedback with your bars in w ider range of conditions, protect your hands from crashes, the sun, and a thrashing from trail-side flora.
It is easy to be put off by gloves that have a poor fit, high price or just get too hot. There are plenty of times during a ride where you need to use your digits precisely. Be it adjusting something on your bike, using your touchscreen, a camera, a GPS, or just opening and closing pockets or zips on your clothes or a backpack. Use some gloves that don’t fit well and it’s a quick recipe for losing your cool.
I have always preferred a well-fitting nonpadded, ventilated glove. Sure, I reach for something different in really cold weather or cold rain (latex gloves underneath are handy), but there are few gloves that have been a staple in my mountain bike closet for the past 10 years or so. But the Troy Lee Designs (TLD) Sprint and Ace are some two models to share that claim.
Having used the TLD Sprint for most mountain bike rides since October, I can assure you it’s an easy glove to get along with. The Clarino leather palm is a single layer, which means you have an excellent feel for your grip and the bar. If you want padding, do that via your grip or tyre and shock pressure. The back is stretchy and has a small velcro cuff. I do like gloves that are a full stretch to pull on with no closure – but to be honest having a velcro closure like this is a bit faster when you do need to put them on and take them off, and it handles longterm fit a little better.
The finger length on the TLD Sprint is just right for me in a medium. I sometimes run large sized gloves, but the TLD medium fits like the proverbial, and it means my finger tips are right at the ends of the glove, but not pushing through. That’s handy as the tips are screen friendly, so you can still use your phone or touchscreen GPS when riding.
The downsides? There’s no protection on the back of the glove or extra beefiness on the palms. If you crash badly and put a hand out you will probably be replacing the gloves – but as a bonus you probably won’t be replacing your skin. Which is the overriding bonus of wearing good gloves.
The TLD Sprint comes in a range of sizes and colours, and Troy Lee Designs sure know plenty about how a glove should fit, so see your local dealer and try some on. If you have chosen to be gloveless, try them out. See if you prefer using gloves as opposed to being gloveless and skinless when things go wrong!