GribGrab Shark Gloves
Gloves – they come in varying shapes, sizes and materials for different ride conditions and types of riding. Not everyone likes riding with gloves on year round, but since your hands are one of the first things you thrust out to arrest your fall in the event you come off your bike then its far better to trash a pair of gloves than the skin on your hands!
Onto the gloves in hand – if you’ll pardon the pun; the Shark gloves by Danish company GripGrab are a lightweight full-fingered offering that they bill as a mtb glove. However, having worn these for both road and trail riding, I’d say they work well for any kind of cycling activity, and would be the perfect choice for the cooler spring days where its not quite warm enough to go fingerless, but too warm for thicker winter gloves. The thin soft mesh material across the back of the glove keeps the chill off nicely, and flexes with your hand as you tighten your grip on the handlebars.
The backs of the index and middle fingers come tipped with faux suede as a little added protection from the wind, since these are the fingers that will be more exposed to the elements to operate gears and brakes as you ride, and the little finger has a small reflective detail for a flash of brightness when caught in the light.
The thumb of the glove, from wrist to tip on the back is a soft brushed fabric; GripGrab call this the sweat wiper, and whilst it’s certainly useful for that, we all know its really for dealing with the ride induced sniffles we’re all prone too that aren’t quite worthy of a snot torpedo (if you’ve managed to master that skill) – and very gentle it is on the nose too!
Flipping the hand over, the glove is constructed of soft faux suede panels, cleverly designed to perfectly fit the contours of the palm so that there’s no bunching of material as you close your grip. The 4mm DoctorGel padding positioned over the heel of the hand and middle of the palm adds extra comfort to a ride, helping to absorb a little of the shock from the handlebars, and there’s a small amount of padding around the hook of the thumb where your hand would nestle into the hoods or flat bar, which is another nice touch.
A few more added extras are the silicon grip details on the tips of the thumb, index and middle fingers, so no more butter-fingers when handling your gadgetry with gloved hands. Another unexpected bonus is that the gloves are touch screen compatible, which I can confirm, all five fingers (well four fingers and a thumb if you want to be pedantic) working well; which is great for operating your smartphone whilst out on a ride. No more fiddling about taking gloves on and off to text, answer calls or takes photos! There’s also a tiny magnet hidden away on the wrist of each glove, which is really handy for keeping them paired together when not in use.
On the whole these are a very well thought out, well made pair of gloves that will see you through cooler days in comfort, until it’s time to be bare fingered once more. I’d definitely recommend them and they easily achieve five stars for quality, comfort and performance.