OCTOBER 2023 mbr 101 Like the Fox Defend Race tested elsewhere, the 100% Geomatic has a full spread of (synthetic rubber) TPR bumpers across the top of the glove. They offer a bit of abrasion protection, because if you do happen to ragdoll down the trail it’s an area that can scuff up, and they do protect the polyester material when you’re getting scraped by overgrown trails. However, like a lot of knuckle dusters, they’re more cosmetic than practical. That said, the rest of this glove is absolutely superb. The fit is easily the best here. The Geomatic has a single Clarino palm and it literally hugs the contours. The fingers are anatomically shaped, there’s no bunching, you get a decent-sized sweat wipe and, while the touchscreen stitching is a little high on the thumb and finger, it works. The glove also has a moulded neoprene cuff that sits flat against the wrist, and there’s a reinforced pull tag to help you get it on. It’s a little tight initially, but it loosens up. The Geomatic comes in black, so won’t show the dirt, but there are also four other colours to choose from. The best gloves are the ones that don’t feel like you are wearing them, and out of the 12 gloves here, the Geomatic has the most natural fit and ride feel. A truly stunning trail glove that’s fully recommended. This is an updated version of the Transition trail glove we have tested previously. It’s still a pull-on model, but it ditches the openended design for a simple elasticated cuff. This sits flat against the wrist, but it’s really tight and you do have to fight your way in. The single-layer perforated construction boosts breathability and means you don’t get sweaty palms, but the fit is not quite as figure-hugging as the 100% Geomatic. It feels great on the bar, but it can bunch in the palm and lower finger areas. To boost breathability further, the whole back of the glove is a mesh-type material, a lot like the Troy Lee Designs in construction, but without the reinforcement. It runs cool, but one glove is already slightly damaged after a detour through the undergrowth. The thumb gets a microfibre sweat wipe, but it’s not particularly large, although you can use the back because it does dry quickly. All fingers are touchscreen compatible, and there’s a bit of silicone print to stop the brake lever slipping through your fingers. Although the Transition is hard to get on, the fit is pretty generous, and it does ride light. The best thing about this glove is the price, and that’s even before it’s discounted. A rock-solid glove at a rock-bottom price – fully recommended. 100% GEOMATIC £ 3 3 .9 9 SPECIFICATION Weight: 58g (pair) • Sizes: S-XXL • Contact: silverfish-uk.com 7IDP TRANSITION £ 2 4 .9 9 SPECIFICATION Weight: 36g (pair) • Sizes: XS-XL • Contact: 7idp.co.uk TEST WINNER!
102 mbr OCTOBER 2023 You can read the name of the Troy Lee Designs Air glove in two ways – it’s lighter than air or it’s highly breathable. It’s not quite the lightest glove on test, but it is one of the best vented, because the back is a micro-mesh material with tiny pin-holes to boost airflow. The Air also comes with a single-layer palm with laser-perforated holes for further breathability. Troy Lee keeps the protection to a minimum, opting for small Sonic Welded TPR (thermoplastic rubber) patches on the back of the fingers, but to be honest they’re only a token gesture. What we like about the Air is its figure-hugging fit, and the mini Velcro closure that lets you pull it apart to plug your hand in. There’s also a grip tab on the heel of the hand to help pull it on without tearing the material. Other features include a compressionmoulded cuff that extends onto the wrist, silicone print to enhance brake lever traction and touchscreen compatibility. There’s no sweat wipe, but being perforated on both sides the glove does wick quickly. The sizing is small and it’s a little flimsy – don’t expect it to last forever – but there’s no bunching at the palm and it almost feels like you’re not wearing a glove at all. In that sense, it does feel like you’re riding on air. As you can see from the weight, the TSG (Technical Safety Gear) Slim is one of the lightest full-finger trail gloves on test. Everything is cut to the bone – it’s a simple pull-on with a short elasticated cuff and reinforced tag to help ease it on. The back is a highly ventilated, four-way stretch Lycra, with a stretch elastane between the fingers to aid the fit. It has a soft, one-piece synthetic leather palm, with perforations down the fingers – both the finger and thumb are also touchscreen compatible, and the latter also gets a large Terry Towelling sweat wipe. The Slim is easy to pull on, but it sits quite low and exposed at the cuff, and the seam is also a bit rough and ready, so doesn’t feel particularly comfortable when bending the wrist. We also experienced a tiny bit of bunching in the palm and fingers, but our real worry is the amount of palm wear after just one ride, and there were also a few nicks on the Lycra backs too. With its ultra-lightweight construction and large sweat wipe, the Slim is the glove you’d pick on a hot day, as it really does feel like a second skin. However, if you’re heavy-handed, don’t expect this glove to last. TROY LEE DESIGNS AIR £ 3 4 .9 9 SPECIFICATION Weight: 40g (pair) • Sizes: S-XXL • Contact: saddleback.co.uk TSG SLIM £ 2 9.9 9 SPECIFICATION Weight: 34g (pair) • Sizes: XXS-XL • Contact: ridetsg.com
OCTOBER 2023 mbr 103 Conclusion Top of the pile: 100% Geomatic Price Weight Sizes Contact Rating Dainese HGR MTB £44.95 64g (pair) XXS-XXL windwave.co.uk Endura MT500 D3O £49.99 58g (pair) XS-XXL endurasport.com Fasthouse Speed Style Blaster £34.99 72g (pair) S-XXL fasthouse.co.uk Fist Handwear Chapter 21 £32.99 60g (pair) XXS-XXL freewheel.co.uk Fox Defend Race £39.99 52g (pair) S-XXL foxracing.co.uk Giant Transfer £26.99 34g (pair) S-XL giant-bicycles.com Leatt MTB 3.0 Lite £38 32g (pair) S-XL hotlines-uk.com Muc-Off Rider £29.99 84g (pair) XS-XXL muc-off.com 100% Geomatic £33.99 58g (pair) S-XXL silverfish-uk.com 7Idp Transition £24.99 36g (pair) XS-XL 7idp.co.uk Troy Lee Designs Air £34.99 40g (pair) S-XXL saddleback.co.uk TSG Slim £29.99 34g (pair) XXS-XL ridetsg.com T here are a few schools of thought when it comes to wearing gloves. Some riders prefer the lightest, thinnest gloves possible because they want maximum feel, which sounds totally esoteric but it’s really just a more direct connection with the bike. Other riders want thicker, heavy-duty gloves because they prioritise protection, and actually feel naked without gloves on. It’s the same feeling you get when not wearing a helmet or a seat belt. Obviously, there are plenty of riders in between, with slightly different requirements, but the balance between protection and ride feel is subtly different from rider to rider as it is from glove to glove. The grip/glove/hand interface is also a primary contact point, and it’s how we control the bike, so if that’s right you will ride better. Regardless of where you stand, you want the glove to be comfortable, durable, easy to get into and good value – all of the things that we’ve talked about in this test. We’ve given lower scores to the TSG Slim, Muc-Off Rider and Giant Transfer because they felt flimsy and had a poor fit. They’re good-value gloves, especially the Rider, and they look great, but instead of enhancing the ride experience they impeded it. If that sounds somewhat subjective, that’s because we all have an individual preference when it comes to contact points. On the next rung of the ladder, there are a couple of better-performing gloves, but there was often a key detail that stopped them getting a higher mark. In the case of the Dainese HGR MTB and Endura MT500, they’re just a tad too expensive. The Fasthouse is too aggressive, and some gloves like the Fox Defend Race and Fist Handwear Chapter 21 were good all-rounders, but they just didn’t really sparkle in any one department. It’s not that these gloves are bad, it’s just there are better options here. Top-tier gloves include the 7iDP Transition, which is an absolute bargain, and the Leatt MTB 3.0 Lite, which is one of the best-feeling gloves if you can get it on. Obviously there’s also our test winner, the 100% Geomatic. It combines the best of all the gloves but also covers both of the extremes we talked about earlier – it feels thin, but also has a decent amount of protection. It’s also easy to get into, doesn’t ride up when you do and has the best fit. When we rode in this glove we really felt part of the bike. It ticks all the performance boxes and is also pretty good value, making it easily the best on test. TEST WINNER!
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UK riders put in fantastic performances to come away with gold and bronze medals in the DH and XC events at the MTB World Championships in Scotland last month. So I thought I’d take a look at which discipline ‘won’ in terms of how they looked on the day and what the potential impacts of that on the sport as a whole might be going forward. RESULTS With Charlie Hatton taking gold, Laurie Greenland taking bronze, and Louise Ferguson and Phoebe Gale in fourth and fifth, UK riders had a storming set of results in the Elite DH in Fort William. Aimi Kenyon bagged a fourth in the Junior women’s event too. A few days later, Tom Pidcock and Evie Richards took bronze in the XCC short track races in Glentress. Tom followed up with a dominant win in the full XCO race, mirroring the field-crushing charge of Charlie Aldridge in the U23 XCO race. COURSE You’d think it would be a foregone conclusion that the legendary Fort Bill DH course would run away with the ‘win’ in terms of spectacle too. Heading down from the brutal rocks and boardwalk of Aonach Mòr, into the steep and technical wood section – made even more treacherous with increasingly wet conditions – and finishing with the send-fest of ‘The Motorway’, it’s clearly a super-challenging track, even if you’ve never watched mountain biking before. However, I’ve never seen an XC track look gnarlier than Glentress did here. Understandably, the camera coverage honed in on the near-vertical boulders of the ‘Salmon Ladder’ and the intimidating block-rock-built gap jump but there were also lots of log hops, 106 mbr OCTOBER 2023 XC and DH go head-to-head but the fight for media coverage is no zero-sum game mbr Opinion: Whoreally won the World Championships? S T R A I G H T T O R Q U I N G WHO IS GUY KESTEVEN? Guy Kesteven spent the ’90s thrashing hardtails round God’s Own Country before stepping up to bike testing. After four decades on the job he’s graduated to mbr. Most likely spotted shouting into his GoPro somewhere in Yorkshire Yorkshire flag around his face just before the finish line. When it came to the finish-line celebrations though, Charlie definitely smashed it, with his joy and disbelief being shared with Atherton team-mate and silver medal winner Andreas Kolb. A big contrast to a visibly relieved Tom Pidcock bitching about loose gears haunting him through the last laps. ACCESSIBILITY From a thrill seeker’s point of view, downhill looks a lot more fun too. You get a lift to the top of the hill and then mostly freewheel down to the finish doing skids and jumps like a kid. You get to wear a full-face helmet and cool MX-style gear too. That’s a big contrast with the clearly type-two fun of XC, with its gurning riders in awkwardly tight Lycra and roadie lids. On the other hand, people might watch DH for the crashes, carnage and adrenaline, but they have no intention of having a go themselves. Even if they did, you need to have a full-face helmet to ride Fort Bill, and a DH bike would be wise. Neither of which you can hire at Fort William like at some DH venues. Compare that to XC, where the kit and bikes look close enough to ‘normal cycling’ to reassure novices. Anyone could give the Glentress course a go. ATTITUDE While obvious effort might put some people off watching and participating, loads of people watch athletics or marathon running as a spectacle and end up downloading a ‘couch to 5k’ app and getting stuck in themselves. This broader appeal is backed up by the fact that far more people watch XC compared to DH globally too, and it’s the same with bike sales. The fact that XC is looking more fun with each event, while DH looks increasingly intimidating, is surely a big factor going forward too. I think that takes the score so far to two all plus a score draw. At the risk of ending on a cheesy note, one thing is definitely clear: more mountain biking coverage of any sort has got to be an overall win for our sport. bermed flow trails and taxing rooty sections. Ironically, though, it was a flat gravel corner near the finish that was pivotal to both races. In the men’s Elite XCC, Pidcock carved Luca Schwarzbaeur’s front wheel out from under him in the last lap, and then in the Elite XCO Mathieu van der Poel washed out on the first lap. COMMENTARY Trying to appeal to both fanatical fans and first-time watchers is a really hard balance to strike. The Eurosport/Discovery team definitely took the win in both DH and XC broadcasts compared to the BBC crew, so I guess that’s a score draw for the different disciplines there. The UK XC riders definitely got way more consistent air time because they were in the mix throughout, not just sitting on the hot seat in the final stages. Patriotic viewers would no doubt have been frothing watching Charlie and Tom pull away to dominant wins with equally dominant coverage, and extra bonus comedy points when Pidcock accidentally wrapped a The UK XC riders definitely got way moreconsistentair time because they werein themixthroughout
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