Galibier Ardennes Mitt
At last the warmer weather is here, the winter gloves have long been ditched and the hints of sun we've had to date have prompted the fingerless mitts to be located in the kit drawer.
I bought the Galibier Ardennes mitts late autumn last year but didnt really get a chance to use them, so there they were, pristine in the wrapper ready to go.
At the time I was drawn in by the price - rrp of £14.50 and the technical features; nice design, multi panel palm, mesh back, good padding and finger pulls.
Unfortunately after just a few rides these have gone back into the drawer probably never to be worn again, it seems harsh to be so negative but a couple of issues really put me off.
Initially the fit was good, nice and close fitting around the knuckles, palm and fingers both relaxed and in the 'on the bike' position and they look good too.
The problems I experienced though made their use pretty uncomfortable and whilst fit and comfort of clothing is quite personal I did pass them onto my RRR partner and a fellow cyclist at work for their view too, unfortunately it mirrored mine.
The first issue is the finger pulls, there are two stitched into the webbing, one between fore finger and middle and another between ring and little finger. It's the latter which caused the main issue, because the little finger is quite a lot shorter than the others the stitching for the pull rubs against the exposed finger and really irritated me during use.
So much so that I actually took to the gloves with some fine scissors and snipped the offending article out.
Keen to give them another go after removing this part I encountered another issue, when on the tops, hoods or drops any extension of the fingers (to brake or shift gear for example) results in the bottom seam of the glove's pad cutting into your finger webs, this was actually really uncomfortable and tipped me over the edge of not wanting to use the gloves anymore.
I have to say I was pretty disappointed with them, the promises of quality garments at low prices as a result of direct selling don't seem to ring true in this case with a couple of the features not quite hitting the nail on the head in terms of the finished article, which is a shame.
As I said clothing is very personal and I've only had a sample size of three opinions to go on but this review represents my point of view and I'm just highlighting the issues I encountered.