FCL Drawstring Gauntlet - Unlined

Featured Reviews:

View all reviews »

Review this product
- Watch for it... your review could be in the newsletter!

Don't shrink your gloves, but if you do ..., 2009-05-03

by James Rowe from Hanover, Ontario, Canada
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

I started this year of riding with a new pair of gloves. It's not that my predecessors weren't working - they were. It's just that when I had coated them in Montana's oil and placed them on a cookie sheet in the oven to warm up and melt the oil into the leather, I got side tracked on a phone call. The unique smell coming from our kitchen denoted the end of my gloves. Now, they were, "baby Lee Parks."

So.., this year I purchased a pair of the Fox Creek FCL Drawstring Gauntlets - Unlined. Very, very nice, to say the least.

I chose the unlined over the lined as I had found that the lined gloves at the peak of our warm weather were too hot causing my hands to sweat. I began riding this year in mid March, in-between snow falls and sunny days. One week lovely at 10 Celsius the next a freak snow storm and then melted. This is quite common for Spring in my area of the province.

During the months of March and April I wore a pair of one-size fits all knitted gloves as a liner inside my new FCLs. One practice I have heard about, but have not yet tried, is to put the knitted glove on followed by a surgical glove and then my leather glove. With just the two glove combination I was good for about an hour in the colder weather and then required a coffee break to warm up the fingers before continuing my mission.

Of late, that is - this May, I find the gloves just right for my every day use. Rain or shine I ride to the Hardware store where I work. The fit is awesome and the dexterity required to pick up a Looney (Canadian one dollar coin) is easy. Locating keys inside my Fox Creek Reflective jacket pockets has been without difficulty. I have grown to appreciate the gauntlets especially during the deluge last weekend that Mary-Anne, my wife, and I got caught in. The gloves were soaked yet retained both body heat and a sensitive grip on the controls throughout the ride in the storm.

Also, the "new to me" option is the one handed cuff drawstring that I was able to snug closed whilst on the move during the storm. Once closed off the rain was prohibited from working its way back up my wrists. During cold weather rides it keeps out the back-draft of cold air. And as always, the gauntlet deflects airborne debris, be it stones, sand or bees from impacting exposed flesh and hiding inside my jacket cuffs. Two years ago a yellow jacket wasp found its way into my right jacket cuff. It alerted me repeatedly that I had invaded its territory, all the while as I attempted to maintain proper bike handling protocol to pull over and then get it out of my jacket. It made its point - wear gauntlet gloves. I do without acceptation.

I also treat my new Fox Creek FCL Drawstring Gauntlets with Montana's Oil, only now I use Mary-Anne's hairdryer - when she's not home!

Did you find this review helpful?

View all reviews »