Best Waterproof Road Bike Gloves

No matter what kind of bike you’re riding, comfort is essential. If you’re a road bike enthusiast, it should be among your top concerns. When it comes to comfort, the bike seat plays the most essential role – sure, the handlebar and the frame pattern need attention, but they’re nowhere near as vital as a comfortable seat.

The choice of the road bike seat is probably the most personal one – people have various anatomy types and riding styles. The best road bike seat will provide maximum amounts of comfort for long rides. Still, you’re going to have to do a lot of research before settling for a particular model.

5 Best Waterproof Road Bike Gloves on the Market

INBIKE Thermal Gel Pads

With these gloves, you get both a loop and a snap fastener. Plus, they feature a closure at the wrists. This makes sure that no wind or water will pass through the cracks, if you secure the INBIKE Thermals properly.

Even if you’re wearing a winter coat, these gloves will fit perfectly. This is more important than you’d think – adjusting your winter coat while cycling in windy and wet conditions is the last thing you want to have to do. These INBIKE gloves are equipped with reflective surfaces that enhance visibility.

The gloves are completely windproof, but that doesn’t mean much if they aren’t water-repellent. If your gloves get wet, the wind will creep its way in, completely negating the fact that you’re wearing gloves. Fortunately, INBIKE Thermal Gel Pads are both windproof and waterproof, meaning that your hands are going to be nice and warm during rides in unpleasant weather conditions.

The gel padding is important for vibration absorption – after hours spent on the road, you’ll want something to dampen the annoying vibrations. You definitely won’t want to feel every crack in the road. Also, these pads provide a better grip.

Giro DND

For some people, control and dexterity are vital – if too many vibrations get absorbed, they feel disconnected from their ride. This leads to a loss of focus. Giro DND are quality road bike gloves that don’t have too much padding. They’re lightweight, offer a fantastic grip, and work well on and off the road.

However, Giro DND aren’t winter gloves and they aren’t trying to be. Definitely warmer than your fingerless gloves, they won’t keep you warm as some mountaineering gloves would. However, as a road cyclist, you aren’t likely to find too many situations where these gloves won’t do the trick.

Besides, a lack of padding isn’t necessarily a bad thing here. It actually offers breathability, making sure that your hand doesn’t get too sweaty and compromises your ride handling.

The lack of full-on padding doesn’t mean that these gloves aren’t grippy. In fact, they offer more grip than most fully-padded options.

Don’t worry, even though Giro DND gloves are breathable, they’re absolutely waterproof. Plus, they slip easily on your hand, and you don’t need to tighten anything. But the tight-fit that these gloves offer means that no water will squeeze through the cracks and into the glove itself.

These gloves feature an incredibly thin feel, but are tough enough to protect you from low-hanging branches.

Dakine Cross X

Dakine Cross X gloves weren’t made with road biking in mind. However, they do surprisingly well in the road cycling department.

Originally, Dakine Cross X gloves were intended for bike trails. They feature knuckle protectors and palm padding, which are ideal for tough terrain vibrations and the protection from low branches and bushes.

However, thanks to the four-way stretch fabric, these gloves work brilliantly on the road, over much more forgiving terrain.

The adjustable hook-and-loop Velcro fasteners allow for various adjustment options, which is very convenient for road biking in various conditions.

If you’re on the road and need to consult your smartphone, you don’t have to take these gloves off – they’re touchscreen-friendly.

Dakine Cross X gloves boast moisture-wicking technology that not only makes them waterproof, but also keeps the backside of the gloves as dry as possible. The palm padding is made out of foam, which provides about enough vibration protection to help you stay in touch with your bike’s handling.

The fingertips on these gloves are lined with silicone grippers, which allow for maximum control over your vehicle. This can also be a literal lifesaver when it comes to sudden braking in wet conditions.

Giro 100 Proof

This is a lobster-like glove that groups two fingers into two compartments, with a separate one for your thumb. Although this has a lot of downsides when it comes to regular glove usage, on the road, in wet and cold conditions, you’ll be happy that you’re wearing Giro 100 Proof gloves.

The logic behind this strange finger grouping is that it allows better heat circulation, keeping your fingers warm. Either way, you’re using your thumb to shift gears and likely your index and middle fingers to brake while on your bike. You can do all of this with these gloves because of the convenient, lobster-like grouping.

Although there is a loss of dexterity with these gloves, and despite the fact that you’re going to have to pull over to send a text message or make a phone call, it’s when you take them off that you realize how great they are at insulating your hands. So great, in fact, that your hands are going to feel sweaty and toasty.

This also says a lot about the 100’s insulation capabilities. If they didn’t insulate the rider’s hands as well as they do, they’d be far more prone to the cold. Not with Giro 100s, though!

Fox Ranger

The Fox Ranger gloves do the job. They’re a no-nonsense product, that doesn’t brag about a wide variety of crazy features. The palm and fingers are made from polyester and contain minimal padding. Road cyclists like coverage, but they don’t want to feel sweaty during long rides. They like padding, but they’d still like to feel the road beneath them.

Somehow, the Fox Ranger gloves achieve the perfect balance here. They feature the Ranger Gel stablemate padding, which isn’t very thick padding, but it will help prevent any blisters. They also feature breathable protection that each glove is lined with.

To help you attain the perfect levels of safety on the road, the Fox Rangers have a silicone grip finish on the fingertips. This lining ensures that you’ll always be able to quickly respond in tight situations and hit those brakes effectively.

The thumb and forefingers on Fox Rangers are touchscreen-friendly, which is something you definitely want in a road bike glove. You don’t want to have to pull over every time you need to use your smartphone or, even worse – to take your gloves off while riding; this is a safety hazard.

Buyer’s Guide

Every product from this list makes for a fantastic road bike glove in its own right. However, not everyone’s needs are the same and knowing what you’re looking for in a road bike glove pair is paramount. Here are some features to pay attention to when making your choice between the best waterproof road bike gloves.

Materials

Cycling gloves are usually made out of synthetic materials, such as polyester, fleece, polypropylene, acrylic, etc. Often, a blend of different materials is used.

Polyester boasts sweat-wicking and high breathability. Polyester gloves, however, aren’t completely waterproof and windproof. That said, most polyester gloves have a waterproofing feature located at the backside of the glove. This makes sure that your hands remain as dry as possible.

Acrylic is a material that’s stretchy, warm, and breathable. Unfortunately, it doesn’t do much in terms of water resistance or waterproofing, so the acrylic gloves are usually accompanied by another material on the backside.

If you’re looking for gloves suitable for not too harsh roadside conditions, check out polyester and acrylic gloves.

On the other spectrum, you have fleece, a material that insulates perfectly and keeps your hands warm. It’s also known as microfiber. However, microfiber gloves aren’t very breathable, which is the entire point. Fleece gloves are the best waterproof road bike gloves for cold and wet conditions.

Polypropylene is a material that does a fantastic job at protecting your hands from wind and rain. When it comes to moisture management, though, it’s not ideal.

Comfort

In regards to waterproof road bike gloves and comfort, it depends on what you’re looking for. Maybe “comfort” for you means warmth and coziness. Maybe it means breathability. Perhaps you’re looking for a glove that will let your fingers roam freely.

Padding also has a lot to do with comfort. On long bike trips on the road, you’re going to get sick of all that vibration. Then again, you’ll want to stay in touch with the road you’re rolling on. Finding a glove that’s the middle ground here will do the trick.

Protection

In addition to the protection from the cold, a waterproof road bike glove should protect you from things such as low-hanging branches and bushes. This is why many cyclist gloves offer knuckle padding that will absorb hits up to a point. In fact, in some cases, this padding can help you avoid serious hand injuries. You don’t want to end up stuck in the middle of the road with a broken finger.

Protection, however, often compromises your comfort, so a perfect balance needs to be achieved here. On the other hand, this padding plays an important role in waterproofing your knuckle, which is the part of the hand that’s exposed to wet weather conditions on the road.

Depending on where you intend to go cycling, choose a glove with sufficient knuckle protection.

Durability

You want your waterproof road bike glove to last. First of all, although they aren’t too expensive, they’ll still set you back some. But cycling gloves are an integral part of a cyclist’s equipment.

Secondly, every single glove undergoes wear and tear; this process isn’t a “true/false” thing. Your gloves don’t become unusable overnight. It’ll start slowly. Maybe you’ll feel some water seeping into your glove. Maybe you’ll see a tear or two, a rogue thread here and there. This can ultimately lead to a freezing ride before you decide to get new gloves. Or, it may result in an injury, even.

So, buying a high-quality pair that will last you for a long time is essential. Fortunately, every item on this list is highly durable.

Fit

Some gloves are a tight fit and don’t even need to be strapped. Others are a looser fit, emphasizing warmth circulation and thickness. There are many gloves all across this spectrum.

There isn’t a rule on which fit is the best for waterproof gloves. Although thicker gloves usually offer more protection from water, this mostly boils down to the material type – some tight-fit gloves will be completely waterproof, while a thicker pair may let some water squeeze through.

Some gloves don’t protect your wrists, while others do. The former is a relief during warm months, while the latter is greatly needed during the winter.

All in all, choose your fit depending on what you need from your waterproof road bike gloves of choice.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking for a glove to protect you on your bike during harsh weather, the INBIKE Thermal Gel Pads should be your weapon of choice. They’re waterproof, windproof, and very durable. They also offer an excellent grip, brilliant padding, and reflective surfaces. Being a loose fit, they’re very comfy, warm, and cozy. They’ll keep your hands protected, warm, and safe.

If a warm loose fit isn’t something you’re looking for, you’re bound to find a perfect match for you on this list. However, there isn’t a solution that will cover all weather conditions and all cycling needs.