Rapha Classic Gloves Review

These full-fingered gloves from Rapha have quite a different feel to any other cycling gloves you might try. Slipping them on you feel like you should be getting ready to drive a classic MG rather than ride a bike. They have a great soft feel, the leather palms in particular are beautifuly made and surprisingly supple.

The gloves are thinner and more grippy than most full winter gloves, which definitely helps to give a better feel on the bars and better control of the gears and brakes. Despite the thin construction they are warm enough for most UK autumn and winter conditions, and only when the temperature has been around freezing have I wanted something warmer.

There’s not a lot of padding in these gloves, just a small pad on the palm. This suits me as I think it gives a better feel. The gloves also have a close, fitted feel which works well without being constricting or making the gloves difficult to take on and off.

The workmanship on these gloves is first rate, with details like the stitching on the palms telling you that you’re dealing with a high quality product.

One area where these gloves may suffer in the longer term is durability. They are great as “sunday best” but I’m not sure how they’d stand up to a winter’s worth of commuting. I’ve had mine for a few weeks and whilst they’re not showing any serious wear I can see some minor pilling on the ends of the fingers that I’ll need to keep an eye on. Also, whilst the supple leather palms are great when new, I do wonder how they’ll stand up to things like repeatedly getting wet (these are autumn/winter gloves after all).

As you’d expect from Rapha, these are expensive gloves at £80, although you can find them discounted to £40 and I’d definitely recommend them at that price.

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