In this article my focus is providing you a list of the very best men’s summer cycling gloves.
I can clearly remember that when I started with road cycling in my late teens, I thought there was only one version of cycling gloves. They’re still sold today, but are definitely considered retro, with their knitted upper construction.
Road cycling gloves have definitely come a long way since. And as with all other cycling related products, cycling gloves have become much more diverse and niche-specific, catering to different needs from different riders.
Though I favor well-padded more bulky gloves, simply because I’m used to them, I understand the trend towards minimal no-feel type gloves, which have very little padding at all, if any. So you’ll find both of those on this list, as well as a couple of full finger gloves thrown in.
From summer cycling gloves made entirely from leather, to a mixture of gloves with leather palms and lightweight synthetic upper mesh, to fully synthetic versions, I’ve researched and included them here.
Up until now, picking out gloves was something of trial and error, and I simply stuck to those brands that prove themselves through the years. Since running this site, I no longer do that, and you can make sure this list of the best men’s summer cycling gloves features top-of-line picks available on the market today.
Castelli Rosso Corsa Espresso Gloves
The Castelli Rosso Corsa Espresso Gloves is a lightweight allround summer glove with padding.
All Castelli gloves, including this one, feature padding sitting in close proximity of the ulnar nerve. Furthermore the glove features padding with every touch point your hands make with your handlebars.
I know from personal experience that if you favor padding in your cycling gloves, the comfort in Castelli gloves is virtually unmatched. And this very well designed, allround road cycling glove is one of the best options.
- Ulnar nerve protection, padding on entire palm, best lightweight all-round option
- None
Castelli Endurance Gloves
The Castelli Endurance Gloves are very similar to the Rosso Corsa gloves.
The difference is in the material of the upper construction, which makes the glove a little bit lighter and cooler. Castelli calls it Endurance Evolution fabric, and this extra padded glove is meant to be used in long-distance touring in hot conditions.
The light gloves don’t have a large cuff, which could dig into your hands. This might make them just a tad more difficult to remove.
With padding covering almost the entirety of the synthetic palm, including the whole thumb, they do indeed provide comfort for those who are more quickly afflicted by hand pain.
- Best for hot conditions, fantastic long ride glove, padding on entire palm
- Difficult to remove
Castelli Arenberg Gel 2 Gloves
The Italian Castelli Arenberg Gel 2 gloves are nice-looking gloves, which are being offered in a variety of colors besides your standard black. They feature the Castelli Damping System (CDS) padding, which protects part of the ulnar nerve running through your hand.
I would consider the padding to be medium, which means your grip on the handlebar remains firm and it doesn’t really feel like you’re wearing a padded glove.
As with all my gloves I buy them a size smaller to prevent creasing between palms and handlebar. The cuff is closed with a velcro strap.
The glove has an extended lip to put them on. There’s also a tiny bit of excess cloth between the middle 3 fingers, meant for removing the gloves, which I never use, since the gloves are easy enough to remove with the strap not fastened.
Overall the glove is extremely comfortable and has the right balance between grip and padding.
- Ulnar nerve protection, extremely easy to remove, great design
- Not the coolest
Giro Supernatural Gloves
The Giro Supernatural Gloves use multi-density padding from the Elastic Interface Palm Technology.
Elastic Interface is a company whose core focus is on the development and production of paddings, which makes this glove the most tech-oriented one in this lineup.
This type of padding is anatomically molded with zero stitches and various layers of stiffness. The softest around the sensitive area where the ulnar nerve resides.
The result is an extremely comfortable glove, with an extraordinary fit. I’ve been using Castelli for a long time, but for those less brand-sensitive than me, this is the glove I would buy.
- Fantastic fit, lightweight no-feel glove
- None
Giro Zero CS Gloves
The Giro Zero CS Gloves are non-padded minimal road cycling gloves with a friendly price.
For people who want to experiment with highly breathable lightweight non-padded gloves, the Zero CS are a good starting point because they don’t break the bank.
Offered in a number of colors they are simple and effective gloves. With a Coolskin microfiber palm and four-stretch mesh as the upper construction.
The pull-on cuff has a reinforced lip to prevent tearing, and the entire glove fits snugly, but is still easy to pull off.
They come in a variety of colors.
- Affordable, highly breathable
- None
Giro Bravo Gel Gloves
If you’re used to padding but don’t want to dig too deep into your wallet, the Giro Bravo Gel Gloves are a perfect solution for your summer rides.
The gloves feature a durable AX Suede® synthetic leather palm. This material is highly durable, so the price notwithstanding, these gloves will last you a long time.
The design is simple and nice, with a plethora of colors to choose from.
The gloves with perfectly, don’t bunch with the hands on the bar, and have a velcro closure on the cuff.
Two finger tabs are made from reflective material.
Not as minimal as the Zero CS and with padding, but if that’s more your kind of thing, these gloves will prove to be worth your money.
- Affordable, durable, padded
- None
Giro LX Gloves
The gorgeous Giro LX bicycle gloves come in three colors: black, white, and tan. And the punctured upper gives them a retro look. Especially when choosing the tan version, it would perfectly complement a vintage road or touring bike.
These full gloves are made of high-quality Pittards leather and offer thick padding to relieve pressure from the ulnar nerve and the inside of the thumb for brake levers used on road bikes.
It’s one of the very few summer gloves that are almost entirely made out of leather, which explains the price tag. And it’s one of the best-looking and most comfortable padded leather gloves money can buy.
- Made from leather, gorgeous vintage look
- More delicate than synthetic options, pricey
Giro Monaco II Gel Gloves
The Giro Monaco II Gel gloves are superbly comfortable gloves in a number of great-looking colors.
The entire palm of the glove is made of high-quality Pittards leather. This type of leather combines all the necessary characteristics you need in a premium cycling glove. Comfort, grip, durability and breathability.
The fingerless Monica II Gel glove is the perfect companion for your summer rides. The Pittards leather ensures perspiration has the ability to escape, while the mesh upper creates both a snug fit that’s still airy and comfortable.
Giro’s Technogel provides added comfort that takes out road buzz and adds comfort as well, without the rider losing feel with the bike.
- Leather palm, very well-padded palm
- None
Hirzl Gripp Tour SF 2.0 Gloves
The Hirzl Gripp Tour SF 2.0 gloves are a more minimalistic fingerless option for summer cycling.
Unlike Pittards leather, which comes from sheep, Hirzl uses Kangaroo leather, exploiting its natural strength to create a pure road-feel glove with minimal padding.
Swiss based Hirzl is an expert in the field of glove fabrication and it shows in all their cycling gloves, which exudes a premium quality wrapped in an understated yet gorgeous design.
Small quality details are integrated into the gloves’ design, like the enforced pull-on aid cuff and wrap around kangaroo leather pull-off-flaps. As a true summer glove the upper is made of breathable light lycra.
- Fantastic leather glove
- None
Hirzl Gripp Tour FF 2.0 Gloves
The Hirzl Gripp Tour FF 2.0 Gloves are the full-finger version with the exact same characteristics as the SF version.
The fingers are made of the same kangaroo leather used in the palm, whereas the index finger uses natural leather to aid in the usage of touchscreens.
- Fantastic leather glove
- None
Hirzl Gripp Light SF Gloves
Whereas the Gripp Tour offers some added comfort with the help of padding, The Hirzl Gripp Light SF gloves forgo any kind of padding to maximize grip and feel.
The entire back is made of airtech mesh, enhancing the minimalist approach of a summer glove for those who want to feel as little on their hands as possible.
A true gloveless feel with all the benefits of comfort, breathability and durability that a leather cycling glove has to offer.
- Fantastic leather glove, not padded
- Not padded
Hirzl Gripp Light FF Gloves
The Hirzl Gripp Light FF gloves are the full-finger version with the same characteristics as the SF version.
To keep the glove as light and comfortable temperature-wise as possible, Hirzl has extended the airtech mesh to cover the fingers.
The fingers are made of the same kangaroo leather used in the palm, whereas the index finger uses natural leather to aid in the usage of touchscreens.
- Fantastic leather glove, not padded
- Not padded
Pearl Izumi Select Gloves
The Pearl Izumi Select Gloves is a simple, lightweight summer road cycling glove with gel foam padding on top of a synthetic leather palm.
They are comfortable but superb-fitting gloves for a decent price, and are made in a number of colors. The padding covers almost the entire palm, supplying ample levels of protection against road buzz.
The short cuff has a velcro strap to close it tightly around the wrist. The velcro closure makes removing them easier, even with sweaty hands,
- Superb fit, affordable
- None
Pearl Izumi Pro Gel Gloves
The Pearl Izumi Pro Gel Gloves is a tight-fit road cycling glove for high-temperature summer rides.
Pearl Izumi favors padding everywhere but the grease between thumb and palm. And they do so onto a durable AX Suede synthetic leather palm.
Black is what you get when you go for these very lightweight and breathable summer gloves.
- Affordable summer glove, lightweight
- None
Pearl Izumi Elite Gel Full Finger Gloves
The Pearl Izumi Elite Gel Full Finger Gloves is a full-finger summer glove with similar padding as the Pro Gel (and fingerless Elite) model.
Since the padding on that model offers a solid amount of comfort, there’s no reason why not to add a full finger to the list as well. Especially if you’re looking for a glove that could also perfectly be used for either gravel riding or mountain biking.
I would like to have seen some other colors as well. But we’ll have to make do with a black one that does have some reflective material in the upper construction. and a velcro strap on a slightly longer than average cuff.
The glove is touchscreen compatible.
- Exceptional fit, well padded
- Single black color
SupaGaz Clarino Long Finger Gloves
The SupaGaz SupaG Long Gloves Gloves are the long fingered version, exactly as the name suggests.
They come in a set of different color options, but just as many and colorful.
A pro of such minimalistic long fingered gloves is that they do work great with touchscreens.
- Minimalistic, great design
- Pricey
SupaGaz Clarino Short Finger Gloves
The SupaGaz SupaG Short Gloves Gloves definitely score points from a design perspective if you ask me. There are many brightly-colored options to choose from. And personally, I don’t shy away from wearing black-gold gloves.
As for the glove itself, they are more narrow-oriented than the other allround summer road gloves on this list. For starters, they don’t have any padding whatsoever. So either this slack should be taken up by your bar tape, you like to do shorter rides, or you simply don’t need as much padding as the average cyclist, preferring bar feel above protection.
Another thing is the one-piece mesh upper doesn’t feature a snot-wipe, let’s call it for what it is. So you wipe your runny nose on a synthetic upper or the long sleeve of your jersey, if it has one.
And these gloves are not meant for people with big hands. They are very tight-fitting gloves. That makes for more than an excellent bar feel, that is if you get your hands in them in the first place. Difficult to get on, also means difficult to get out of.
I don’t mind any of the possible objections I mentioned here and I don’t have big hands. So expect to see me riding in black and gold.
- Minimalistic, great design
- Pricey, non padded, tight fit
Specifications men's summer cycling gloves
Name | Sex | Type | Back | Palm | Padding | Insulation | Season | Buy at Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Castelli Rosso Corsa Espresso Gloves | men | fingerless | mesh | synthetic | gel padding | none | summer | |
Castelli Endurance Gloves | men | fingerless | Endurance Evolution | synthetic suede | extra gel padding | none | summer | |
Castelli Arenberg Gel 2 Gloves | men | fingerless | mesh | synthetic | gel padding | none | summer | |
Giro Supernatural Gloves | men | fingerless | mesh | Elastic Interface® | multi-density padding | none | summer | |
Giro Zero CS Gloves | men | fingerless | woven stretch fabric | Cool Skin™ | none | none | summer | |
Giro Bravo Gel Gloves | men | fingerless | four-way-stretch mesh | AX Suede™ | gel padding | none | summer | |
Giro LX Gloves | men | fingerless | Pittards leather | Pittards leather | 3MM technogel padding | none | summer | |
Giro Monaco II Gel Gloves | men | fingerless | mesh | Pittards leather | 3MM technogel padding | none | summer | |
Hirzl Gripp Tour SF 2.0 Gloves | unisex | fingerless | lycra | kangaroo leather | gel padding | none | summer | |
Hirzl Gripp Tour FF 2.0 Gloves | unisex | full finger | lycra | kangaroo leather | gel padding | none | summer | |
Hirzl Gripp Light SF Gloves | unisex | fingerless | Airtech mesh, lycra | kangaroo leather | none | none | summer | |
Hirzl Gripp Light FF Gloves | unisex | full finger | Airtech mesh, lycra | kangaroo leather | none | none | summer | |
Pearl Izumi Select Gloves | men | fingerless | Nylon stretcch | synthetic leather | gel foam padding | none | summer | |
Pearl Izumi Pro Gel Gloves | men | fingerless | Ax Suede Laredo | gel padding | none | summer | ||
Pearl Izumi Elite Gel Full Finger Gloves | men | full finger | AX Suede™ | gel padding | none | summer | ||
SupaGaz Clarino Long Finger Gloves | unisex | full finger | Lycra | Clarino™ | none | none | summer | |
SupaGaz Clarino Short Finger Gloves | unisex | fingerless | Lycra | Clarino™ | none | none | summer |
Johan van Seijen
FoundeR Restoration.bike
Johan van Seijen is the founder of restoration.bike. His passion for cycling in general, and restoring older bikes turned into a website to share his knowledge with a broader audience. Starting out on his father’s road bike and riding classics as the Amstel Gold Race and Liege Bastogne Liege he has shifted his attention to trail, XC, and gravel riding since. No matter how much he loves writing about everything related to cycling, nothing beats actually using his ever-expanding bicycle collection.
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