Reviews

Giro Blaze gloves – review

A strong performing autumn and spring glove that'll keep your hands warm and dry in a wide variety of conditions

At this time of year you’re probably thinking about moving to long sleeves and maybe even full leg coverage, but chances are the first thing on your autumn list are full finger gloves. It’s a little early to go full winter, though, so a mid-level set of gloves that don’t boil your hands are a sensible purchase, and that’s what Giro have here.

The Blaze gloves offer a very good level of wind and rain protection for mild to colder conditions. They work really well in typical autumn conditions and managed to keep my hands warm and dry on changeable days.

One thing you’ll notice about the Blaze gloves as soon as you put them on is that the palms take a little while to wear in as initially they’re not all that supple. But after a few hours of use they’d moulded to my palms nicely and were far more comfortable.

The 60 per cent nylon and 40 per cent polyurethane construction of the palms feels almost like stiff leather, and there are two strategically placed pads to look after the softer parts of the hand when they’re on the bars.

There’s a gripper on the palm close above the opening which helps to stop long sleeves from slipping and exposing your wrists to the elements, and also some additional silicone detailing on the fore finger to help with grip. Another smart smaller touch is the soft section on the thumb for wiping your nose or cleaning your glasses (although it’s best not to do both in quick succession!). An elasticated section on the inside of the wrist also helps with getting them on in the first place and helps with a snug fit on the wrist.

Probably the most high tech part of the gloves (well, the only high tech part), is the fact that the palms are made from a material that allows you to operate a smartphone without removing them. It’s a small concession, but one that’s really important if the weather’s really cold or wet, when you really don’t want to be taking the gloves off.

The back of the gloves are made from a flexible softshell material that manages to keep the rain out as well. In fact, it managed that far better than I thought it would and even in a torrential downpour my hands stayed dry which was very impressive indeed. On top of that, it keeps the wind out as well and, helped by the fleeced interior, the gloves worked well down to around 5-6 degrees, which was the lowest I managed to test them in at this time of year. I’d feel confident in saying they’ll probably work a couple of degrees lower as well, but wouldn’t class these as full winter gloves for the very coldest conditions. There’s also some reflective detail on the back of the hand.

Fit is good and probably the only element I’d change are the seams at the end of the fingers as they’re fairly large and can be easily felt, especially when gripping the brake levers. Not a major issue, but something that’s definitely noticeable. The final thing to mention is that the gloves comes in three colours: black, yellow/black and the ‘glowing red’ featured here.

Conclusion

I was impressed by Giro’s Blaze gloves. They offer really good protection against the wind, rain and cold that comes in autumn, spring and on milder winter days, and combine that with the ability to use touchscreen devices even in those grizzly conditions. The seams on the insides of the fingers are the only change I’d make, but other than that it’s a strong showing from Giro. Plus, at £29.99, they’re fair value for money.