Light, comfortable in use, and with good quality stitching, I’m finding it hard to fault these Buffalo gloves. I’ve used them in almost 40 degree heat and been grateful for the air-flow provided by all the perforations. Interestingly these are not on every digit as many similar gloves are and the moulding on the back of the hand does not act as an airscoop even though it may appear to. The leather on the thumb, fore and middle fingers have plenty of air holes, but both the third and fourth fingers are only perforated underneath, on the bar grip side. In use I’m not conscious that these ‘palm side’ holes make a difference, however I never suffered from sweaty fingers or any difficulty extracting my hands after a long hot ride, or even having negotiated heavy city traffic.
Of course the palm of the hand itself is protected by a complete layer of leather (doubled in high wear places, such as the underside of the first knuckles) and is pleasantly comfortable without the use of extra padding. The only padding is that which is in place for the scaphoid at the base of the wrist. There is a wee bit of velcro cuff adjustment but I never used it and even in the UK find myself just pulling them on and riding.
Perhaps it’s a feature of the limited perforations, but even at altitude – I was riding the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan – my hands didn’t get cold. Yes, it was the summer, but at 4,500m it can be pretty nippy and yet I never felt inclined to reach for my silk under gloves. I just continued to feel comfortable. There’s that word ‘comfortable’ again, a fairly benign and yet accurate descriptor for these gloves and perhaps that’s the most important thing. They aren’t all bells and whistles, but when I’m travelling I don’t want to think about anything other than the travel and the challenges the road ahead my bring, so perhaps it is high praise to say they just fade into the background and I barely realised I was wearing them.
Available in blue, red or all black, the colour is only on three fingers and a little stripe around the cuff.
Sizes are S,M,L,XL,2XL and as a medium chap of 5’11” I chose L, so the sizing seems accurate, but the fingers are too wide so try before you buy!
£32.99
More info is available here
