Pearl Izumi Divide Glove

When feathering the brakes and chasing Basque MTB’s (LINK) expert guides down flowing singletrack along the Spanish coast, the Divide’s synthetic leather grip provided ample bike feel without overdoing it on padding.

The back of the hands are wrapped in a minimal mesh fabric, which testers appreciated on fire road climbs to hidden downhill trails. That said, that mesh doesn’t have a high tolerance to abrasion; a ride-by run-in with a low-hanging branch left a small rip in one of the gloves and general wear was evident after three weeks of solid use (both in Spain and upon return to the United States). Also, there’s no Velcro strap along the wrist, but as long as you correctly size the glove the elastic cuff shouldn’t be a problem. 

A final note: the thumb and pointer finger sport conductive synthetic leather so that you can check your GPS or take a pic without taking off your gloves. In fact, one of our testers was wielding a DSLR throughout the trip and would regularly shoot on-the-go pics with his gloves on — that is, if they weren’t covered in mud. 

Tester Comment: “A bit more padding would be appreciated when stepping up to bigger terrain, but for most cross-country riding or bikepacking this minimal package is perfect.