Rapha Pro Team Softshell Gloves
We all hate cold hands while riding. Rapha has sent us the Pro Team Soft Shell Gloves that 'offer superlative protection'. We've been testing them is some nasty conditions to see how they perform.
Words - Brendan Edwards
Photography - Andrew Clifforth
ABOUT
Rapha prides itself in creating products for the road rider that are stylish and which offer fantastic performance. Today we are taking a look at Rapha’s Pro Team Softshell Gloves.
QUALITY & STYLE
Rapha has done a great job with the design of these gloves. Rapha boasts that their Pro Team Soft Shell gloves are designed for the finest in protection, comfort and control.
They have a perforated synthetic palm to provide great control while on the bike and offer the wearer greater dexterity when taking food from pockets. The gloves are advertised as allowing you to use touchscreen devices such as your bike computer and phone.
The long cuffs prevent exposed skin below jacket cuffs, keep the rider warmer and helping you improve your performance.
RIDE
Melbourne had its coldest winter week in over 2 decades. It was a horrible week in many ways, although ideal to test these gloves.
The gloves were tested in a variety of cold conditions that ranged between negative 2 degrees up to 7 degrees. We found that the Rapha Pro Team Softshell Gloves to be light to wear, but still felt quite strong.
When descending at higher speeds we found that they offered great wind protection and comfort. The gloves are easy to put on and take off, offer great dexterity and we had no trouble changing gears, braking etc. We were also able to search around and take items out of back pockets without much ado.
We did find that once temperatures fell below 4 degrees, the softshell gloves started struggle to keep the fingers warm, we’d say that a liner or thermal type glove should be worn instead once you get to these temperatures.
Rapha advertise that you can use these gloves with touchscreens. We found that the gloves worked well on our Garmin computer, but had difficulty using touchscreen phones. The gloves were tested on an iPhone 5 and on a Samsung Galaxy 5. Occasionally the screen would react to a touch of the glove, but in most instances was pretty ineffective.
SIZING
Six Sizes - XXS, XS, S, M, L, XL
PRICE
At $110, these are targeted at the road rider that is looking for quality and performance.
WHERE TO BUY
Head to Rapha’s online store – www.rapha.cc
OVERALL
I found that these gloves offered me the comfort and protection that I’ve usually found from bulkier and heavier gloves. I actually forgot that I was wearing them at times, as they were pretty comfortable.
They didn't work on my touchscreen phones, however I am still to find a pair of gloves that work effectively with phones. These gloves offer a high level of quality and performance and I could tell they would be great for racing and endurance riding.
I found that they aren't ideal for really freezing conditions, but when the mercury goes below 4 degrees I usually wear two pairs of gloves anyway.
SPECIFICATIONS
- Softshell fabric
- Padded palms
- Touchscreen fingertips
- Minimal seams
- High-dexterity fit
