Reason #1
Points-of-contact, these are three areas of scrutiny and argument for Velominati; saddles, chamois creme, shoes, socks, handlebar tape so why not gloves?
Picking grit out of your palms is bad.
Yes, it is very bad. The fear of this might be the number one reason people get into the habit of wearing gloves, and it does become a habit, like donning a helmet. And just like picking gravel out of your scalp, which is also very bad, avoiding that activity is worth it. Points of contact on the bike are one thing; points of contact once off the bike are another. So do we wear gloves only to protect our hands if we crash? Or do we wear them to stay more comfortable on the bike?
I’m regretting typing this as I type it but I don’t crash often, once every few years, and usually for stupid self-inflicted reasons. The last two times I have crashed and they were stupid and self-inflicted, both times I came away with nothing more than some light abrasions and a sore hip. I was wearing gloves. But I can’t even say if my hands got involved in either crash; all one understands is sliding across the road in a tangle of limbs, bike and embarrassment. Still, gloves are not uncomfortable to wear. There is no big downside to donning gloves as one kits up.
Racing produces crashing. One would think racing Paris-Roubaix would produce the most crashes yet the number of people racing sans gloves is remarkable. There is Boonen and most of his Quick-Step badass teammates battling over the stones without gloves. They want to feel the bike more than protect their hands. They are tough.
Riding naked feels great.
That would look very bad but it might feel very good. Riding without gloves feels a little like something is naked and it does feel great. If you always ride with gloves, try it. It makes for a very different ride. Handling the brake hoods or handlebars without gloves is so much more tactile. Recently forgot my gloves and re-remembered why I’ve spent around a third of my time bike riding without them. It just feels right. There are no Rules about glove wearing nor should there be. Does one look or feel more Pro without gloves? I do. If one feels like they have to wear gloves to protect their hands on the bike then it might be worth investigating how one’s weight is distributed on the bike. Hands should not be doing much weight bearing.
If we subscribe to the argument that we should dress for the crash not the ride we wouldn’t be wearing little more than lycra. Riding is a balancing act in many ways. If you ride you have to accept injury and accidents as parts of the deal but unless you are racing criteriums on a weekly basis, the pleasure of riding naked might outweigh the fear of crashing naked.
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@minion
The photo is a puzzlement.
I saw one rider roll a tub in a crit and used track glue from that day forth.
Having done "the full Superman" over the bars I can attest to the value of wearing gloves. Removing them and stuffing them into the jersey pocket for the pending climb, however, feels right, and makes the bike lighter.
No one crashed going uphill.
My last crash I was wearing gloves. I wish I'd also been wearing a chin-guard. But the hands were fine. Chin, not so much.
A couple guys I rode with in the Pyrenees last summer rode without gloves. They said that the gloves just soak up sweat (I thought that was a good thing) and cultivate bacteria (eww) which you risk getting into your eyes when you wipe the sweat off of your forehead & eyes (major eww).
So now I'm torn. Kind of like the gloves I was wearing during that crash.
@Oli
And maybe Marizio Fondriest in second?
@Stephen Schwartz
I restarted to wear gloves when I moved to Hawaii because the gloves did soak up the sweat and kept the sunscreen off the handlebar tape. Slippery handlebars...bad. But they do get funky fast and when I wash the gloves in the sink, whoa momma, dirty, dirty, water. Uncool.
@TheAnvil
That is funny. You will wear gloves but don't bother with the helmet unless racing. That's how it was.
Gloves. All the time for me. Don't you non glove wearers ever find how slippery the hoods are when out of the saddle??
also; hygiene people, FFS. Gloves get washed with the kit after every ride.
I never wear gloves. They are an unnecessary articles of clothing.
".....a tangle of limbs, bike and embarrassment"
Consider the order here of actuality vs what goes through your brain in terms of concern which is most likely bike, embarrassment, limbs.
Though I do remember one incident when I rode motorbikes after hitting black ice and the ensuing skid was long enough for that to change to "shit this is going to hurt". Fortunately the grass verge was both wide enough and grippy enough to recover before I ended up in the ditch.
Track glue (shellac?) might not be completely necessary, but at least do it right with the tools you've got.
That picture may not tell the whole story, but tts don't normally involve massive side loads, so I'm really struggling to see what would cause a tyre to roll off that badly. Hitting a rock, getting a wheel airborne then landing awkwardly could cause it.