Giant, established in 1972 in Taiwan is a world renowned bicycle brand that makes top-end performance bicycles and accessories. They are the world leaders in bicycle manufacturing with facilities in Taiwan, Netherlands and China. Many professional cycling teams including the CCC Pro Team use their bicycles and accessories. We got a chance to review the Podium Short Finger Cycling Gloves from Giant’s Cycling Apparel collection, and here is what we think.
The Podium Short Finger Gloves are a part of Giant’s Performance Apparel Collection, specially designed to increase comfort and improve grip, the palms of the gloves come with six panels of gel-insert padding that help in dampening vibration and enhance comfort. The upper layer of the gloves is constructed out of a lightweight Lycra fabric that allows quick moisture transfer and speeds up the drying process, so that the rider never experiences sweaty palms.
The half-finger design is for riders in warm and tropical conditions, as it keeps the fingers well ventilated and open enough to give them grip while using the shifters and the brake levers. Those riding in colder conditions should however choose the full-fingered version of these gloves, as that would be more apt for the weather. The gloves are Black, with a thick Blue hori-zontal stripe on the back of the hand, two vertical blue stripes on the wrist panel, and a blue colored stitch pattern on the palm.
Giant has made sure that the fit of the gloves is close to perfect, making their gloves avail-able in five different sizes, namely S, M, L XL and XXL. This makes it easy to find a pair for rid-ers with tiny palms, as well as for riders with very wide palms. The thumb of the glove is a sep-arate piece attached to the glove by a Bolton thumb construction, for an ergonomic and im-peccable fit. The stretchable Lycra fabric covers the top part of the hand, and the inner palm is made from leather to improve the grip and to avoid slipping when the gloves are wet with per-spiration.
The highlight of the design of these gloves is that instead of a velcro strap, the gloves come with a stretchable elastic wrist for greater comfort and a better fit. This makes it extremely easy to slip on and slip off the gloves without having to fiddle with opening or closing any straps. The elastic material also hugs the wrist closely and snugly, making sure the gloves do not slip off the hands. The thumb panels are alone made of a highly absorbent, soft microfiber fabric material that helps wipe sweat off the nose while riding.
The gloves are mainly constructed with Lightweight Lycra, and have a reinforced Amara leather inner on the pads for increased grip. There are many multi-thickness memory foam gel padded panels on the palm area to provide more comfort for the rider by absorbing and dampening the vibrations that come from the handlebar.
The gloves are completely UV radiation proof with a UPF 40+ rating, which means that they will filter out almost 98% of all the sun’s harmful UV radiation and protect the wearer from tans, sunburns, etc. When it comes to gloves, not many have this UV protection technology, and this makes the Giant Podium Gloves very unique and special.
Overall Rating
These gloves are an excellent choice for those who are looking for comfort, and protection at the highest levels. Made with the best of materials, these gloves are worthy of being featured anywhere from local races to even the pro-peloton. With a price tag of Rs.2,299 (as on 20th June 2019), this might attract only the performance focussed group of riders who prefer nothing but the best.
Prices and Specifications/Components are subject to change by the brand, without due notice.