March 30, 2005

Review: The Contessa Glove

Dirt Rag

I’ll get right to the point—these are the best mountain biking gloves I’ve ever used. The Contessas don’t look much different than other gloves. They’re made of nylon and terrycloth on the back, Pittards leather on the palm, and 4-way stretch nylon/Lycra around the wrist. But they fit better than any others I’ve tried, with a small palm area that doesn’t fold over and chafe, and fingers that are actually long enough for a bit of fingernail, yet thin enough to fit closely. I loved the stretchy wrist area, with its rubberized tab for pulling the gloves on and off, as Velcro closures are always too long for my tiny wrists, leaving lots of extra hooks to catch on anything they’re not supposed to. The palm has three padded gel areas: across the base of the fingers and on either side of the heel. The gel was barely there and yet really protected my hands; the calluses that have built up after repeated blisters at the base of my fingers have finally disappeared. The top side of each fingertip has a silicon pad which works well for use with Shimano Dual-Control levers. There’s even a stripe of reflective piping on the back. These women’s gloves seem to be made specifically for my hands. The only quibble I have is with the decoration: cutesy little cowgirls printed across the wrist and on the pinkie. C’mon now. But that’s not enough to prevent me from wearing these gloves on every ride. Available for $40 in S, M (tested), L, and XL, in ebony and white with red (tested) or black and white with gray; Scott also makes a short fingered version with convenient pull-loops so you don’t have to turn them inside out to get them off.

–Karen Brooks