Fingerless cycling gloves or mitts will help protect the skin on your hands in the event of a crash, and make gripping your bars easier when you’re hot and sweaty.
A good pair of cycling gloves will be made from fabrics breathable enough to stop sweat building up, while also offering comfort in the form of carefully placed padding.
You can pay a lot for cycling gloves from a ‘premium’ brand, but there are some excellent, affordable options on the market, with retail prices starting at less than £20 / $50.
We tested seven pairs of mitts to find the best cycling gloves for 2022.
If you’re in search of full-finger gloves for cold weather, check out our guide to the best winter cycling gloves.
Best cycling gloves 2022, as rated by our expert testers
Altura Endurance
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- Price: £35 / €41.70 / $42.20 / AU$63.10
The subtle Altura Endurance cycling gloves have second-skin thickness that gives brilliant bar feel, but they’re surprisingly comfortable.
Much of the back consists of highly elastic, heavily perforated Lycra-style mesh fabric for great breathability. The printed fabric is abrasion resistant.
These cycling gloves have pull tabs to help get them on and off.
Their best feature is the palm that has thin but effective pads at its heel and top.
A central Lycra-covered split enhances bar grip and helps with cooling, as do the finger perforations.
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Giro Strade Dure Supergel
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- Price: £34.99 / €45 / $42 / AU$51 as tested
If you prefer loads of padding on your cycling gloves, the Giro Strade Dure Supergels are great.
They have thick Dual Layer Technogel with Rebound Foam pads at the base of the palm and inner thumb, as well as across the synthetic suede palm tops.
Finger tabs help with taking them off, while the Velcro at the back keeps them secure.
The Giro cycling gloves are supremely comfortable, albeit somewhat expensive.
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Altura Airstream Mitts
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- Price: £20 / €25 / $25 / AU$37 as tested
The Altura Airstream Mitts have good, but not excessive, padding on the palm and the heel of the thumb – complete with memory foam.
Breathable, wicking, perforated palm panels combine to offer decent grip and comfort.
There’s also a large microfibre sweat wipe, handy finger pull tabs and, best of all, a price that you won’t baulk at.
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Endura FS260 Pro Aerogel
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- Price: £39.99 / €47.70 / $48.20 / AU$72 as tested
There’s good grip from the Endura FS260 Pro Aerogel’s rubbery silicone palms.
These longstanding cycling gloves have thick vented gel pads on the lower palm and a thinner strip at the top.
They have the largest Velcro straps out of the cycling gloves here.
Wipes run along the length of the thumb and the backs have lightweight wicking.
Finger tabs round out a fine package.
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Endura Xtract Lite
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- Price: £26 / €29 / $33 / $43 as tested
The back of the Endura Xtract Lite cycling glove is covered in a stretchy, closed-mesh panel.
A Lycra band stretches across the strapless wrist, which helps when pulling these on.
A Terry wipe covers most of the back of the thumb. Finger-pull pockets help removal.
The supple the microfibre palm has two slim, perforated gel pads.
Further palm perforations increase cooling and a silicone Endura script adds grip.
Road feel is good – the subtle gel layer reduces vibration without generating excess heat.
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Stolen Goat Blackbeard
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- Price: £20 / €27 / $48 / $25 as tested
Arrrghh! Unleash your inner pirate with Stolen Goat’s Velcro-free ‘Blackbeard’ mitts (one of a whopping 22 designs).
These snug-fitting microfibre and cotton cycling gloves have pull tabs under the two middle fingers and pretty plush padding across the palms.
Well-placed seams and padding offer great comfort, although the ‘sweat wipe’ is pretty small.
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Rapha Brevet
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- Price: £60 / €70 / $80 / AU$105 as tested
The new, lighter Rapha Brevet cycling gloves have fewer stitched seams, upping comfort.
The Lycra back includes the signature brevet stripes, one reflective, and most of the thumb is a microfibre wipe.
A slim Velcro tab plus two finger-pull tabs make the cycling gloves easy to put on and remove.
The incredibly soft, yet extra-tough synthetic suede on the palm was developed for the US military.
A perforated, slim memory-foam pad covers the heel and outer palm area, reducing road vibrations.
The otherwise thin palm gives perfect bar feel and cools effectively.