Why do cyclists wear gloves?

I always gloves when I'm riding my BMX at the track. It's a requirement. I wear them for serious MTB riding too. Gravel rash isn't nice. I learned that the hard way.

I often wear gloves while pootling around on my bike and commuting too. 

Because when you fall off they'll protect the palm of your hands which will probably hit the tarmac first...and keep them warm. 

I'm sorry but there is just no solid evidence that gloves prevent injury. There is no design minimum safety standard for manufacturers to adhere to either. I've seen injuries result from gloves gripping the ground on impact and causing twisting injuries. There are also cases where the increased padding connected to the ground when a bare hand wouldn't have and could have avoided a crash. I'll stick to wearing my helmet thanks, but don't you dare make gloves compulsory!

I wear them for safety and comfort, whether mountain biking or everyday cycling.

over 7,000km without gloves and counting...

good bar tape.
don't crash.
never wipe nose. Only snot-rocket.

Only wear gloves for track or if riding in a large group or with inexperienced riders (not including 4th cat races despite the inability to ride in a group some people have). In cold weather gloves are a must and I as I don't have a lot of money to invest I've heard that latex surgical gloves hold heat well in the winter. Did cut my hands open when I crashed at fairly slow speeds back in 2011/2012 but I was a newbie to cycling and also I probably overexaggerated back then (I was about 13/14) I also didn't know about Rule #5

So to recap:

I haven't heard anyone ever say that their gloves either contributed to a crash or caused additional injury.

Those who have crashed without gloves mostly seem to have come to the conclusion that gloves would have saved them some pain and consequently now wear them.

Those who have yet to crash / are convinced of their inability to have a crash seem less convinced of the benefits of gloves.

Some are just full of snot.

Last summer while out on my hardtail on a gravelly bridleway I managed to go over the handle bars. I found you instictively put your hands out to save yourself. Fortunately I always wear full finger gloves on my MTB, so the skin on my hands was saved. My forearms, elbows and right knee didn't fair quite as well, but I found you can still ride with skinned forearms, elbows and knee. Skinned palms, don't think you'd be gripping the bars too well. Oh, and most importantly, the bike was OK.

being a chef i always wear gloves dont want to miss to much work time if im unlucky one day,

Mitts aren't needed for riding, but they are vital for falling off.

Mitts aren't needed for riding, but they are vital for falling off.

I don't find I need gloves during the summer, but I do wear them occasionally. I usually wear gloves for crits, and take a pair when mountain climbing for the descents, so I have more grip, comfort, and control. Otherwise it is nice to get fresh air flowing over your hands (and your cycling tan doesn't look any funnier than it already does).

For all other times of the year, gloves are a necessity! I have gloves for all types of weather and varying temperatures

Never used to back in the day but do now. Full finger for racing, fingerless for normal riding.

Rubbish things - last time I came off (yes I know your not supposed to) one mitt completely destroyed.

Seriously they are for comfort, control and crash - I dread to think what state I would have been in without them, my hip and leg as ever show the scars - when will someone invent a leather hip protector! I was thinking something integrated into the short but then as soon as you start scraping down the road it would slide around to your backside.

I always seem to shave a great lump of my hip - serves me right for having so much fat on it!

Only wear them racing, for crash protection. Otherwise glove free until winter. Used to wear them every ride when I started cycling about five years ago but that was just from following the seeming established dress code.

Have acquired a few vintage bikes in recent years, I can see the where the necessity would be there for comfort and grip with older bikes having ribbon thin tape with little grip or vibration damping.

Newer padded bar tapes offer more comfort than gloves alone back in the day of thin tapes, so gloves aren't really essential for comfort. Risk of 'doing a Rogers', is reason enough to wear them tho, so I always glove up when chances of a crash are increased.

I always wear mitts for a degree of shock absorbency & palm protection, but also fringe benefits such as an occasional nose wipe. If cold enough full gloves instead.

Going Gloveless, unless riding races or track or winter. I find that in summertime mitts trap the heat. I do have 2 layers of thin bartape to compensate.
(also did the Paris Roubaix sportive without gloves, and that went fine! (2 thick layers of soft bartape))

It affords some protection to the palms of my hands. I also feel more comfortable wearing gloves than not. I generally wear fingerless mitts during the summer and full fingered gloves for the rest of the year.

The towel section is perfect for drying a wet saddle too.

Full finger gloves for me, all year round (thin ones in summer, thicker in winter)

Been wearing full finger gloves after years of MTB and BMX, and just don't feel good in mits. My fingers are a bit wonky after numerous accidents over the years, so I also find mits very difficult to remove!

Came off the bike on some loose gravel a week ago, hips and shoulder still painful. My Gore short finger gloves showed the scratches that would have taken the skin off my left palm.m.

People who wear gloves should be beaten to death.

And people who don't wear gloves should be hanged until they no longer live.

I think I've covered everything in a suitably hysterical and aggressive manner.

In Scotland there are about two months of the year when it's warm enough to go glove-less

From September to June, anything over 17mph is gonna be numb fingers time without some protection

It would appear that cycling has become too posh for the art of the snot rocket to be perfected...

...and what's all the 'hard man' nonsense?

I don't wear gloves because I don't want to; poncing around in lycra isn't offset by bare hands is it?

Always have done since a couple of road rash incidents in my teens.

Warm ones in cold weather and crochet back mitts the rest of the time.

They have certainly protected my hands and nothing looks cooler than a good pair of crochet back mitts

I wear padded mitts for protection in case I do crash or come off the bike. I have never come off, touch wood, but I wouldn't like to learn the hard way that a bit of leather on the palm offers some protection.

This morning I went full fingered, because it was cold.

Also, I cycled 120mile in holland recently with padded gloves, but even after that distance (and smooth roads) I could feel some soreness in the flesh parts of my hand. I can only begin to imagine how much more painful it would have been with no gloves. It would have made the 70 miles the following day much tougher I imagine.