Lizard Skins La Sal 2.0 Gloves

Lizard Skins includes protection for your hands to its range with the La Sal 2.0 gloves. Thw padding positioning and thickness means they work best with flat bars.

Lizard Skins are known for protective bits of neoprene and clear plastic that stop your bike from getting damages, and for handlebar tape. These gloves are part of a widening range of clothing and personal protection padding. These are mid-range gloves, and the range includes several other models of short- and long-fingered gloves.

There are two schools of thought in the making of summer mitts. A basic glove needs some padding to take out the road buzz. The La Sal 2.0 mitts are firmly in the specific gel pads camp. Other gloves take a more minimalist approach with a thinner overall layer of continuous padding.

A mesh back with a velcro strap gives a tight closure around the wrist. The palm section is made of a grippy Clarino leather, which works well in the wet. The back of the glove is white and red, with two slightly distracting plastic logos on the wrist closure and along the index finger.

The fit is on the big side. Our size small samples fitted my hands, but I normally wear a medium in most brands. I found the velcro to be an awkward fit and it didn't want to sit flat on my wrist, the mesh material wanted to curl under itself.

I've used these gloves for riding to work on my 'cross bike, longer rides on my road bike and some wet commuting on my Brompton. The padding definitely works best on the Brompton. I must admit I prefer thinner gloves with all over the palm padding to specific gel pads. The padding at the base of the fingers works well on the tops or on a flat bar. On the hoods, the padding feels like it is in the wrong place. Whole sections of my hand felt unpadded when on the drop or hoods. Yet on the small bar ends on my Brompton, the padding makes sense, especially the padding on the outer edge of the palm, this fits well with bar ends.

The mitts are hand wash only, due to the Clarino leather, which is limiting for a pair of gloves for hot weather. So far they are smelling fine and washing them with soap while wearing them has worked well. They are lasting well and haven't stretched.

The patch of reflective print on the back of the gloves is quite small compared to other gloves on the market and the strip of fabric for the thumb wipe is not really big enough to be comfortably useful. I kept catching my skin on the mesh rather than the wipe.

Gloves are a personal item, and these mitts are not really my sort of thing. I prefer velcro free, slip on gloves with a thin layer of padding, despite the hotter hands that gives in the summer. The mitts now live with my brompton bag, as that is the best match of bar shape to mitt.

Verdict

Good mitts for summer flat bar commuting