Giro Bravo Junior

Giro helmets are well known, but this brand also produces a wide range of padded fingerless gloves (or 'mitts') including these Bravo Juniors for the bike-keen offspring in your family. They're well-constructed, look very nice and are comfortable to wear, but they don't provide a huge amount of padding.

Kids' hands are more delicate than adults' hands, and short arms have less in-built damping, so mitts like these Bravo Juniors provide a vital layer of comfort and protection against road vibrations coming up through the handlebars, which makes cycling more enjoyable for the littl'uns.

They also protect tiny hands from scuffs and grazes in the tumbles that are inevitable when kids are still honing their bike-riding skills.

The Bravo Juniors have a stretchy fabric upper and a synthetic leather palm made from four separate panels. Along the outer edge of the thumb the fabric is faux suede for wiping glasses and noses on the move. The base of the mitt opens wide, so they're easy to put on, and there's an extra bit of padding on the side of the palm opposite the thumb.

Given the number of panels and various materials involved, the construction quality is very good. The cut is precise, so the mitts fit closely on the hands and around the wrist without being tight, and seams are all neat with no loose threads.

To test these Bravo Juniors, your correspondent's children were pressed into service. The ooohs and aahhs when first seeing the mitts indicate that style and colours are very good.

When it comes to actually riding the bike, for short distances or messing about in the park these Bravo Juniors were fine. However, for longer rides, especially if the route involved slightly rough surfaces such as forestry tracks, canal paths or former railways lines (not uncommon when cycling with the kids) we found these mitts needed more padding on the palm, especially in the area around the base of the thumb.

A pair of Bravo Juniors costs £14.99 – which is more expensive than kids' mitts from some other manufacturers (mostly going for £5 to £10) although the quality of manufacturing on the Giros is high. However, it's a tenner less than the adult version of the Giro Bravo, which has a lot more padding across the palm.

Extra padding to the palm of the kids' version would presumably add to the cost, and some parents might understandably baulk at spending getting on for twenty quid on a pair of mitts that the kids will soon grow out of. Whether these Bravo Juniors are right for the budding Hoy or Armitstead in your family depends on the type and amount of riding they do.

Verdict

Stylish, well-constructed and comfortable, but not cheap – and kids doing longer rides might need extra padding.