Chapeau Club 3 Season Glove

The Chapeau! Club 3 Season Glove works well over a range of temperatures that'll see you through mild winter days to warmer ones in early spring and late autumn... and early July. The addition of a small rain cover is a real bonus, slight restriction to gear changes aside.

From a warmth point of view the Club 3 Season gloves sit somewhere in between a pair of liner gloves and a thicker windproof offering, normally designed for full-on winter use.

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Chapeau! says that they'll be fine down to -2°C which has been a little bit difficult to test in early summer (I'll update the review come winter time), but down to around 7°C they've been absolutely fine, providing plenty of warmth without getting too sweaty. In fact, I'd say they are fine up to about 14°C before they start to get a bit too warm.

Despite this protection the Club 3 Seasons aren't bulky at all, so your dexterity isn't affected – you're able to brake and change gear exactly the same as when you have no gloves on, and you can easily grab stuff from a rear jacket or jersey pocket.

There isn't any padding as such, but the material used on the palm offers enough comfort as long as you have some decent bar tape fitted.

Grip is helped by silicone Chapeau! logos all over the palm and fingers. The thumb and index finger come with touchscreen-compatible tips which work fine.

Sizing is quite generous. I'm normally a large in many gloves but found these mediums to be absolutely spot on including finger length. You also get a decent length cuff, which sits up inside the sleeve of a jacket.

The neat detail though is the water-resistant and windproof finger covering. It sits in a small pouch on the back of the hand – you just expose it and tuck your fingers inside, turning the gloves into kind of mitts.

You do then lose a little bit of dexterity, which affects gear changes especially on electronic shifters like Di2, but you soon get used to it.

The gloves are more suited to showers really, so you'll not have the cover on long – if it's absolutely hammering down for the whole ride it'd make more sense to wear full waterproof gloves.

That said, the cover is pretty good – light rain beads off the surface and keeps your fingers dry when on the handlebar or the hoods. It is only water-resistant material on the top, though, so if and when the underneath of your fingers are exposed to the elements, water can enter quickly. If it is cold, though, the windproof cover does keep the chill off.

The quality of manufacturing looks and feels to be good throughout, with tidy stitching and plenty of attention to detail. The thumb section, where it wraps around the hood of your shifter, uses a more robust fabric than the rest of the glove, and you also get a snot wipe.

Priced at £29.99 the Club 3 Season gloves aren't over the top – many thin three-season gloves cost more.

The Gore M Gore-Tex Infinium Stretch gloves have a different way of delivering water-repellency but lack the cycling specifics of the Chapeaus (Chapeaux?). The Gores are £39.99.

Sportful's NoRain gloves also come in at £40.

Craft's similar Hybrid Weather gloves are around the same price as the Club 3 Seasons, also unpadded and designed for running and cycling. 

> How to choose the best gear for cycling in unpredictable weather

Overall, the Chapeau! Club 3 Season gloves are a novel idea and actually work quite well, giving you the lack of bulk more commonly associated with liner gloves but the weatherproofing of much thicker options. If the entire cover was made of the water-repellent fabric you'd stay drier for longer though.

Verdict

Lightweight and warm, with a neat water-resistant solution for light rain