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review
£35.00
VERDICT:
Very well made and comfortable race-oriented mitts with effective, minimalist padding
Super lightweight
Stretchy ventilated fabric
Low key padding
Grippy
On the expensive side
Long cuff may be an acquired taste
Weight:
29g
Contact:
At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.
What the road.cc scores meanGood scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.
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The high-tech, high performance dhb Aeron Lab Aero Mitt is designed to deliver race-day comfort with that extra performance edge. It works well but is a little on the expensive side.
Developed alongside British team Canyon dhb SunGod, these mitts are very light and stretchy (think jersey-type fabric) and made by Italian fabric manufacturers Miti Spa to be extra aerodynamic.
The palms are a soft synthetic suede, with a single padded section designed to protect the ulnar nerve. A longer than usual cuff with a pull tab and a soft nose wipe complete the picture.
They're extremely comfortable, with a barely-there feel both from the minimalist backs and the low profile palms. The padding is well-placed for using drops or aero bars, and the palms are grippy where you need them to be. The fabric on the backs wicks moisture effectively, keeping hands pleasingly dry, while the palms also keep the worst of the sweat at bay.
The low-key padding is inevitably less supportive on long rides than typical gloves, but even then I found the only real impediment was the longer cuff – and even that was purely down to the looks.
> 11 of the best summer cycling gloves — track mitts to keep your hands comfy and stylish
For me these are comfortable enough to do the job, but just don't look right outside of a race environment.
Value
At the full £35 list price these look expensive, but dhb kit is like a DFS sofa – you'd genuinely struggle to pay full price. At the time of writing these were £25, for instance, and in reality they're unlikely to ever be significantly more.
However, even then they're not the cheapest – the lightweight Santini Brisk Race Mitt comes in at £23, for instance, while the race-focused Van Rysel RoadR 900 gloves are £19.99
Overall
These are very technical gloves and use very high-performance materials, but perhaps more importantly they're very comfortable and secure, too – if not for those who like lots of padding or very long rides. Did they make me faster? Well... they made me feel more like a pro. Does that count?
Verdict
Very well made and comfortable race-oriented mitts with effective, minimalist padding
road.cc test report
Make and model: dhb Aeron Lab Aero Mitt
Size tested: Medium
Tell us what the product is for
dhb says: "Created to give you a race-day advantage, dhb have called on expert insight from elite road racers Canyon dhb SunGod to create their second generation Aeron Lab Aero Mitt. Advanced fabrics and an ergonomic fit ensure these are fine-tuned for speed."
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
Aerodynamic fabric by Miti Spa
Minimal padding
Nose wipe
Silicone print for grip
Mesh finger inserts
Long wrist cuff
Pull tabs
Machine washable at 30
Available in unisex sizes XS-XXL
Rate the product for quality of construction:
9/10
Very nicely finished with high end fabrics and components.
Rate the product for performance:
8/10
Comfortable, grippy, padded in just the right places, and cool and dry.
Rate the product for durability:
7/10
White fabric inevitably discolours quite rapidly, but there are black versions which will look smart for longer.
Rate the product for fit:
8/10
A good snug fit and a good range of sizes available.
Rate the product for sizing:
8/10
Accurate to the size chart.
Rate the product for weight:
9/10
These are incredibly light.
Rate the product for comfort:
8/10
Rate the product for value:
4/10
How easy is the product to care for? How did it respond to being washed?
Wash very well, but these white version soon discoloured from sun cream, sweat and road dust.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
Very well indeed.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
Light and stretchy ventilated fabric, low-key padding, grippy panels, plenty of sizes.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
A little expensive, and the long cuff is an acquired taste.
How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?
At the full £35 list price these look expensive, but dhb kit is like a DFS sofa – you'd genuinely struggle to pay full price. At the time of writing these were £25, for instance, and in reality they're unlikely to ever be significantly more. However, even then they're not the cheapest – the lightweight Santini Brisk Race Mitt comes in at £23, for instance, while the race-focused Van Rysel RoadR 900 gloves are £19.99.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Probably not
Would you recommend the product to a friend? One who wants all the gear, yes...
Use this box to explain your overall score
These are very technical gloves and use very high-performance materials, but perhaps more importantly they're very comfortable and secure – if not for those who like lots of padding or very long rides. Even discounted they're at the expensive side of things though.
About the tester
Age: 48
I usually ride: Liv Invite My best bike is: Specialized Ruby Elite
I've been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: Most days I would class myself as: Experienced
I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, touring, sportives, general fitness riding, mtb,
Lara has been riding bikes for longer than she'd care to admit, and writing about them nearly as long. Since 2009 she has been working as part of the road.cc review team whilst championing women's cycling on the side, most notably via two years as editor of the, sadly now defunct, UK's first and only women's cycling mag, erm, Women's Cycling.
Believing fervently that cycling will save the world, she wishes that more people would just ride a bike and be pleasant to each other.
She will ride anything with two wheels, occasionally likes to go fast, definitely likes to go far and is always up for a bit of exploring somewhere new and exciting.
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3 comments
I have a different pair, from Decathlon, but with the same pull tab arrangement on the two middle fingers. It's a right faff, because of course the other two fingers don't yield as you pull on the tabs, so getting them off in the heat is a struggle. My only consolation is that I paid far less.
If you're only going to have two tabs, I would have thought they would make more sense on the other two fingers, to provide a pull across the width, and help you ease it past the outer knuckles.
Well the pull of the tabs does extend to the other fingers. What does not extend is the easing and cajoling over your outer knuckles, so the non tabbed fingers just dig in and hold fast. You end up having to get in with your fingernails where the missing tabs ought to be.