Vaude Women's Dyce Gloves

The Women's Dyce Gloves from Vaude are an understated, eco-friendly, lightweight trail option that prove to be super breathable but have one too many seams across the top of the hand giving them a low score on the comfort front.

The Vaude Dyce gloves are a lightweight trail option from a company with some exceptional eco-friendly credentials. Made at production sites that are committed to good and fair working conditions, the Dyce gloves combine multiple stretch panels giving them a breathable and stretchy upper combined with a hard wearing and padded palm.

Buy the Vaude Dyce Gloves here

The gloves fit well, without any bunching when gripping the bars and are easy to get on and off thanks to the long neoprene cuff which is longer on the underside allowing the wearer to find good purchase on it when pulling the glove on. The cuff fits closely to the wrist and the lack of an additional velcro closure ensures they don't interfere with jersey or jacket sleeves either, which I really like.

The upper of the glove combines five separate pieces of fabric, a perforated mesh used at the outside of the hand and also at the first and second finger, a fine mesh for the third finger and middle of the hand and then finally fleecy snot wipe for the thumb area. These pieces add up to a well ventilated back of the hand but unfortunately, the sheer number of seams here cause a problem. Seams running down between the knuckle chafed when I wore the gloves for the first few times when gripping the bars, one continuous section of fabric here is preferable. I will add that Vaude is currently showing an updated version of gloves (Dyce Gloves II) on their site which appears to be one piece of fabric front and rear - it looks like a vast improvement!

Whilst riding I could certainly feel a waft of air through the materials on the top of the hand but I'm unsure as to how cool these gloves would actually be given the relatively thick palm and snot wipe sections. I'll whip them out again in the spring and let you know, for now, even for a summer glove I've been happy in them on milder winter days and left them at home when the wind chill set in.

The palm of the hand is a relatively thick material with ventilation holes covering all unpadded surfaces. There is a padded section at the top of the palm covered with silicone strips which although is super grippy, it also adds unnecessary bulk. I found it gripped the bars so well that my hands moved around inside the gloves at times, not ideal. There is also a padded section at the rear of the palm, which is situated quite far back and although didn't interfere with my riding, it didn't seem to serve a purpose either but it might serve a purpose when using different hand positions. As far as gloves go, I think a thin, unpadded palm is best for both grip on the bars and for transmitting feel up through the bars without added bulk.

The usual silicone grippers on the fingers and thumb are present but not for long, a few rides in and my pair had all but peeled off on the thumb. Other parts featuring silicone have stayed put well into the gloves life though. The Dyce Gloves are well made and are a quality glove (for £35 you'd expect so too!), having withstood some milder winter riding and the inevitable frequent visits to the washing machine.

Overall, they are a sturdy pair of gloves for warmer weather, there's more grip rather than less and if you don't mind the quirky stitching and bulk on the palm you'll get on well. With Vaude being one step ahead with the gloves constriction for 2018, I'll be looking to test a pair of those too and update you!