Louis Garneau Course Attack Gloves

Earlier this year team sponsor Louis Garneau introduced the team to it's top of the line Course products with a shipment of Course 2LS shoes. Since then LG has continued to grow it's Course lineup, and just in time for cooler fall temperatures they've sent us another piece of trick Course kit - the LG Course Attack Glove. Check out our thoughts below and head over LG's website for more information.

Louis Garneau Course Attack Gloves Review by Team Sixcycle-RK&O's Matt Richards

Louis Garneau Course Attack Gloves are a lightweight, full fingered, fall or spring glove (think 50-60 degrees) for training and racing. LG has pre-shaped the glove to fit comfortably when gripping the bars, and used a flexible, water and windproof material for the back of the hand called Sismik. On my hand the glove is conforming and borders on being described as narrow, but the elasticity of the materials result in a great overall fit.

The palm of the glove is sectioned for comfort and cooling and does not feel bunched up between the palm and the bars, as some lightweight gloves do. Five small pads are placed along the base of the palm to absorb road vibration and relieve pressure on the ulnar and median nerves - all of which is appreciated on the longer fall and spring training rides.

Perhaps most notably, LG has used an excellent Pittards leather for feel and grip on the center of the palm and fingers, which alone is reason enough to pick up a pair. The grip, control and feel this brings to the glove is excellent, and I wouldn't hesitate to pull these gloves on for the most technical of crits in any mix of conditions.

All in all, this is an excellent glove that will get a lot of use in the coming weeks and again come next spring.

Louis Garneau Course Attack Gloves Review by Team Sixcycle-RK&O's Corey Morenz

I had been looking forward to trying my new LG course attack gloves for a while, but the weather in New York has been nice enough to ride bare handed. You won’t hear me complaining about that, but soon enough a trip to the Bay area with its unpredictable weather presented the perfect opportunity to test the gloves.

I packed my usual array of fall riding gear along with my new gloves for the trip. I had three rides planned – a metric century around Napa and Sonoma, a climb into the hills above Oakland and Berkeley and a quintessential trip over the Golden Gate into the headlands of Marin County. On a chilly morning in the Oakland hills the gloves proved their versatility. The ride started out in dense fog as we began our climb. After a couple miles visibility improved as we rose above the fog bank. The climb was steady and I warmed up but the persistent chill kept me from shedding any layers. Then the strangest thing happened. Warm air from the Central valley started to blow in, creating an inversion that led to rising temperatures the higher we climbed. Soon the arm warmers were rolled down and my vest was wide open. A few more punchy grades and we crested the climb. We rolled along the ridge line while looking at the sea of fog below us, extending over the bay and hiding what should have been a great view from San Francisco. Soon it was time to turn and descend back into the valley, an uncomfortable experience with the combination of wind chill, plummeting temperatures and cold sweat. Reentering the fog bank and the start of morning rush hour made the last few miles of the ride painfully slow as the moisture quickly sapped the warmth out of us. No warm breeze down here.

Oh right – the gloves. I barely thought about them – I probably even forgot I was wearing them. They didn’t make my hands hot. Or cold. Or sweaty. I didn’t fumble with the zippers on my vest or jersey. I didn’t have problems braking or controlling myself on the descent. Forgetting about a layer of riding gear isn’t easy to do, but it earned these gloves a big thumbs up from me.

One point I’ll emphasize that I really took advantage of during the trip was that they do an incredible job of keeping your hands dry, both from sweaty palms and from the outside elements. Our ride in Sonoma started in the 40’s and quickly warmed to the 60’s and my hands never even got clammy - I’ve never had a glove that ventilated this well before. When riding into Marin visibility was limited to less than 40 meters by a layer of fog that we never found our way out of, yet the moisture couldn’t penetrate the gloves.

When I returned to New York the weather had turned and I woke up on my first day back to temps in the low 40’s. Without a second thought I grabbed my LG gloves off the top of my pile of discarded clothes from the trip for my commute in to work. Fall has arrived.