off-road.cc

The Alpinestars Cascade is a warm and comfy winter glove that makes good use of its Primaloft insulation, and for cold and dry rides it's only let down by a slightly short cuff and the lack of a snot pad. It soaks through rapidly in rain, however, and while it stays fairly warm it gets heavy – and wearing wet gloves is never that pleasant.

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The Clarino palm gets additional layers in the high-wear spots – inner thumb, the outer edge and the beneath your knuckles – and while they aren’t padded, it does add useful substance to the palm. There's a stretchy fabric between to aid thumb mobility, and the panels are double-stitched for strength.

The Clarino is pretty good for grip, with a good bar feel, but the Cascade Warm Tech isn't waterproof and soaks through pretty quickly in anything heavier than mist or light showers. On the upside, they don’t hold water too much and remain pretty warm thanks to good insulation (and a degree of windproofing) from the Primaloft covering the back of the hand. On the downside, they get heavy when sodden.

It's worth noting that Alpinestars also do the Cascade WP Tech glove, which is a claimed 100 percent waterproof, for £10 more than these.

Back to this Warm Tech, which is supposed to be touchscreen compatible on the fingertips, but as far as I can tell is not. The glove is nicely shaped and actually feels better when gripped around the bars, and its trail-weight feel (as opposed to the deadening bulk of a full-on winter glove) is a positive for more technical trails, as the bar feel isn't compromised.

Unfortunately, the cuff is a touch short for overlapping with sleeves, and the tab for pulling them on is hard to grab. The cord of reflective material is a rather token effort that doesn't add much meaningful visibility, while the Cascade also lacks a soft nose wipe section. That really doesn't help on cold winter rides.

Sizing is good for a fairly close fit – size up if you want to run liners – and on dry days the Cascade keeps you warm while adding little to no bulk. It doesn't cope well with rain, however, and the unreliable seal that short cuff gives with your sleeves really limit their effectiveness.

• www.alpinestars.com
• www.zyrofisher.co.uk

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