off-road.cc

The Dexshell Ultralite Gloves offer low weight and bulk coupled with waterproofing and windproofing, plus a touchscreen-compatible weave. It’s a comfy glove for bad weather and excellent for trail riding and gravel, but mutes bar feel at times.

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The Ultralite is well-named at 86g (size medium). They offer a medium to lower level of thermal protection with a midlayer liner, and the outer material has touchscreen points on the thumb and forefinger. There is a textured silicone pattern on the palms and fingers which aids grip. 

Whilst I found the Ultralites great for weather protection – they never let water in, but also never became clammy – they're not especially warm if you aren’t riding at effort, say on slower technical trails, or when pushing.

They aren't cold, but I noticed a lack of warmth compared to my go-to gloves. I also found that despite the thin style, there's enough bulk between hand and bar to feel slightly cumbersome. The material is uniform in thickness across the whole glove.

This muted bar feel isn't the worst, just noticeable as it opens your hands out and can feel less secure on really rough trails. The silicone grippers work okay, luckily, as they're pretty essential. They also have a decent length cuff overlap to aid weather protection.

I found the fit to be fairly true to size, a little close at first, but they haven't over stretched in the test period. They also have been washed plenty and still work fine – they do need to be dried inside out, or you may find yourself with wet gloves – but otherwise they're easy.

​On more sedate, less technically demanding trails, the protection in prolonged showers was welcome, and on drop-bar rides off road – when effort tends to be more consistent for greater warmth – they are great.

I’ve also been using them after riding, when loading the van up and washing the bike down – it’s pretty nice having dry hands to do that, and they are dexterous enough to undo wheels, attach bikes to racks and so on. After around three months of regular use they show few signs of wear, bar some piling on the palms, which is pretty common.

The Ultralites are reasonably-price gloves that are totally weatherproof, if not especially warm, and while they're perhaps a bit bulky for technical riding, they're great for more general winter adventures.

• www.dexshell.co.uk

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