Proviz Reflect360 Waterproof Cycling Gloves

Proviz's REFLECT360 Waterproof Cycling Gloves do a great job. They keep the water out in all but the heaviest of downpours, offer loads of reflectivity for visibility, are warm, and they even come with some padding. My only realm criticism is that the fingers are shorter than most brands' gloves, and there is no nose wipe. And if you are in the market for gloves, check out our best winter cycling gloves buyer's guide.

If you ride a lot in the dark, especially in traffic, reflective gloves are a big bonus, giving drivers behind a 'glow-in-the-dark' hand indicating your intentions once their headlights illuminate it.

There will be absolutely no missing these Proviz gloves on that score, considering how much reflective material Proviz has used. This covers the entire back of the hand, the thumb and a strip on the cuff. And if you don't want to go for all-over reflective gloves, Proviz also does them in other colours – yellow, black, orange, blue and pink – with reflective stripes on the fingers and cuffs.

In the months I've been wearing these gloves, they've been washed numerous times – well, this has been a wet British winter – and I'm glad to say the reflective material is still looking in tip-top condition. Some reflective materials can be quite fragile, so it's good to see that Proviz has focused on quality here. In fact, the gloves are well made throughout.

I also found the gloves effective at keeping my hands warm whatever the temperature. Even riding in sub-zero conditions isn't an issue, with the very soft lining material proving extremely warm. And the lining doesn't pull out when you have sweaty hands.

The water resistance is also pretty effective. Riding in very heavy rain, which there's been no shortage of recently, some water did get in through the seams. But the reflective sections repel water, and as they cover most of the glove that faces the elements, the level of protection is very good.

And I found that even when my hands did get a little wet, they certainly remained warm.

The gloves have a silicone pattern on the palms that stops you losing grip of your bar in the wet and, a bit of a bonus on winter gloves, these also have a couple of padded sections.

These consist of a thin section across the top of the palm, with another section in the middle. They are subtle, but they provide sufficient plushness if you're riding gravel tracks or bridleways in between road sections.

The cuffs are long enough to fit under a jacket's sleeves, and they're secured by a Velcro strap, ensuring a snug fit and preventing your wrists from getting cold.

In fact, I like the fit of these gloves. They have quite a slender cut, so they don't feel bulky and you retain 'feel' through your hands while you're riding.

I do think the sizing comes up a little small though. I wear a large glove in pretty much every manufacturer's line-up, but as I have shortish fingers, I normally have a bit of spare length at the end of the glove.

These were a snug fit. There wasn't a huge amount of room around my fingers, and my fingers went right to the tips of the gloves' fingers; if you have 'normal'-length fingers you might want to go up a size.

Value

At £49.99 these are much cheaper than the £73 Cafe du Cycliste Audax Cycling Gloves that Ben gave a mixed review to.

Chiba's Bio-X-Cell Winter Warm-Line Thermal Waterproof gloves not only have an impressively long name, but George found they also kept the elements out and maintained warmth. They are a little bit pricier than the Proviz gloves at £54.99.

The Galibier Barrier Deep Winter gloves come with a good amount of reflectivity and will shield you from pretty much everything the weather can throw at you, and cost just £28.68.

Conclusion

Get the sizing right and you'll find yourself with highly reflective gloves that also stand up well to the winter weather – and for a decent price too.

Verdict

Fantastic reflectives, effective water resistance, good warmth and great build quality but they come up a bit small