Review: La Passione Mid Season Gloves
(2021) Recommending gloves is akin for our inbox to fill with people looking to drop them. In the former days, full-finger cycling gloves for cooler temperatures (see: not track gloves) looked an awful lot like skiing gloves, just a bit tamer. After a few rides the thermals compressed and so too, did the glove’s ability to maintain heat. It’s not a coincidence many old cycling companies turned to ski equipment when the flurries flew. Then there are the medical conditions. Some cyclists manage cold better than others. Bernard Hinault cites damage done during the 1980 Liege-Bastone-Liege snowstorm.
When we received our La Passione Mid Season Gloves, the question wasn’t so much the correct temperature or whether to use them as liners, but to get a sense as to how these gloves can protect the hands. Having reviewed numerous items made by La Passione, we knew these gloves were going to keep digits warm. So off we went into numerous conditions to see how they performed.
As nondescript mid-season is, so too is the glove’s placement in protection. One can only assume these are the first gloves to turn to after unlined long finger gloves have failed. Not being in winter yet, and the next step up in La Passione’s glove chart, we felt confident to roll out with mid season gloves.
Once we were into leg warmers, therma bibs, and long sleeve jerseys, the next step was to add these gloves. They slip on easily. Supplying only three sizes: XS/S, M/L, and XL/XXL, the Mid Season Glove fits looser than racing gloves. Easily stretchable, there’s a concern the gloves will roll with out of the saddle efforts. They rolled only slightly, enough to keep us coming back for more miles. The fleece-lined inner was just enough to shield frosty air masses as well as prevent sweating when the days warmed up. Since the gloves are easy to pull on, they are just as easy to pull off and stow when it becomes warm enough.
Switching things up we brought La Passione’s Mid Season Glove on several night rides where the sun would not be able to warm the fabric. The reflectors on the back of the gloves add with visibility. One cold humid night tested the glove’s capabilities. Fog mixed with near-freezing temperatures kept the hands warm enough to be suitable. Things heated up on a sustained climb, returning warmth. Because sweat did not build up in the gloves, the following descent didn’t zap away the heated hands. These gloves performed admirably.
Though La Passione stops short of saying the gloves are windproof, we could hardly detect a whisper of breeze through the gloves on descents. After days of riding in heavy winds, the gloves kept the hands as toasty as still days. For fewer than forty (USD) dollars, we finally found gloves to bridge the warm and cold days.
What these gloves do not possess is palm padding. Riders routinely discuss their search for gloves with cushion. If you’re in need of this feature, these gloves are not for you. With the offseason, it may benefit to double wrap the handlebars Roubaix- style. That will match the glove’s Fleece-backed Super Roubaix, though we’re not really sure what that is. For those looking for compression gloves, the looser fit might be an issue, though we have zero plans for monstrous efforts across late autumn/ early winter rides.
Overall La Passione has produced a simple slender glove to extend the outdoor riding season a little longer. The fleece lining, the silicone grip, and the easy-on-easy-off of the gloves make them fit the name of Mid-Season. And the price is right. These gloves have been the best addition to our cycling closet to date.
