Planet BikeTaurus Cycling Gloves Beige

First off, these are my favorite non-winter cycling gloves. Both for road and mountain biking. Mainly for the open-mesh, fingerless, reinforced palm style that they offer. Hard to find anything similar except for the Nashbar version. Just ordered some of those and I'm sticking with the Planet Bike gloves.The Nashbar gloves: mesh back is not as tightly woven and feels softer. The fit is larger and looser (size Large) and the velcro isn't nearly as beefy and doesn't close as tight. This is the biggest problem for me. My hand/wrist size is medium-medium/large, so if you have larger hand/wrist size, this may not be a problem for you. They in fact are probably a proper sized large, if not a bit bigger than the average L. The Nashbar also have a more padding in the palm but lack the kevlar reinforcement that the Planet Bike has. Can't speak to the durability of the Nashbar. I may just try one more time to order a size medium in the Nashbar since the fit is actually my biggest gripe, second to the more open mesh pattern on the back of the hand (see pics). There are some striking similarities between the two otherwise. The finger webbing and the nylon trim at the bottom of the gloves are identical. You can see the Nashbar has an extending leather patch riding up into the side of the hand between the thumb and pointer finger. It looks cool, but scrutinizing my Planet Bike gloves, there's no wear problem in this area for me at least. (Update: and actually it's kind of annoying when mountain biking since I can feel it).A couple other differences:- Nashbar has a large opening on back of hand (I prefer the Planet Bike's pure mesh back)- Planet Bike has a leather reinforced strip that connects the palm of the glove, carrying through in between the thumb and pointer finger, down to the wrist. Hard to explain but you can see it in one of the pics. The Nashbar is just terry cloth and mesh with stitched seem. Not as reenforced as Planet Bike- Nashbar has larger terry cloth patch on the back side of thumb, good for sweat wiping. Planet Bike's terry cloth is a smaller patch.About the sizing for the Planet Bike, I would agree they probably run a bit small. However, this last pair I bought seemed a tad bit larger than the last few pairs. Fingers seemed to be cut longer too.The durability of the Planet Bike is OK. Don't want to be too critical because gloves won't last forever but these will inevitably rip on you. Never in the stitching as others have reported, but in the leather (or imitation leather?) right AT the stitching. I've gone through about 4 pairs of these gloves. They probably last at least year with regular usage, much longer without. So, not horrible. Knocking a star off because they do reliably rip and the price has just gone up (used to be $12), making me less enthusiastic to burn through these as needed, thus the Nashbar experiment. Going back to the Planet Bike pair in any case, and just happy they're still making them.

I've always used string back gloves- they keep my hands cool, the slightly rough texture on the back helps wipe away sweat without irritating and they are super absorbent. The leather palms are durable and quite comfy with just enough padding and great grip. They are very long lasting, I get a season or two out of them easily.One note, this brand in particular (which seems to be the only decent brand since Nashbar went to pot) seems to collect "stank". I have washed them with borax and such, soaked them, done everything but soak them in perfume but they still have stank on them. My other winter and fall gloves get the same level of abuse but don't stink so I really can't figure out what's going on with these.Highly recommended esp for the nasally challenged and those who like the "retro look". For those who have only used the "modern" lycra gloves, you owe it to yourself to try a set of stringbacks. There's a reason they were popular back in the day- they are wonderfully cool and comfy.

I really wanted a glove with the "old school" look of the Cannondale crocheted gloves I had in the 1980's. These were close in terms of materials, although the leather was a bit thinner as expected. They seem quite strong and well sewn so far. Two main complaints...the Planet Bike label is fairly conspicuous to the point you feel like a walking advertisement, but more importantly I get discomfort at the base of my index fingers where the leather and padding seem to bunch up. I bought size Large based on the sizing chart, but I wonder if they run big and I have more material there than need. Anyway, after about 20 miles riding mainly on the hoods, I have to massage that area near my palm and smooth the bunched up material around to get it to lay flat.

*** UPDATE 11/11/2021 ***I'm changing my rating from 2-stars to 4-starsI finally got around to reaching out to Planet Bike about my experience and they responded within a day to tell me they would send me a replacement pair. A business that has such good customer service and stands behind their products is worth a second chance. Also, looking around their website for the contact info and their philosophy and community involvement seem legit.I'll update this again after I've had some miles with the new gloves. I'll also update my star-rating again to reflect my experience. I'm willing to give 5-stars to a business that I can count on.*** END UPDATE ***I bought these August 30th, 2021 to replace a pair of Pearl Izumi gloves in a very similar style. The Pearl Izumi's lasted many years and they don't make them any more. They didn't fall apart at the seems like these but actually wore completely through the leather before I had to retire them.These lasted less than 2 months. They were rather comfortable. Not too stiff or thick in the palm. I just can't recommend something that you have to throw away and replace every 2 months.

I ordered these gloves as a replacement for some older ones I bought at Mountain Equipment Co-Op in Canada, and I was surprised by how thin the leather was on these new ones in comparison to my old gloves, so I promptly returned them. It's hard to find a decent pair of natural fiber cycling gloves (leather and cotton) as most manufacturers favour the high tech fabrics, which tend not to breathe. Tailoring on these gloves was not great either, as they seemed to be loose in places and too snug in other places.

I thought at this price.....I might not get a quality glove.... but it surprised me when I received them.These are very well made... and ...are perfectly suited for use with Mountain Bikes because of the leather... in my opinion.I'm going to check out the "Planet Bike" line of products for Cycling "first" before I look elsewhere because of their quality.Are they worth it ?........Yes!.....You can't get better quality at this price anywhere !

Either you prefer this old style of gloves or not. I have always preferred them. They seem to last long. I will say that you might prefer ones that have pull tabs between the fingers. These don’t have them.

I have short wide hands. These gloves fit better than most I have tried. Other gloves have been too tight unless I by a size that is way too long. They are one of the most comfortable gloves I have owned. The string back are cooler in the summer than the cloth back.

Nice gloves for cycling, although they fit snug. I used the company website to find out the sizing, and bought the extra large. Takes a minute or two to take them off. Great for hot weather.