MTB

Dakine Sentinel Women’s MTB Gloves 2014

The Dakine Sentinel Gloves are a tough, protective glove for mountain biking, complete with protective D30 protection technology which is incorporated over the knuckle and heel of the hand.

I’ve been putting the Sentinel Gloves through their paces over the last few months. On first view, I was a little sceptical; they looked a little flimsy and dare I say it a little plain! Then I started to ride in them and I began to find out just how good they are. I’m converted.

First off, let’s get down to business with the D30 technology. D3O is a type of rubber that works by hardening on impact, providing extra protection, and at all other times is remaining bendy and soft. I felt better knowing my knuckles weren’t going to get skinned the first time I came to close to a tree on a narrow trail!

I found the gloves are incredibly comfortable. The thin Clarino synthetic suede palm, which doesn’t have padding, allows you excellent feel of the bars with no nasty seams to get in the way. The mesh lining the sides of the fingers allows air to flow easily, keeping you cool and sweat free. These are not the warmest gloves though; think more summer in the Alps rather than spring in the UK!

As time went on I also warmed to the black and white design, particularly when I noticed the colourful pink accent peeping though at the finger joints. For this test I wore a medium, which Dakine say fits a hand 6.5-7.5” across at the palm. As my hand measures 7”, I’d say that was pretty accurate.

Lastly, the gloves only have silicone gripper pad on the middle finger. Fine, if you are a two finger breaker but what if, like me, you break with one finger, and that happens to be the index finger? I spoke to the Product Coordinator for Dakine about this issue, she agreed it was a weakness but explained to me that the material used on the index finger and thumb was touch screen compatible. In order for that to work, the silicone had to be removed.

So I put it to the test, and have ridden and raced in these gloves both in the wet and the dry. I’ve had no problems with grip on the index finger, compared to my normal gloves with silicone. Happy days; grip and I can use my phone!

VERDICT

A great pair of gloves for trail riding or racing, which gives you excellent ‘feel’ on the bars, so long as you like unpadded gloves. The D30 rubber gave effective protection, and the touchscreen compatible material on some of the fingers meant no more removing your gloves to use my phone or Garmin.