Gloves

Altura Sportive 97 mitts – review

Good quality mitts from Altura that get the basics right

Mitts offer valuable protection in the event of a spill, but more generally can seriously help riders who suffer hand discomfort when riding. The key to that is a glove that, literally, fits like one – so how does Altura’s Sportive 97 mitt stack up?

Firstly, what I like about the Sportive 97 mitts is that they do the basics well. Pressure pads are strategically positioned on the key pressure points of the hand, complete with grippy silicone strips on the lower portion of the palm for easier grip and adhesion to the bars.

The upper palm has a strip of padding with a reinforced faux-suede cover, while the middle palm features a few laser cut holes for ventilation in the centre of the hand and under the fingers. The design of the Sportive 97 mitts eschews the use of a fastening tab, instead relying on a tighter pull-on elasticated cuff to ensure a close fit around the wrist, with a little extra flexibility added through a dedicated band section atop the thumb.

Altura’s Sportive 97 mitts do the basics right – at £20 you can’t ask for much more

The necessary flexible fit is ensured through what Altura call ‘Ergofit’ patterning, which is supposed to reduce the amount of creases under the clenched palm, and a flexible Lycra body to the upper. The gloves are relatively easy to pull off thanks to strips under the third and fourth fingers – always useful in gloves that don’t use a fastening strap – and feature a towelled area on the back of the thumbs for wiping your nose.

That’s really your lot when it comes to the features of the Sportive 97 mitts, and the truth is they work together to form a very competent glove – comfortable for long distances, and cool enough to help you avoid the dreaded sweaty (and smelly) hands in warm conditions.

In fact the only area I could really criticise them is that they tend to pull backwards on the fingers, cutting a little into the webs of your digits.

It’s probably due to the fact that the seams line up directly above the joins between the fingers, and when you combine that with the grippy lower section of the palm that pretty much anchors your hand in place on the bars, it exerts backward pressure on them.

That’s a shame, and it was an issue even in the XL size mitts on test. Usually a large fits me perfectly adequately, so while my palm had plenty of room – more than I’m used to, actually – I’d suggest that they come up a little smaller in the digits than usual.

This isn’t helped by the seams that are placed in precisely the same place as the webbing between your digits, so I wasn’t completely rub-free either.

Our only criticism would be the fit around the webbing of your digits

Other than this issue though, which could easily be down to my fairly long digits, the Sportive 97 mitts are a solid, well-made and reliable pair that will suit anyone after a medium-padded mitt for their sportive riding this year. At £20, they’re decent value too – just make sure you get that fit right.