Reviews

Santini Studio Win winter gloves – review

Cosy neoprene-like gloves that fit well and offer good dexterity

A decent pair of winter gloves to repel the elements are vital if you’re going to enjoy your winter riding. Santini’s Studio Win winter gloves utilise the Italian firm’s ‘Airtech Tunnel’ fabric technology to insulate your hands by maintaining a warm air barrier between you and the weather.

The problem with winter gloves has always been the trade-off between insulation and dexterity. Companies can throw ever-thicker insulating layers to keep the wind, rain and cold at bay, but as a result more often than not you lose the tactile response and dexterity at the fingertips than can inspire confidence on the road.

However, the ‘Airtech Tunnel’ works by combining two closely packed breathable elasticated layers. The result is theoretically a warm air pocket trapped between the two layers, acting as an extra form of insulation without adding undue thickness.

The Santini Studio Win gloves offer plenty of warmth for their relatively low bulk

Specification
Price: £36.50
Sizes: S-XL
Size tested: Large
Website: Santini
UK distributor: Zyro-Fisher

It feels like neoprene, and it looks like it too. However, in practice it’s very effective, especially when you consider how relatively thin the gloves are.

Even though the main fabric is only a couple of millimetres thick, and lacks a fleece layer, in air temperatures approaching zero degrees my hands remained perfectly, usable if not completely toasty.

Naturally, there is the aforementioned trade-off at play, and the ‘Airtech Tunnel’ technology can’t completely overcome the lack of bulk with the Studio Win gloves by providing protection in the very coldest conditions, but it’s nevertheless impressive.

The fabric also has the added benefit of breathability, while the outer is treated for water resistance and windproofing. Consequently, on our test rides – both short and long in wet and dry weather – we found our hands stayed remarkably dry both inside and out, which naturally aided in keeping our hands warm.

Those with particularly poor circulation may still want to opt for a tougher glove with a thermal fleece layer, or team these with a thin fleece lining glove for the best of both worlds – however, should you do, we’d recommend buying a size up. You’ll lose a smudge of overall dexterity, but you’ll then be able to accommodate that extra layer if you wish. The gloves come up true to size; ours were snug in a large, which we’d expect.

On the palm, Santini have fitted grippy padding so even if your bars are wet, you’ll still have good grip. It’s comfortable too, without being bulky, so adds to the svelte style of the glove, with some stylish textured swirls added.

The gloves have plenty of grip, but it’s not particularly useful on the fingers and soon fell off

Small grip nodules have also been added to the first two fingers, but after one ride they had already begun to simply fall off, and at the conclusion of our test the right hand had lost all bar one of them.

We didn’t find they assisted with touchscreen use on phones or bike computers, so if we’re honest we’d prefer to see a full size pad on the fingers instead – it’d be much grippier on brake levers, and probably longer lasting too.

Still, that’s the only outwardly negative aspect of these gloves. Santini have taken care of the frills well otherwise, with a quality Velcro fastening that helps keep the wrist snug, and extra double layer reinforcement between the thumb and forefingers and atop the thumb.

There’s a soft snot/sweat wipe on the outside of the thumb

Overall, quality is excellent, despite the slightly pointless finger nodules, so we’d expect these gloves to be a reliable go-to pair for the entire winter if looked after properly.

Conclusion

Overall, the Santini Studio Win Winter Gloves are an excellent compromise of dexterity and warmth which will suit most riders in anything but sub-zero temperatures.