Well, then it must be true that someone can avoid landing on their hands every single time and thus avoid any hand injury, let alone serious hand injury, every single time.
No not at all. Iāve done plenty of hot and humid riding and have never had an issue with slippage on the bars. The sweat dripping from my head is more impactful than anything from my hands to be honest. Hands get a lot of cooling effect.
I consider gloves to be an essential safety item like a helmet, so have never tried riding more than a 5 min spin without them. If you ever fall off, putting your hands out is a natural reaction.
I donāt find fingerless mitts too warm in the UK summer - I guess iām just used to them.
Simon
1 Like
I think we can agree pro riders have had their share of falls. Itās similar to folks who refuse to xc MTB without knee and elbow pads. I canāt imagine I would ride if I felt I had to wear those.. to each their own.
Itās a marginal gains sport, the mental aspect of knowing you did everything to be as light as possible might be worth more than the crash protection.
Iāve never heard of a pro going down and only taking the skin of their hands off. Either they crash and are fine to carry on, or they crash and break and have to scratch. Iām sure it has happened in the past, it just doesnāt happen very often.
I donāt like gloves. I havenāt found a pair yet that I agree with for 5-6 hours in a row. They all start to itch or scratch or give me blisters at some point during the ride. I would not wear gloves If I had to ride every day for 3 weeks straight.
1 Like
Youāre comparing apples to oranges. Judo and rugby; falling is part of the game and, also, on a mat or turf, not asphalt. Never seen anyone skiing without gloves and generally more of a sliding scenario, rather than the hard impact of a cycling fall.
Iāve ridden and raced for over 40 years and my hands go out to break my fall every time; Iād rather they take the impact than a shoulder or head. 
I raced for quite a while too, always wore mitts for racing but never for training / social rides. I had a terrible record of crashes down the years and lost plenty of skin (midweek crits!) but never put my hands out or lost any skin on my hands - I put that down to prior years snowboarding, where you quickly learn how to break a fall. Similar with rugby, kids are coached from the start not to put their hands out when falling/tackled and it soon becomes instinctive.
Personally Iād still wear mitts if I were racing but I can see why others might not, particularly in hot races. Maybe theyāve never found it a problem.
Itās completely a fashion conscious decision in the instances I have seen on the bike, Iāve even had 3 young riders from a team riding beside me get instruction from the strongest rider in their group to remove their gloves for the finish! Iāll happily keep mine on, very helpful to wipe sweat and manage that runny nose!
A GCN video with no or poor/questionable science ā¦. Donāt believe you ā¦ itās just not a thing.