Five Urban leather gloves in black

The Urban glove from Five is a bit of an anomoly; it is a slightly unusual glove in that it is an unlined, summer glove without a membrane, but with a long cuff.

Now usually a summer glove will have a shorter cuff because most people will not want to tuck the cuff into the sleeve of their jacket, so that air can run up the sleeve of the jacket. But some people do prefer a longer cuff on a summer glove. Perhaps they believe that it’s more protective because there will be less skin exposed. But most people who seek a longer cuff on a summer glove will have come from sportsbike riding where, in order to emulate racers, the cuffs of a glove are invariably worn over the end of the sleeve.

Ours not to reason why, but the fact is that it is difficult to find a long-cuffed, summer glove for road riding. Yes you can wear a racing glove with its heavily-flared wrist opening, but such gloves don’t always look right on a street bike.

The Urban glove has a superbly soft, goatskin chassis. On the back of the hand some of the leather is perforated. You get a leather-covered hard knuckle protector that is backed with foam. There’s a foam pad on the outside of the wrist. There’s also a plastic slider at the base of the palm.

This is a superbly comfortable glove, but concertina stretch bands on some of the fingers play their part, as does elasticated Lycra stretch material between the fingers.

The long cuff fastens around the wrist by means of a Velcro strap. The index finger of the glove is touchscreen sensitive.

This is a glove for summer riding. The absence of a membrane means that you won’t be protected from the effects of wind chill, so on a cold day you will get cold hands; and for the same reason this glove will be useless in the rain. The Urban is perhaps not the glove you would wear when working hard off road or when riding across Death Valley, but if, for whatever reason, you want a summer glove with a long cuff, then the Urban may have your name on it.