Product Review: 661 Recon Camber Gloves

When it comes to mountain biking, there are several things that are essential to making your experience a good one. Something that many riders consider important is a decent pair of riding gloves. You don’t have to wear them and in fact they aren’t really essential, but they will reduce the amount of blisters you get and you’ll be hugely grateful when your palms aren’t shredded on your next off.

Being a sucker for a bargain, we decided to try out the 661 Recon Camber Gloves, which are in the same range as the 661 Recon Stealth helmet we recently reviewed.We managed to get these from Chain Reaction Cycles for under £15, which is an awesome price when you look at some of the numbers attached to gloves these days. Here’s how we found them:

661 Recon Camber Gloves

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his glove has a lot of things going for it, but the first thing you notice is what it looks like. There are a couple of color options available, but we went for the red and black option and it looks great – lovely patterns but not screaming for attention, just how we like it. The next thing you notice is the fit. Thanks to the mesh upper and thin leather palm, these gloves simply mold to your hands, giving you maximum comfort and movement.

There is only one problem with such a close fit, and that is rubber wrist strap. It simply isn’t long enough to properly go around a normal person’s wrist, which means it often comes undone when riding. This hasn’t proved to be a major problem due to the snug fit, but it can be a bit annoying.

Not An All-Weather Glove

661 class these gloves as an All-Mountain glove, which I would strongly agree with but they are definitely not designed for all-weather conditions. In the dry these perform brilliantly, keeping your hands cool but not cold and providing you with plenty of grip and flexibility. As soon as it starts raining however, these don’t offer your hands any protective warmth but at least the leather palms mean that you don’t lose grip.

Protection

With the thin mesh and leather palms, you can definitely tell these aren’t gloves being aimed at the downhill enthusiasts. However, they do provide good protection for your average off when doing trail riding or XC. The leather palm is very durable and seems as though it could take a real battering, while the rubber knuckle pads will repel those annoying twigs that smash into as you blast down the trail.

Overall

If you’re after one pair of gloves to do everything, then these are not them. However, if you want some mitts that will make your hot, dry rides more comfortable and to offer more-than-bare-hand protection on XC rides then the 661 Recon Camber Gloves may well be what you’re after. Considering you can pick these up for less than £20 from pretty much any shop we’d say that’s one hell of a bargain – a solid 3/5 from the Grinding Gears team!