Another edition of the Desk Files, though this time we’ve been inundated with some fresh apparel as well as a nifty item from Schwalbe.
With Winter kicking into overdrive in Melbourne, things have been cold and mostly wet the past couple of weeks, so it seemed perfectly suitable to find a pair of Windchill Gloves from Scottish brand Endura in a box on our front porch. Matching the Windchill softshell jacket that we currently have on test for review in Issue #22 of Enduro, the bright red gloves are built for cold conditions with a layer of waterproof/windproof material on the back side of the hand.
Stretchy elastic cuff keeps them snug, though the overall cut seems to do that very well, with sizing on the smaller side.
Rubberised grippy bits on the fore and middle fingers for traction on the brake levers and shifters.
Endura Winter Gloves: Protecting the Technical Editor’s hands from hot cups of coffee since 9am this morning.
While we’re on the glove front, we received a bunch of goodies from Trek’s accessory brand, Bontrager. Sitting on the other side of the spectrum to the Endura gloves, the RL Fusion Gelfoam gloves (try saying that 10 times fast!) are a much lighter construction with breathable mesh material aiding ventilation.
Overall construction is very light, so these will be ideal for warmer riding conditions. Note the Velcro wrist closure to keep them in the right spot – on your hands.
As the name indicates, these gloves house a built in Fusion reactor. No? Oh right, I meant that they have gel inserts on the palm.
Obligatory terry towling on the thumb, though I’m not sure how Keith Bontrager feels about you wiping sweat and snot all over his name.
We forgot to post these up earlier with the Hope X2 Brakes, as Panaracer is also distributed by Bike Sportz. Being made in Japan, Panaracer is also licensed to manufacture tyres for a number of other brands including 650B specific company; Pacenti. The Driver Pro tyres are built to perform in hardpack and medium loose conditions, with a generous 2.2″ width. We’ve got these wrapped around the wheels on our long termer Santa Cruz Tallboy, and you’ll see full spec details and our thoughts on their performance in the next issue of Enduro (hint: they’re light!)
And last, but certainly not least, is this clever little device from Schwalbe. It’s a tyre pressure gauge that uses a digital display to take the guesswork out of achieving correct tyre setup. Given that we’re regularly hopping on and off demo bikes as well as swapping around tyres for different trail conditions, a gauge like this is invaluable for quick setup as well as experimenting with lower or higher tyre pressures than the old ‘thumb test’. Clever stuff!
