100% Brisker Xtreme Gloves – Cycling News | Bike Reviews

The 100% Brisker Extreme gloves are made with a soft shell top for the back of the hand and a single layer of ‘Axe Suede’ on the palm, which means you are well protected against wind chill while also retaining decent dexterity on the bars. You won’t want to rely on them if the temperature’s dropped to the low single figures though and there’s also excess material inside.

Internally, a ‘moisture-wicking microfibre’ keeps your hands comfortable and cosy, but not too sweaty, while the extended, elasticated slip-on cuff does an excellent job of keeping your wrists protected if your jacket or jersey gets caught a little up the arm.

On the ring and index finger are touch screen compatible patches, but as with many gloves the accuracy and consistency is not 100% and after some time the thread that makes up the panels started to peel away.

With regards to the construction of the Brisker Extreme, it’s obvious that comfort and dexterity are high up on the priority list – the skinny palm and contact side of the fingers make use of the previously mentioned Axe Suede, but connecting the suede and soft shell upper is a fluorescent flourish that adds extra seams around the digits and leaves a lot of excess material inside, reducing free space around the fingers.

In my experience, excess seams and material make for much colder fingers. The excess material also meant the fingers felt much shorter.

This is a shame, as if the gloves were constructed with a softshell top right the way round to the suede, this might have been avoided, and while I get that a fluorescent flourish might be good for some sort of visibility, it might have been better to have introduced a reflective panel or two on the back and fingers rather than this additional construction element.

The nature of the construction somewhat marred the performance of the Brisker Extreme gloves in most scenarios. While being on the drops almost eliminates any of the chill coming into the fingertips due to the position of your hands, on moving back up to the tops or hoods I found my fingers were firmly pushing into the excess seams.

On the days when I was layered up to battle the sub zero experience, I didn’t find these gloves as extreme as 100% claim, and a lot of that comes down to the additional fabric panel of fluorescent yellow.

The build of the gloves overall is otherwise top notch though. Having pulled them both on and off with teeth when needs must, it’s safe to say they are put together very well. The elastane cuff is a huge help that I’ve made use of countless times when ripping them off soggy, cold and tired hands.

There’s no danger of feeling like a misplaced finger might stretch or damage the seams on these, compared with some other gloves employing a multi layer system for each digit.

In addition to the solid build, the terry cloth available on each thumb is helpful for clearing murky glasses, but its size is just a little lacking. It could do with being a fair bit longer.

While they are not waterproof in the slightest, they aren’t as difficult as other gloves to get on or off with soggy hands.

Value

The Brisker Extreme price is fairly low at £39.98. For the budget price, you get a simple and budget glove that actually looks pretty great: well-styled and with low bulk, the bars feel great through them. However, to find something that’s going to live up to the rigours of winter riding with wind chill, low temperatures and potential showers, you’ll most likely need to spend a little more.

> Keep your digits toasty on the bike: the best winter cycling gloves for riding through the colder months

At £61, the Velocio Zero+ Gloves are better suited to colder days riding, albeit they have no touchscreen compatibility.

To level up the budget a little more, the Gorewear C5 Gore-Tex Thermo Gloves priced at £64.99 are weatherproof and well padded and more dextrous than they look.

Conclusion

I’ve spent days with my hands in these gloves, on drop bars and flat bars, and it seems like anything above 6 or 7 degrees is fine, but when temperatures are lower, I’d certainly recommend investing in something a little warmer. That said, if you find something cosy that offers the same level of dexterity, do let me know.