Review: Outdoor Research Freewheel MTB 4-Finger Gloves

These days are downright chilly!! But if you, like me, suffer from loam addiction, you know that this is a prime time to be on the bike. Up here in the PNW, the dust from a hard season of riding is long gone and we’re enjoying perfect trail conditions in our fast-draining sandy mountain soil. You need the gear to keep you going:

Outdoor Research Freewheel MTB 4-Finger Gloves:

• 4-Finger glove design for warmth
• Primaloft Gold insulation
• Touchscreen compatible fingers
• bluesign-approved materials
• MSRP: $80

Stay warm and in control

Outdoor Research has continued to put out a line of stellar mountain biking gear, which is a really nice complement to their mountaineering and lifestyle lineup. For a brand that’s based in Seattle, it would be silly not to try and meet the needs of the regions great cycling culture. I have been testing their Freewheel MTB 4-finger gloves throughout the autumn, and they’ve really helped me continue to get out and enjoy the trails.

The principle behind a 4-finger glove is pretty simple. If the fingers that aren’t busy doing much can stay together, they’ll stay warmer. While there are variable designs, this one puts your 4th and 5th fingers together so those wimpy digits can huddle together for warmth while the grip the bar. This leaves your thumb, first and second fingers free to manipulate levers.

This particular glove isn’t waterproof, but it has the really excellent Primaloft Gold synthetic insulation which does a great job staying warm even when wet. I really like this insulation and I’ve used it in lots of jackets: it’s light, packable and warm. If you’re riding in the rain, the backs of the gloves will eventually wet out, but the insulation itself will stay warm. How cold is too cold? It depends, but I would ride these into the 30’s (Fahrenheit) on a dry day or 40’s on a wet day.

The palm is a grippy leather material. The thumb and index finger has a touchscreen-compatible, and it actually works shockingly well. The gloves are fairly bulky so it’s not easy to be precise with a touch screen, but you can snap a photo with them on.

For me, I’m wearing a large which is standard for me with gloves. I find the larges quite roomy, which has pros and cons. I would have enough space to wear a light liner glove beneath, but I do find that gloves that start off large tend to stretch a touch over time and that can make your hand feel sloppy during aggressive riding. But, by the same token, I don’t ride too aggressively in 4 finger gloves as a matter of pre-frontal cortex function.

In use, I really enjoyed using the Freewheel gloves during moderate mountain bike riding. The 4-finger design is, to me, inherently less stable and tactile as a regular glove, and especially a summer glove. For me, that’s OK: I tend to dial things back a little bit more in the cooler months and ride slightly less aggressively. Obviously that’s not true for all riders, so you’re going to have to decide if having your pinky free or not is in line with your style. For me, I loved the excellent grip and warmth of the Freewheels.

Buy Now: Visit Backcountry.com