Toe Numbness

This weekend I took a ride along my usual route of the south shore lake trail. In order to adequately describe the situation, I have to back up to earlier that morning. My aunt and uncle were in town for a concert the night before and I had met them at Cafe Du Monde for some coffee and beignets (fried squares of dough, think french donut covered in a pound of powdered sugar). This was what constituted the entirety of my breakfast that day. Let me just say this as clearly as possible, beignets are not the breakfast of champions...

I started my ride with a warm up to the trail. Once on the trail, I picked up the pace and maintained a cruising speed of about 15 mph. For the first 6 miles of the ride, I regretted my decision to have beignets. The powered sugar and grease had formed some sort of unholy alliance in my stomach and made me feel as though I was carrying a 20 pound baby made of bricks. As the miles wore on, my speed steadily decreased.

Luckily, about 4.5 miles into the ride, I was passed by two guys riding at a pace I hoped to maintain (one on a Scott and the other on a Schwinn Le Tour). I snuck in behind them and resolved to stay with them no matter what. For the next two miles, my mind was distracted by the desire not to drop off my new unofficial pack. At 6.5 miles, we came to the end of the trail and the pair road off. I, however, was not done. I turned around and began the journey to the other end of the trail.

I had only ridden another two miles when I experienced something I had never felt before while riding. As I neared the 9 mile mark, my toes on both feet went completely numb. I adjusted the straps on my shoes hoping the increased blood flow would resolve the issue but the problem persisted. Around this same time, my chain started to jump between gears with every shift. Every downshift would provide one full revolution of the crank in the proper gear then the chain would begin to slip between the higher gear selected and the lower gear I had just left. I continued on for a quarter of a mile to diagnose exactly what was wrong, figuring that I must have knocked something out of alignment when I services my chain before the ride.

I was forced to stop and adjust the rear derailleur. Luckily this solved two problems: First, the derailleur was fixed and I could continue the ride with smooth pedal strokes. Second, my toe numbness went away. I was only off the bike for two or three minutes but the feeling in my toes had returned and the problem never returned throughout the rest of the ride.

I continued to the opposite end of the trail and then rode back to my entry point and ultimately home. In just over 30 miles of riding, I had experienced more nuisances than I ever had before in an entire week of riding. That said, I still got to spend some quality time on my bike, with my thoughts, and enjoying what the day had to offer me.

One last note in regards to this report: The Bontrager Fusion Gel gloves that I have been using will soon find that they have been replaced. I have made every adjustment possible to my hand position and the contact point of my hands on the bike. There is simply no way to make these gloves comfortable. I may soon find myself reverting back to Pearl Izumi Gels or Specialized BG gloves but Bontrager gloves will no longer be a part of my cycling equipment. Ultimately, the shotty quality and padding design cannot be overcome. These gloves have the least effective padding of any gloves I have ever tried. Those who know me or are regular readers of this blog know that I love my Bontrager Privateer and therefore want to give the benefit of the doubt to anything with that name (yes, I know it is now a marketing tool only but a little willful disbelief never hurt anyone). That said, there is no excuse for these gloves...

Review - Bontrager RL Fusion GelFoam Gloves

It had been over 10 years since I last bought a pair of cycling gloves. The pair of Pearl Izumi gel gloves I had served me well. Comfortable, they fought hand numbness to the bitter end. When they finally expired, grip had been on a steady decline. The loss of grip was so gradual, however, that I was able to slowly become accustomed to it. The final death blow came when the pads on the palms simply feel off. This is in no way to be considered a flaw of the gloves. As I said, they lasted a good 10 years of heavy use.

When it came time to seek out a replacement, I opted to examine a name that had served me well with other products. Those who know me know how much I cherish my Bontrager Privateer. I decided to see what the Bontrager name had to offer when it came to gloves. Bontrager, a company that began as a small manufacturer of legendary hand-made frames, is now the in-house brand for Trek. Trek now applies the Bontrager name to pretty much anything outside of frames that comes out of their factories. 

Bontrager offers four variations of short fingered gloves. Of those, the RL Fusion GelFoam Gloves seemed to best fit the features I was looking for and the price point I was interested in. I placed an order for a white pair with GNO Cyclery (a New Orleans LBS that I have done extensive business with in the past). It only took a few days and I received a call that my gloves had arrived. I went down to the shop that afternoon and picked them up.

My initial impressions were strong. The fit was spot on and the stitching and finish looked well executed. Two of the features I appreciated the most upon inspection were the rubberized pull tab at the base of the palm to pull the gloves on and a rubberized cinch tab on the cuff restraint. Both of these features made the gloves much easier to get on and off as well as adjusting the cuff. 

Although I have only used these gloves on a handful of rides averaging only around 25km per ride, I have developed a better understanding of their true quality. First, and most importantly, these gloves provide excellent grip and I am pleased to say I have not experienced any numbness when riding my road bike. I have, however, noticed a little numbness on my mountain bike but this may be attributable to other factors - such as I notice I place a lot more of my weight on my hand when riding the Privateer.

The one negative thing I have to say about these gloves it that shortly after beginning use, the rubber application on the cuff adjustment for one of the gloves has separated from the velcro strap. I will attempt to remedy this with a judicious application of super glue. I hope this is not an indication of the true build quality of these gloves.

Next I will be looking for a set of full fingered gloves. Any suggestions?