Gloves on the trainer?

[benb]

Just curious... I've been putting in a lot (for me) of trainer time the past 6 weeks.

If I wear gloves, they get gross really fast, and I'm always struggling to not overheat.

But without gloves my hoods/tape get really really slippery to the point I have to worry about gripping the bars too tightly.

I just changed my Tape from some 2 year old Lizard Skins to some new Fabric Tape and that helped a little but not enough, and doesn't do anything on the hoods.

FWIW the Fabric Tape (assuming it lasts) seems impressive. Right up there with the Fizik Tape, installs really really nicely and seems to have plenty of the stretch of old school cork tape. (Which I wish was more readily available at the LBSes)

[trener1]

I Use gloves on the trainer to help with reducing the sweat saturation on the bars, and also just the feeling of overall sweat.
I use the old style ones with the kind of crochet looking back and they seem to work great for the trainer.

[ghammer]

I sweat a lot, normally. Even when I'm lean/low fat, I still sweat, and my sweat is the type that corrodes things through. I learned to put a fan in front of me when I ride indoors (which is what we do mostly here in new England). But there's a catch:

My basement is rather cold, so I have to start without the fan. Once I'm properly warmed-up, which is about the 10mins mark, I turn on the fan.

The sweat rate is the same, but since it evaporates i don't really get raisin hands/fingers, and don't have a pool of acid-sweat at the bottom of my rollers. As a result, I have far less of a mess to clean up, don't need to wipe the bike down or freak out about my sweat destroying or seizing moving parts.

I keep a towel around to wipe my face, but that is mostly it for my sessions.

[dsimon]

I just use a Towel on the handle bars

[R3awak3n]

I have not uses gloves rhis winter but always have before. I need to dig em out because my bar tape is drenched.

[wallymann]

i barely grip my bars when on the trainer.

no gloves at all. cork only on the tops to the brake levers, no cork at all on the crops.

big fan in front just off camera -- lots of airflow across hands/arms/torso/head.

http://brown-snout.com/cycling/misc/pedalstrokes/winter-training-tops.gif

[earlfoss]

I use gloves during hard interval sessions, and that's about it. I like the little extra grip when the hammer is down. For aerobic/easy stuff, no gloves. I'll keep a towel handy though.

[EDS]

Just get a pair of old school sweat/wrist bands to slow the flow of sweat to your hands. Added benefit is that you can use them to mop your brow as well.

That and a big fan.

[Tickdoc]

May sound strange, but I lay a rolled-up yoga mat across the bars when i ride stationary trainer. It holds my iPad and offers a nice cushy support riding.

[jpritchet74]

Definitely no gloves - maybe drape a towel across the handlebars and definitely get a big fan blowing into your face to dry the sweat.

[benb]

Interesting.. sounds like lots of people are just riding on the tops most of the time or something?

I'm actually shifting around like normal (generally not watching videos) and currently experimenting with bar positions.. the towels work OK for some hand positions and not others I guess.

Sweatbands on wrists seems like a good idea, I may try that.

[jke.4132]

I just use a Towel on the handle bars

This

[saab2000]

Gloves to absorb sweat and to prevent hand numbness. And I rotate through a bunch of sweatbands and have a seriously strong fan blowing. No sweat dripping at all.

[Mzilliox]

Why are you gripping so hard on a trainer. You arent going to fall. Take some weight off em and work the core. And towels.

[benb]

Why are you gripping so hard on a trainer. You arent going to fall. Take some weight off em and work the core. And towels.

Context here was I was doing one-legged pedaling drills this morning.. I seem to have some issues on one side when I'm doing that. IIRC it was when I had my left leg unclipped I was feeling like I was getting pushed to the left. Particularly towards the end of an interval my pedal stroke gets uneven when doing this.

It doesn't seem to happen outside.. probably cause I end up tilting the bike towards the side I'm still clipped in on.

[berserk87]

I just use a Towel on the handle bars

That is the answer for me as well. An old bath towel that you can arrange however you like.

[bigbill]

Like mentioned before, I used sweat bands on my wrists. Another thing I ended up do was building up a trainer bike, an old frame with just a drivetrain, no brakes, trainer tire on the back, cork tape over electrical tape on the bars, and sweat all over it.

[carpediemracing]

I'm religious about wearing long finger gloves when riding outside, but inside I don't wear gloves at all.

To be fair I don't ride all out all the time, but I definitely sweat.

My fan is in front of my front wheel, pointing up, so the bars are sort of dry anyway.

I use Supacaz tape. It's cushy and grippy when wet (latter is a critical metric for me).

[makoti]

Old, worn out gloves on the trainer. I've got like 6 pairs of them. Use, in the wash, repeat.

[KonaSS]

I had no idea that gloves on a trainer was a thing. I never considered it. I do have two fans, one on each side of my front wheel pointing at me so that sweat doesn't get out of hand.