hillbilly gloves

[bouin-bouin]

Originally Posted by sacherjj

Anyone using the Hillbilly gloves not get dark gray hands after sweating? This black leather bleeds something awful.

Yes they do a little bit

[Universe]

They will stop bleeding soon enough.

[rob1]

My hands used to turn blue but they are fantastic gloves I love them

[Muni Fix]

Originally Posted by bouin-bouin

Yes they do a little bit

Mine actually stopped bleeding after I threw it in the wash...thinking about getting a larger pair so I can use a glove liner for winter rides....great protection on these gloves

[Up Rite]

How do the KH gloves compare?

[UnderTheLake]

Originally Posted by Up Rite

How do the KH gloves compare?

Hillbillies have a rigid skid plate over the "heel" of your hand and wrist. KH gloves do not. If you tend to crash in the "Superman" position, get the Hillbillies. If you rarely crash and don't want the skid plate interfering with your handle-holding, get the KH. Personally, I'm a Superman crasher, and love my Hillbillies. When I look at my beat up gloves, I know they have saved me from a lot of bleeding, both in muni and geared 36" riding.

[LanceB]

I wear half-finger KHs when road riding, and full-fingered Hillbillies for muni.
The KHs are more comfortable, but not as protective. Since I rarely fall when road riding, I prefer those. The half-fingers allow me to answer the phone, etc, while riding, and they are cooler.
The Hillbillies are not perfect, by any means. But I fall hard and often when riding muni, and the full-fingered Hillbillies provide the protection I need.

[lightbulbjim]

The Hillbillies are more substantial than the KH gloves.

In my early days of road riding on my 36 I had a few superman landings. I wore half finger Hillbillies and they (along with hard plastic kneepads) let me get up and ride away as if nothing happened.

I don't usually bother with gloves/pads for road riding anymore but I still use my Hillbillies for muni. I have a brand new backup pair for when these ones die since they're hard to come by in these parts.

I also have a pair of full finger KH gloves but I only use them in cold weather. I've never taken a fall in them so I can't comment on their protection or durability. They don't seem like they would live through many high speed superman slides though.

[OneTrackMind]

I love my Hillbillies. I got them as new condition at a great price on Gumtree from a very experienced rider who said in the ad that they were unsuitable for unicyclists.

I remember a post on this site about someone who broke their wrist in KH gloves and commented on the importance of the palm side brace which the KH lacked.

I have done superman upds down the tarmac at over 20 kph without injury.

[AzTinbender]

I've had my full fingered Hillbillies for a couple months. Very little problem with the dye bleeding on me for the first couple rides. At first I hated the bulk of the huge plastic skid plate on the palm. It made it hard to grip the saddle handle and even harder to reach the brake lever. After a few rides I barely notice it's there. Until I superman on to a rock pile. That's when I really appreciate the skid plate. Before these I was using the KH short fingered gloves. The Hillbillies seem like they'd be hard to beat as far as protection goes. And they seem to be well made. The KH gloves were shredded in about 6 months. And I don't land on my hands all that often. They were falling apart at the seams and the material and leather, front and back, was falling apart as well. If I can get 6 months out of the Hillbillies I'd be happy just because of the better protection that they offer.

[Up Rite]

I suppose wearing any kind of protective glove with wrist guards is an option. I still need a rail as I am at the beginning stage, and I found wrist guards to really interfere with that.

Dissapointed to read the KH golves lack protection and longevity.

[MrImpossible]

Current model KH gloves (black with real leather) are great. The older blue ones with synthetic leather palms self destructed pretty quickly.

They are also plenty of protection if you are just using your hands and arms to guide your fall into a roll. Which is what you should be doing! But it does take some practice until it becomes automatic.

If you are trying to catch yourself with your hands and arms, you're likely to need more protection than the KH gloves, but you may still end up injuring your shoulder, or chest muscles, or breaking a collarbone. Learning a basic parkour style roll is definitely worth it.