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SEVEN DAY CYCLIST
CYCLING, BUT NOT USUALLY RACING
LATEST UPDATE NOVEMBER 14th 2025
HOW DO WE REACH THE OVERALL RATINGS FOR PRODUCTS WE REVIEW?
Sportful Winter Classic Gloves
42g Large Black £45
Sportful’s Classic Winter Gloves are nimble, light, stretchy, snug fitting gloves that scream light-weight speedster, but have wider potential. With all the neatness and precision of gloves at this price point, they’ve proved useful companions so as winter draws in. I’m looking forward to further use, with just one reservation. They are part of Sportful’s Performance range, set between, Comfort and Aero.
Pros: light, stretchy, neat padding, quick to dry, easy to take on and off, slim.
Cons: temperature range of 5-15C may not be what you need for winter where you live.
Specification
The Classic Winter Gloves are very tactile, breathable softshell with an equally friendly brushed inner. Fingers and thumbs and back are 87% polyamide and 17% elastane. The palm is 86% polyester and 14% polyurethane. Cuffs are 87% polyamide and 13% elastane. This combination makes these very stretchy and very snug. If they don’t exactly cling, they certainly snuggle up. There’s no lining as such, so they rely on a single skin top keep the cold at bay.
There are two sets on padding on the palm, one strip across the ulnars, a larger one for the thumb joint. As ever, the ideal location for these can be quite personal.
The thumb and index finger tips are designed to be touch-screen friendly.
The wrist is of medium length, but sufficient to be covered by a long-sleeve jersey or jacket.
Sportful state a temperature range of 5-15C. More of that below.
Size and fit 4/5
Sizes range from XS to 3XL, according to the website, but the size chart only shows up to XL. I went for large having consulted the sizing guide and measured hand diameter and hand length. What o=if the two measurements fall into different sizes? Well, these are stretchy; the Large don’t feel too tight, but I think that the XL would have done just as well. I’d have gone for the XL had my hand length been in that category and diameter in L. That would have avoided pressure between the fingers and maintained a good overlap between cuff and jacket sleeve. I am pretty confident that the stretchy fabric would ensure that they still fitted like, well, a glove. It would also have ensured that the digits for the touch screen reached the tip of the fingers.
Does the slimline design mean that you can fit them under another pair of gloves? Well, I’ve managed it, with an old, unbranded pair of shell gloves, as well as a washed-out baggy pair. Needless to say, this negates the agility of the glove. I suspect they’ll be ideal with pogies.
Care and durability 3.5/5
Wash at 30C max and line dry in the shade, are the simple things to do. There are a few don’ts; tumble dry, do not bleach, do not use softener or conditioner, do not iron and do not dry clean. Got it?
Drying time has been overnight – maybe shorter (I was in bed), indoors with no additional heat source. Line -drying outdoors has been a couple of hours on a breezy, bright day.
For technical garments I generally use a technical wash. Whilst Sportful do not demand this, I’m a pretty cautious washer of expensive gear. However, I have bunged them in with some other dark coloured garments on a 30% wash and they do not seem to have come to any harm, so far.
Performance 3.75/5
These are very much like a second skin. They shape themselves around your palm, digits, and the back of your hand. This makes them really comfortable and flexible when you are changing gears or adjusting the zips on your jacket or toggling the light modes. I am always a bit dubious about operating a touch-screen with gloves on, even with specific reinforcements. It is not so much that they do not work, just that I find them unreliable. The Sportful Classic Gloves perform much better, for me, and if you are adept with gloves and touch-screen you should have no trouble. I’m probably a bit less dexterous than some, but have managed to adjust the touch screen on a Wahoo Elemnt Ace on the fly with no problem at all.
The padding is unobtrusive and looks pretty unsophisticated, but is actually just in the right place for me. On the ergo- grips on my Jones bars, the upper pad sits perfectly on the wing of the grip. The grips are, of course, well, grippy themselves. That’s a bit of a side issue, in some ways, as these are more likely to be found gripping drop bars. Again, the padding is well-placed for drops or hoods. It is nice to have one pair of gloves that work on all your bikes. Given the light-weight nature of the gloves, I’d say that the padding damps adequately, but this is likely to be less of an issue amongst its primary roadie target audience. For gravel and off-road riding, I may look for something with more padding. However, on 100km day rides, I’ve not felt any discomfort.
I don’t know what winter means where you are when it comes to temperatures, but 5-15C in the English Midlands can be anything form several degrees below and a balmy 15C. For many in the UK, the latter is a pipe dream in winter. So, how about the 5C lower limit. Well, first few days out saw air temperatures of around 5C, but with a lot of wind chill making it feel like 3C – even before we think of the extra chill when riding at speed. I have to say that my fingers felt the chill pretty quickly. Most of the hand stayed cool, but comfortable. I reckon that 5C is about right.
During the initial rides there were also some moderate showers and longer periods of light rain. This increased the chill factor on the fingers, no doubt. Equally, I was impressed when my fingers remained dry in the light rain and the dampness soon dissipated. The gloves were dry by the time it came to leave work without the help of artificial heat. On the bike, they have dried in around thirty minutes after a short shower. On the whole, these are probably best in dry or mixed weather, on a cold rainy day you may want something with greater water-resistance or fully waterproof gloves.
On changeable days, things have remained temperate when the sun has warmed things up a bit and the wind dropped. At around 6C to 8C, things have felt perfect.
The pads also help to make the palms grippy. I have had no problem on any surface when teaming them up with some nicely textured Fi’zik bar tape. However, I’ve not attempted technical stuff and I know that the MTB clan like something really grippy.
Value 3.5/5
£45 is far from negligible, but for a well-specced pair of winter gloves not unusual. Indeed, you’ll find significantly more expensive models. With a temperature range of 5-15C, one aspect to consider is whether these will suit you all winter and whether you combine them, say with pogies.
The Castelli Estremo gloves are over double the price, are much less agile, but have a significantly lower temperature range, a full grip palm, and a gusset-cuff sealed with Velcro flaps. (Test to follow).
I’ve enjoyed using my Chiba Winer Warm Line Gloves, which have protected my hands on most days, and come in around £50, but can be found discounted on line. However, they are not as agile, with thicker padding and fabric.
The Van Rysl 900 Winter Cycling Gloves (from Decathlon), have a tempting price tag for gloves that, if they are anyhing like their 700 ancestors, may perform very well.
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Pro Viz offer several models, with the Reflect 360 Cycling Gloves scoring particularly well in our tests.
Grip Grab offer a range of loves, which they define by seasons. Spring/autumn gloves – arguably comparable to Sportful’s Classic Winter Gloves – at last in an English climate – start at thirty-five Euros. Higher spec winter gloves are costlier. Having tested none of them, I can’t comment further.
Similarly priced and targeted are the RIDE 2 Windproof Spring-Autumn Gloves.
Summary
Unusually thin and agile for winter gloves, the Sportful Classic Winter Gloves offer an escape from thicker fabrics and chunkier fingers, but will 5C go low enough for you? With an clear bias towards road cycling, they certainly meet their spec. How many winter gloves really keep things toasty when the mercury drops to around 0C ? These are slim enough to encourage combination with pogies, allowing them to maintain the advantages of the skinny design.
Verdict: 3.75/5 Neat and tidy gloves for with neat features, but may not be for suitable for all winter riding.
Steve Dyster
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 2025
