Axo Shortcut Gloves
By James Sharp

Gloves serve many functions in cycling. They reduce the amount of vibration that reaches the rider, enhancing the comfort of the ride. In fact a good pair of gloves can make up for a poor pair of grips. They also protect your hands in the event of a fall. For these reasons I feel that gloves are second only to helmets as a must have cycling accessory.

So what makes a good pair of gloves? To start with, they have to be comfortable and fit well. If they aren't, they will slide and chafe when your hands get sweaty. The gloves shouldn't stretch when wet, and the padding should not bunch up when your hand wraps around the bar. Having some terry cloth on the thumb is a good feature, so is the ability to be machine washable. A good pair of gloves should be durable as well, since they are a source of protection, in addition to comfort.

So, how well does the Axo Shortcut compare to this demanding checklist? First, I found the gloves to be very comfortable. They have padding at the base of the palm, but just a little extra material, for durability, where you would grip the bar. There is more reinforcement on the thumb and forefinger for Gripshift users. The thumb is terry cloth. So far the gloves are par for the course.

As far as protection goes, there is rubber "armor" on the back of the glove for stray branch protection, a nice touch that is normally found in full finger gloves, but not in half-finger ones. This does impede airflow, but not as bad as I thought it would. The Shortcuts are cool, partly because of the short fingers, and partly because any part of the back that is not covered by the plastic breathes very well. Overall, my initial impression was favorable and I couldn't wait to get out on the trail and use them.

I used the Shortcuts on both my road bike and mountain bike. I was impressed by the comfort on both. On the mountain bike, though, there is a seam near the palm that started to rub my hand the wrong way on an extended ride. This happened only once, however, so I think that either my hand got used to this seam, or it was a little rough from manufacture and took care of itself over time. Unfortunately, it was after this ride that my impression of the gloves took a dive. The next time I used them; I noticed that the seam between the terry and the palm material came undone, opening up a half-inch long hole. On the other glove there seemed to be a hole developing in the material on the forefinger.

I contacted them about this issue, and they sent me two new sets of gloves. I am happy to report that one set of new gloves is without flaw in any way. They are everything that I look for in a pair of gloves; they are comfortable, breath reasonably well and are durable. The other set exhibited the same issues as the first. On the left glove, one seam unraveled.

Summary: At $29 the price isn't too high for the comfort and protection that the Shortcuts provide, however two out of three sets of gloves that I received to test came apart at a seam. Not good odds. I sincerely hope that I managed to receive two gloves that managed to make it through the quality control process and not ones that passed it. I really liked these gloves--enough to recommend them to about anyone--but for the stitching issue. As soon as that is resolved these will be on my "great buy" list.

James Sharp is a contributing editor to GearReview.com specializing in mountain biking.

For more information, contact:
Valencia Sport Group
28307 Industry Drive
Valencia California
(661) 257-2756
www.axocycling.com