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Wednesday, August 1

Are we good?

In the interest of being consistently inconsistent, I'll go ahead and do some overdue schilling.

It's been a few weeks since I received a goodie bag from HandUp Gloves, which is now a misnomer, being that they are now HandUp Gloves and Beyond.  They started making apparel... ummmm... I dunno?  A month or two ago?

They sent me a pair of the new Shreddin' Shorts, a Ridin' Hawaiian jersey, and some Party Time Lite gloves.

I immediately cut the sleeves off the jersey (despite one of the features being "added length to sleeves so you aren't riding in a muscle shirt") and brought it with me to Grand Targhee.  I wore it on the lift service day, and I can state for the record that I was the only person wearing a sleeveless Hawaiian shirt.   I wasn't sure if I was gonna dig it, but... inexplicably, I do.

The fit is slim enough that it doesn't flap all about. There are no stupid pockets on the rear, because if you've ever put more than a car key (sans key chain) in the back pocket of one of these modern day, button-up, casual jerseys, you know that it just pulls at the whole thing like a reverse face wedgie. Of course it's made from a sweat-wicking, breathable, 100% polyester, so it's not sticking to you like a cheap suit. Also worth mentioning, the buttons are big enough that you can fumble-finger them with gloved hands. Bueno.

The Shreddin' Shorts?


Sorry not sorry for still not figuring out somewhere in the new house to take better photos.  I never said this was a photography blerhg (mebbe running and also family tho).

For all-out mountain bike functionality, I still stand by what I said about the Gore C5 All Mountain shorts. They are hands down the best, feature-filled shorts for all day mountain bike cycle adventuring. They also make you look like an Endurbro, and mebbe sometimes that's less than bueno. The new shorts from HandUp are the ass-opposite of that. I like them so much that I asked for another pair in black, and now they're the only things I wanna wear at work right now. Way more comfortable than the Dickies I was wearing as far as heat, rubbage, moisture control, and overall cut go. The only downside right now is if I don't do laundry every two days, I'm stuck with Dickies again. Meh.  Fortunately, I've been told a third (and perhaps fourth) colorway will be coming soon.

And the gloves...


I'd already been rocking the Send It Lite gloves for awhile now. Both gloves are part of their new "Hot Glove" lineup.

I was a little wary about their claim that the "Air Lite Mesh Top is HIGHLY durable," but so far, so good.  I haven't been treating them kindly, and I haven't noticed a snag, abrasion, or point of weakness.  You're still wearing a glove on your hand when it's 90°+ (when I'd ride naked if it wasn't a trbl idea), but it's noticeably better than a regular glove without having to weaksauce the whole thing and wear fingerless gloves.

Fingerless gloves for mountain biking died when Ned Overend "retired" from pro racing and NORBA ceased to be a thing.

The classic HandUp fit that I've come to love, mesh back, more laser cut ventilation holes on the palm, and still zero padding.  I only wish they were doing the 'Merica tan/orange/olive camo gloves in the Lite version, because they'd match my new behk when it comes...


But just saying that makes me sound like the dick that upon hearing that Maxxis is launching yet another new tread pattern in yet another new size, my only response is "Yeah, but when are you going to make a Rekon in 2.7 with Double Down casing, 3C rubber compound, inverted siping and a green hot patch?"

I'm all caught up in my schilling now, so mebbe I can feel comfortable and go back to cashing all these checks that have been piling up.