Mountain Bike Gloves?

[Caddy]

I don't know much about gloves, since the pair I have came used and are older than I am. Unfortunately, they most definitely were not able to cushion the ride yesterday. Is there a lot of difference between older and newer gloves? Or road versus mountain cycling gloves?

I don't have a front suspension, so I'm wondering if gloves would help the tenderness I feel this morning or if I just need to toughen up my palms.

[indysteel]

Old or new, some gloves have more padding than others. Not everyone uses a heavily padded glove. I'd go to a local shop if I were you and try some on. My full-fingered mountain bike gloves aren't terribly different from my full-fingered road gloves in terms of padding. They do have some extra bits of material on the index finger though for extra grip and durability. I was taught to ride with my index fingers resting on my brakes at all times, so I like that extra bit of material. I'd otherwise wear a hole in the glove pretty fast.

As for riding a rigid mtb, I can't give you insight there as I my mtb have front suspension. You likely will have to toughen up a bit, change your grips and/or work on keeping your upper body relaxed (but not too relaxed) so that you can better absorb some of the impacts.

[Becky]

I have to use cushier grips on my rigid singlespeed. No glove is, IMO, going to have enough padding to make a difference. Too much padding can make things worse (also IMO). It's also a technique thing, like Indy pointed out.

I wear different gloves MTBing because I prefer full-finger gloves, not because the padding is different/better. In fact, my full-finger MTB gloves actually get called upon for road duty in the fall, before it gets cold enough for insulated gloves.

[Caddy]

I'll stick to my road gloves, then. Should have known it was user error! :)