Skimpy trail gloves from the style masters.

Read more: Buyer’s guide to the best mountain bike gloves

As one of the most popular brands in the business, Troy Lee Designs kit is generally at the top of most mountain bikers wish-list. And with a relatively low average price compared to other Troy Lee products, gloves make a smart entry-point option for those looking to flash the logo without breaking the bank. These Air gloves are towards the lighter end of the Troy Lee Designs range, yet they’re still bristling with tech features. Most noticeable of those are the mesh back panel, which is actually a grid of tiny holes to allow fresh air in and sweaty air out. The compression-moulded cuff gets a Velcro fastener to ease pulling on and off, but it’s still quite a tight fit at the wrist and you have to tug quite hard to remove them. Tiny, prickly rubber panels have been added to the first and index fingers, but we’re not really sure what they’re meant to do, as they’re too small to really protect from slashing vegetation. There’s also a big rubber Troy Lee logo on the back and a large silicone one on the palm. Thankfully these don’t really hinder movement or dilute feel, but they do seem a little unnecessary. In fact the minimal palm supplies plenty of feedback from the grips, but the fit, while decent, isn’t perfect, feeling a tiny bit baggy compared how tight they are at the cuff. We’ve also noticed the thread at the end of the forefinger coming loose on both our test gloves, which doesn’t bode well for their longterm durability.