Ahh, cyclocross season. Suffering at redline for an hour on a muddy, sandy and otherwise twisty and turny course. With the Castelli CW 6.0 Cross Gloves, you can be sure with one thing — consistent grip and bar feel.
Castelli CW 6.0 Cross Glove Features:
- Built specifically for cyclocross riding
- High breathability throughout, with vented finger inserts
- Micro-perforated Clarino® palm with silicone print for grip
- Embossed neoprene back of hand and cuff with Velcro closure
- Microsuede thumb panel
- Weight: 47g
- MSRP: $49.99
Built for cross, but good anywhere
No matter where you ride, there’s no getting around the need for a variety of gloves. Almost every condition necessitates the proper hand protection. And, when it comes to full-finger gloves for road or cyclocross, not all are created equal. You see, things start getting tricky when it comes to small shifting paddles and such on road bikes — particularly Shimano mechanical shifting.
Castelli has a solid track record of making full-finger gloves that deliver the proper tactility for reliable shifting on the road (e.g. Castelli Tempesta), so my expectations were high for the CW 6.0 Cross Glove. As the name would suggest, these are made for Cyclocross. But, what makes them great for cyclocross, also makes them great for road, gravel and MTB use, which is what I’ve used them for.
I can reliably shift using Shimano SLX 1x, SRAM Rival 1, Shimano 105, Shimano Ultegra Di1 and SRAM Red eTap HRD while wearing these gloves. So, it’s pretty safe to say that you won’t have any trouble shifting reliably here.
Hands-down, the best feature of the CW 6.0’s is the grippy silicone print on the Clarino palms. While I do wish for a little more silicone on the index finger, the overall grip is simply fantastic. Riding bars with Zipp CX, Lizard Skins DSP 1.8 or Black Inc tape is all stellar. And, RaceFace Grippler MTB grips are equally nice.
With the demands of CX courses, you can’t afford to wear squishy gloves, and the CW 6.0 Cross Gloves are great specimens with a smooth and thin palm and only a touch of palm padding on the outer edge — just to make longer rides more comfortable.
The CW 6.0’s are easy to live with down to about 45-degrees. I have yet to test the upward temperature range, but I wouldn’t wear these much above 70-degrees. It’s not that they are particularly thick, but they don’t breathe super-well. The culprit seems to be the waved-thickness neoprene on the back of the hand. This material provides added protection, but doesn’t allow moisture to escape and works against full finger extension. There is slight ventilation between the fingers and perforated palms, but aside from that, moisture tends to stay trapped.
Durability has been good so far with no signs of use. The neoprene cuffs are comfortable and can be cinched on top of lightweight jerseys (Sportful Fiandre Light NoRain Jacket, for example) or jackets or tucked underneath (Bontrager Specter Windshell).
Another knock on these gloves is their lack of touchscreen functionality. It’s been a long time since I’ve worn gloves that require full removal to use my iPhone.
Note: These feel true-to-size as I wore my typical large with gusto.
The Good
- Palms are super-grippy without getting in the way
- Excellent tactility
- Thin, Clarino palms
- Comfortable cuffs
- Small palm pad adds comfort for long rides
- Great protection on back of hands and finger tips
The Bad
- Neoprene back of hand adds protection, but inhibits breathability and hand extension
- No touchscreen capability
The Bottom Line: Castelli CW 6.0 Cross Gloves
Castelli delivers another pair of great gloves for cyclocross, road, gravel or MTB use. The star of the show is the silicone print on the Clarino palms, which provides predictable grip everywhere with excellent protection on the fingers and back of the hands.
Buy Now: Available at CompetitiveCyclist.com
