Giro Xena women’s gloves review

The Xena gloves from the Giro dirt range boasts several features tailored specifically for women. The fit is designed to minimise excess material, giving a feeling of agility and control. The silicone fingertip prints give good grip on the brakes, even when wet.

They’re surprisingly warm for lightweight gloves and the Technogel padding in the heel gives really good protection, even on rocky sections. On the downside, not long after we started testing the gloves the Velcro fastener became separated from the rubber tab, which made them awkward to take off.

This was particularly true in cold weather. In addition, after a couple of months the silicone fingerprints have all but disappeared which is disappointing. The styling received an approving nod from several other female riders and there’s a choice of three other colours too.