POC Resistance Pro DH Gloves [Long-term Review]
Buying mountain bike gloves can get overwhelming fast with fitting, materials, protection, price points, and style to consider. I am actually pretty picky about my biking gloves as they are important contact points to your bike. After some trial and error, I found the perfect pair for all riding situations.
After having used countless different pairs of MTB gloves, I decided to buy the POC Resistance Pro DH Gloves for both downhill mountain biking and trail riding. And I’m glad I invested in a quality pair, as for me, they offer unmatched quality and durability.
Their protection is made up of a VPD knuckle and finger sections, and padding on the palm while remaining lightweight. I’ve been really happy with them for the last 2 years and will get another pair when they finally need a replacement, since there is nothing like them on the market right now. They cost a little more but are totally worth it in my opinion considering how long they last.
I really like the blend of materials POC used on these gloves. There is VPD protection, ventilated palms, silicon tabs on brake fingers, velcro straps at the wrist (which I cut off, more on that later), and durable (ceramic) fabric on the areas most likely to wear through.
Let’s check the good and the bad real quick, before going into the nitty-gritty:
Pros:
- Thick, extremely durable materials
- Less palm abrasion and blisters
- Comfortable but still protective
- True to size (see size guide below)
- Perfect fit
- Grippy premium materials
- Extra padding
- Stealthy style (personal bias)
Cons:
- Velcro straps pretty much useless
- Poor touchscreen phone use
- Lacking breathability (not ideal for uphills, yet good for cold months)
Overal Description
Intended Use:
Downhill Mountainbike & Enduro MTB
Price to Performance
The Official POC store got them in their online store for $70 or €80 throughout the year. Though, you can get them in POC’s amazon-store for a little less, usually between $60 and $70. Check the latest price here.
With lots of under-$30-pairs out there, paying $70 for a pair of mountain bike gloves seems steep. However, these extremely durable POC gloves last you a minimum of 2-3 years; making them around $20 per year if you calculate the average annual cost.
Before pulling the trigger on these I thought to myself:
Either buy a 30-buck pair, which initially fits great but quickly wears off and tears apart -and repeat that every year.
Or, get one great pair, that fits great and works awesome for the next 3+ years without any hiccups.
Color Options
There is only 1 option: Grey palm, black rest. This is called Uranium Black by POC, but not necessarily by other vendors, which give it all kinds of names suggesting other color variations. There’s only one.
Look & Feel
Well, this one fits like a glove. (Sorry)
Anyway, they really do fit unreal, like just some extra leather skin on your hand. Gripping my handlebar feels very similar to gripping it without gloves, a feeling love to ride with. They grip just as well, if not better. Especially with sweaty hands, I notice no negative effects. The proportions are correct for the palms, fingers, and back of the hands. No more unfilled fingertips! Which was a staple for every glove I ever owned before.
The padding and VPD protection make them slightly heavier than the completely protection-less gloves I had before, which you very quickly grow accustomed to. It’s certainly not comparable to hard plastic knuckle protectors, that never seem to sit quite right and always used to distract me a bit. I would also notice the weight when G-forces and vibrations kick in – not at all with the VPD inserts. You just feel free on them with no restrictions to range of motion.
A really major contributor to the great feeling are the silicone patches on the index and middle fingers, and the material they used for the palm area. Its grippy texture reminds me of suede leather. It’s not actually leather, but just as durable.
In combination with a rubber handlebar grip, these gloves basically do not slip at all. No matter the weather, I always got a reliable grip. This was the same for the many cheaper gloves I had before, only for maybe half of a season before they deteriorated too much.
That grippy-ness is especially in need on hot summer days when the palms are sweaty, arms are heavy, … and so on. These gloves get pretty hot, to be honest. I don’t think I ever got gloves so soaking wet through and through as these. That’s the cost of the thicker, more durable material – even though it is perforated. Nevertheless, they do not slip.
On those dog days there is no way I could ride without gloves. My handlebar grips may just as well be made out of soap. I take riding with wet gloves over riding with sweaty hands any day of the week, and twice on Sunday.
Quality & Durability
Most mountain bike gloves are not protective and durable enough to last more than a season of gravity MTB. The ones that are, tend to be much thicker and heavier than these POC gloves. However, them being named “Resistance” gloves is no marketing gag. I never had the rubber patches on the fingertips last more than half a season with other gloves.
Quick quiz question: One of the gloves took a hard crash, that had enough force to dislocate my thumb. Can you guess which side it was?
It was the right one. To be honest, I have no idea where the abrasions on the left came from. Maybe my grip with the left hand is a little different, or I crash on lefthand corners more often. Either way, as you can see, besides the stitching on the tip of the thumbs and the rough patch on the palm on the left glove there is no degradation, deformation, or damage to speak of! From the dark coloring (grip rubber and sweat) throughout, it’s visibly obvious they have seen a lot of riding.
I have been riding two full seasons and a bit of off-season enduro and pump track riding during winter with these as my only pair of MTB gloves.
From off-season days in the snow to total dog days at 90F (32°C), my year consists of an average of 15 full-on Downhill bike park days and 20 enduro days with most of the time spent uphill. Sprinkle in some seldom laps on the pump track for good measure.
The area between the index finger and the thumb has to endure the most pressure, weight, and abrasion when going downhill and much of the rider’s weight is on the front wheel. It’s also the area that ripped at some point (often within a season) with every single glove I had before. Among them: Fox Ranger (Small), 100% Brisker (Small), Fox Defend (Small), Leatt X-Flow (Medium) – all shredded within one season of riding.
POC eliminated a huge issue by not even having a seam in this place. Instead of a vulnerable seam between the palm area and the back of the hand, there is one extra tough patch of fabric in place, that wraps around most of the thumb and goes up the index finger.
Superior material with excellent stitching. The attention to detail is truly there in every aspect of the glove. Durable ceramic-coated SuperFabric with abrasion-resistant properties. Whatever trademarked name they are calling it, this stuff works.
The only feature that is neither qualitative nor durable is the velcro straps around the wrist. These things did not even work for the very first ride out. I knew they were an issue before my purchase but did not expect them to work not at all. So I cut them off entirely, with no effect on the fitting. As these gloves fit so well in general, not having the ability to tighten up the wrist parts is a non-issue for me – which I didn’t expect as I always loved this feature on other gloves.
As far as cleaning goes, I just throw them into the washing machine at low temperatures like I would with normal sports gear. Since the velcro has never worked anyway, you don’t need to worry. Still, I throw them in a separate bag so the remaining velcro patches don’t damage other clothes.
Protection & Safety
What makes these gloves so protective is the VPD protector on the knuckles and back of the hand for all fingers except the index finger, which is usually extended to cover the brake while riding. POC’s VPD padding is a type of material that bends and forms around the protected body parts. The warmer the weather, the more adaptable it is. In winter conditions it’s generally harder. So it allows for free movement while riding but the second it has a hard impact VPD hardens up.
Additionally, there is softer, non VPD padding on the outside of the palm, below the pinky. I have hit exactly this outer area of my hands so many times, it’s not even funny anymore. With every little tip-over or huge over-the-bar crash, this little body part took an impact.
So, I was specifically looking for gloves that are padded in this area. Turns out, there are not many that do this. Of the very few in my closer pre-selection, the POC ones just did it best with the largest padded area and also the thickest padding.
Another issue that many riders, including myself, struggle with is the thumb’s palm area. As this is under constant weight while riding, many riders are susceptible to developing blisters there. With other gloves, it was so bad in one season that I had a blister 3cm (1″) in diameter there after two days of riding DH. This problem is completely solved since I have these padded POC Resistance gloves, and swapped for thicker grips.
Size & Fit
Fitting is the most important characteristic of a glove for mountain biking. your hands are 2 of 4 contact points with your bike (5 when riding uphill). with that, they are also responsible for steering, braking, and bearing much of the weight on a downhill. The last thing you want is slippery gloves that offer a limited feeling. This is so important that on winter rides, my comfy, warm winter gloves stay in the drawer. With them, my hands just move so much within the glove due to the amount of fabric. With that also comes a loss in feeling for the bike entirely and brake levers in particular.
I would ride glove-less more often if my hands could manage a full day of riding without blistering up. I just like the direct feeling, so I tend to compromise by wearing gloves in the smaller size if I fall between two sizes. Mostly that has been Small (e.g. FOX and 100% gloves for reference). As the material stretches with time, the fitting still stays perfect. It has also led to torn seams in every single one of my gloves so far. Most only lasted one season before meeting the garbage can.
For the POC gloves, I decided to go for Medium, as I didn’t expect the premium material to stretch much. Which was the right decision as there was no notable stretching going on in 2 years. The fit is still on point. They are a little looser than what I was used to but so comfy that I would choose Medium again. A tighter fit would also mean not long enough fingertips.
Measurement Guide for POC Resistance Pro DH Gloves
Glove sizes are based on the circumference of your four knuckles. To determine the correct size, wrap a measuring tape around your knuckles, and then measure the length of your palm. Once you’ve determined the measurement, you can use the chart here as a guide:
| POC Size Guide | X-Small | Small | Medium | Large | X-Large |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knuckle Circumference (Centimeters) | 16-17cm | 16-19cm | 17-21cm | 17-23cm | 22-24cm |
| Palm Length (Centimeters) | 17cm | 18cm | 19cm | 20cm | 21cm |
| Knuckle Circumference (Inches) | 6-7″ | 6-8″ | 6-9″ | 6-10″ | 8-10″ |
| Palm Length (Inches) | 6.7″ | 7.09″ | 7.48″ | 7.87″ | 8.27″ |
I am using size Medium, which I find perfectly proportioned for me personally. For reference, here are the measurements of my hand:
- Knuckle Circumference: 18 cm
- Palm Length: 19 cm
Touchscreen use
Apparently, they are designed to be used with a touchscreen. This is not the case in my experience (iPhone 11 and newer). At least I could not seem to work it reliably. When the seams on the thumb were still there, that part of the thumb would work sometimes – which was their intended use I suppose. I also figured out that at the very top of the fingers, where the thinner black fabric is, a touchscreen is usable. I just don’t think this is intentional though, as it is kind of awkward.
Comparable Alternatives
POC Resistance Enduro Gloves ($50 or €50) – For mostly enduro-style trail riding these lighter, more breathable gloves may be right up your alley!
POC Essential DH Gloves ($50 or €60) – The pricing and lacking features make no sense compared to the Resistance DH and Enduro ones.
Not even close: FOX Defend D30 (I have tried them on. Initial impression: inferior in fit, protection and durability)
