An evolution of their popular Zen glove, Giro’s new DJ is “designed to fit well and built to handle shovels, grips, bailouts and more.” With a lightly padded Clarino synthetic leather palm, reinforced fingertips, segmented fingers, and lightweight EVA foam knuckle protection, the DJ certainly looks up to trail use. The fact that the blue hits on the black glove perfectly match my cyan Hex means that they’ve been getting loads of use. How have the Giros handled several months of trail riding? Hit the jump for the dirt…
For my large hands, I find the DJs’ finger length to be just right. No joint compression, no floppiness. The segmented joints are especially comfortable and- lets face it- look cool. The large snot wipe has been extremely welcome during spring and allergy season, and seems better able to handle slime than other gloves’. 
The Clarino brand palms have also held up better than and haven’t pilled like the generic materials on some other gloves.
The stretch mesh backs have been comfortable and have nev er once felt hot, even as temperatures top 80 degrees, and the palms’ padding is just right for long days in the saddle. In fact, the only thing keeping the DJs from becoming my new favorites is just a bit of extra material in the SuperFit palms, which can be irritating and have even caused blisters after a couple of hours’ riding. If Giro saw fit to take them in just a bit, the $35 DJs would be some of the the best gloves I’ve ridden.
marc
photos courtesy Kip Malone – Photographer
