Review: Endura FS260-Pro Aerogel Mitt

The Endura FS260-Pro Aerogel Mitts are comfortable, breathable, and grippy with a decent – but not overwhelming – amount of padding. You still get some road feel, whilst they damp out the worst impacts from rough roads, bumps, and jolts.

One of the most noticeable elements here is the palm. It’s a siliconed microfibre, and the pads on the bottom of the hand have a much thicker, almost plastic covering. They’re unlike almost any other mitts I have tried before.

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his is because rather than just stitching the pads in like normal, Endura secures the larger pads in place with this thick, plasticky mesh to allow air to flow through them. It also creates more squidge, and feels more absorbent than a regular pad – which is a nice touch.

They don’t lose any flexibility, as these are at the bottom of the palm – further forward the material is relatively thin bar one other small pad beneath your knuckles for protection when you’re gripping the hoods or drops.

In terms of the performance on the road they still provide a decent amount of damping of bumps and rough surfaces, but because of the relatively thin material towards the top of the palm it still leaves enough road feel to feel confident. It’s not close to having something unpadded, but a big improvement over other padded mitts I’ve used.

Unsurprisingly, given that the entire palm has been siliconed, they offer very good grip even in the wet. To be completely honest, I tested these in London over July and August, where we have not had rain for around two months… so finding out involved simply pouring my water bottle over my hands occasionally. They stayed impressively grippy.

On the top there’s a thin lycra with a mesh material running across the top of the knuckles. This allowed air to flow well; these mitts stayed cool and dry in all but the most sweaty situations.

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They sit well on the hands too, with no bunching or folding; I’m not sure if that gives you any kind of aero advantage, but it certainly makes them more comfortable. I didn’t have any issues with rubbing or discomfort.

Endura has included a few little nice touches. For instance they have the obligatory sweat/glasses wipe on the thumbs, pull tags on the two middle fingers for getting them off and a tag on the wrist to help get them on.

Value

At £35.99 these are relatively top end in terms of price, but certainly aren’t the most expensive we’ve seen. For the quality and design I would argue it’s a fair price, especially as they feel built to last.

If you’re looking for something a little different, the Castelli Rosso Corsa Espresso Gloves I tested in 2019 are now £49, while the Altura Progel Mitts are cheaper at £30, though much more minimalist with the padding and not quite as breathable or well ventilated.

Overall

I was impressed by these mitts. They have a great fit, impressive wicking and the breathability is good, while the padding soaks up the bumps without losing as much road feel as the more heavily padded options.

Verdict

Impressive and well-ventilated mitts that do exactly what’s needed on warmer rides