Is the Troy Lee Designs AIR Glove Worth It for Mountain Biking?
Worth it, if you ride warm and light
By Daniel Kruger, tech & home gear · updated 2026-07-22
Worth it if you ride warm trails and want a glove you forget you're wearing
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Picture the last hot lap where your palms started sweating inside a bulky glove, and your grip on the bar felt just a little less certain than it should. You loosen your fingers at the top of a climb, trying to shake some air into a glove that's basically trapping heat against your skin. That's the exact discomfort the troy lee designs air glove is built to solve, and it's worth figuring out whether it actually does.
Here's where the design earns its name. Instead of a full glove of thick synthetic leather, the top of the hand is built from micro-mesh, an open-weave fabric that lets air pass straight through instead of trapping it against your skin. That's the whole point of the ventilation: heat and sweat move out as you ride, so your palms stay drier and your grip on the bar stays consistent instead of degrading over a long climb or a hot afternoon. The cuff is compression molded and lined on both sides, which does two things at once: it holds its shape so it doesn't flop or bunch under a jacket sleeve, and it seals against your wrist without needing a strap you have to fuss with mid-ride. The fingertips carry touchscreen fabric, so you can check a route without stripping a glove off at a trailhead. And because the design is ambidextrous, there's no left-hand or right-hand cut to get wrong when you're ordering a size.
So you're not buying knuckle armor here, you're buying breathability and fit. Troy Lee makes heavier, padded gloves for days when crashing is the expensive part of the equation; the AIR trades that bulk for a glove thin enough that you stop noticing it's on your hand at all. The real question isn't whether it protects like a motocross glove, it's whether you ride in conditions where staying cool matters more than staying padded.
Worth it if
- You ride warm-weather trails and overheating hands is your actual problem
- You want a glove light enough to forget you're wearing
- You'd rather use your phone without stripping gloves off
Skip it if
- You ride downhill, bike park, or motocross and need real impact protection
- You want a padded palm for rock strikes and hard falls
- You need a heavier glove for cold-weather riding
If you spend most of your time on warm-weather trail rides and want a glove that disappears on your hand, this is a quiet yes. If you're gearing up for downhill runs or motocross where a crash is the real risk, spend your money on a padded glove instead, this one isn't built for that job.
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Full spec sheet
| Brand | Troy Lee Designs |
|---|---|
| Size | Large |
| Sport | Cycling, Motorcycle Racing |
| Glove Type | motocross |
| Age Range (Description) | Adult |
| Color | Mono, Black |
| Special Feature | Breathable, Lightweight, Moisture-Wicking, Touch Screen Support |
| Hand Orientation | Ambidextrous |
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