Cycling Glove Tan: How to prevent it?

Back when I was cycling in Melbourne I really didn’t have to worry about cycling glove tan. Melbourne barely got enough sunshine year round to make it a problem. That and most of my cycling was commutes so I was doing lots of smaller trips.

Now that I’m Taiwan I’m doing much more longer leisure rides. Teaching English means I’ve got most mornings free so I’m getting out there and cruising around on two wheels.

Taiwan’s wonderful sunshine has beautifully tanned my arms but unfortunately it’s left my hands suffering from some serious tan lines. This is how my right hand currently looks and with summer just around the corner I imagine the tan lines are only going to get worse.

Feeling a bit self conscious over the last few weeks in particular I decided to search for some workarounds to combat cycling glove tan. Surely I’m not doomed to walk around for the rest of my life with Mickey Mouse hands?

My first few thoughts on how to get rid of cycling glove tan lines approached the problem from a conventional viewpoint.

1. Spray on tan

I don’t know how much mileage you get out of spray on tan but if you’re using a can solely on your hands surely it’ll last at least a few months.

The problem however for me has been that spray on tan has always been glaringly obvious. Possibly more so then having lighter tan line hands, which kinds of defeats the original purpose of using spray tan.

One of my pet hates is seeing girls with a fake tan, it’s just so obvious. As much as I’d like to believe the spray would blend to my skin I know it probably won’t be perfect, and that would annoy me to no end.

That and I imagine spray on tan would rub off pretty quickly once exposed to the insides of a cycling glove a few times a week.

2. A salon tanning bed

A salon tanning bed would probably solve the uneven fakeness of a spray on tan but when you stop to think about it, it’s a bit extreme just to cover up tan lines on your hands.

Maybe if you were a girl but I’m a guy. Cycling glove tan lines bother me but not enough to start going to a tanning bed. Especially not when there’s plenty of sunshine outside.

3. Don’t wear cycling gloves

This idea came to me a bit later (I don’t know why seeing as in retrospect it’s the most obvious), but solves one problem by creating another.

I don’t wear cycling gloves for the look I wear them for comfort and safety. I’ve seen first hand what a palm can look like if you come off a bicycle at speed and don’t want it to happen to me.

In Taiwan there’s a lot of mountains which usually means if you head out for a longer ride at some point you’re going to be coasting some downhill. Worst comes to worst and you come off your bike, you’re gunna wish you were wearing gloves.

No, not wearing cycling gloves is definitely not an option.


Out of frustration I let the idea sit in my head for a few weeks figuring I’d just deal with it. Then it got a whole lot more sunny and the hand tan problem became oh so much more noticeable.

That’s when I hit the internet for some research and came across tan through cycling gloves.

4. Tan through cycling gloves

I haven’t had to worry about uneven tanning before so the idea of tan through clothing isn’t something I’ve ever looked into. Apparently it’s quite popular for females in getting rid of tan lines for the beach.

I was a little worried there wouldn’t be, but fortunately there’s a small niche market for tan through gloves.


Roeckl Solar Tan Through gloves

Roeckl don’t seem to have a website (or any web presence) so product info is a bit sparse on these gloves. Roeckl Solar gloves from what I can tell are primarily horse riding gloves although a few bicycle clothing stores stock them.

I haven’t been able to get a picture of the palm of these gloves but I do know they have a gel insert. I’m not sure how well horse riding gloves transfer over when it comes to cycling but I’m probably going to want a bit more anatomically targeted padding then a simple palm gel insert.

I’m not quite ready to sacrifice comfort for the sake of hand tan line fashion just yet so I’d probably give these particular gloves a miss.


Hawg Paws Riding Gloves

Again although not specifically designed for bicycle riding, Hawg Paws Riding gloves offer a tan through solution. Appearance wise they seem to be a bit more robust then the Roeckl Solar gloves featuring a durable leather palm.

Padding wise instead of a single insert these gloves have the padding split up. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find a photo of the palms of these gloves so I’m not sure about the specific padding layout.

Motorcycle riders tend to be a bit less heavy on their handlebars so I’m still a bit cautious about purchasing the Hawg Paws gloves. They do however seem to be much better then the Roeckl Solars though.


Roeckl Isone Cycling gloves

I was starting to think there weren’t any cycling specific tan through gloves out there but then I ran into these. Unlike the flimsy looking Roeckl Solar gloves, the Isone is purpose built for cycling and looks the good.

With anatomically designed gel padding and all the other standard stuff you’d expect from a cycling glove the Roeckl Isone gloves seem to be pretty decent.


My current Serfas RX cycling gloves are on their last legs. I’ve had them for about two and a half years now and although they’re well past the point of replacement, I decided a few months ago that I’d wear them into the ground and then do a writeup on it. That means wearing them until they literally fall apart.

I reckon they’ve probably got another month or two in them tops. When that happens I’ll most likely be looking at purchasing a pair of Roeckl Isone gloves to get rid of my hand tan lines. Well unless a better idea comes along.

It’s unfortunate that in order to avoid cycling glove tan lines you’ve got to massively reduce your choice in which gloves you can wear. I guess compared to the alternative of walking around with mickey mouse hands though, if you can find a decent enough pair of cycling specific tan through gloves then it’s a small price to pay.