The Best BMX Gloves [Detailed Buyer’s Guide for 2020]

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When most riders think of protection, they’re thinking of elbow pads, knee pads, supportive BMX shoes and a helmet.

But whilst riding (and certainly during a crash), the most likely body part to get damaged is going to be your hands. Whether that’s blisters from an all-day ride, or road rash from bailing, you’re going to need BMX gloves to soften the blow.

Today’s guide covers what you need to look for when making a purchase, and our pick for the best BMX gloves on the market.

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What to look for in your BMX gloves

Before we get onto our pick for the best BMX gloves, let’s determine what the main functions of these gloves are.

Palm protection

You’ll see plenty of BMX specific gloves advertised online. Like mountain bike gloves, I’ve found BMX gloves flimsy, and not offering much in the way of protection.

What we want, is a set of gloves that offer huge amounts of palm protection. And, that’s not just to stop you getting blisters.

If you do crash without gloves, or gloves with limited protection, it’s going to hurt. So, when looking at product descriptions, reviews, and product photos, be sure to focus on the palm protection on offer.

You’ll get much better palm protection from gloves like this.

Grip

Another important feature incorporated into the best BMX gloves, is a grippy palm, as well as grip on the fingertips. Without this grip, you’re going to be holding on too tightly, and that’s going to have a negative impact on your riding ability, and the tricks you’re able to do.

Weather protection

If you’re like most BMX riders, it’s unlikely you’ll be riding in the rain, so water resistant or waterproof BMX gloves aren’t needed. However, a lot of BMX riders will still head out to their local trails or skateparks in the winter.

Standard BMX gloves are pretty-thin. And, that’s not going to offer you any protection against the wind and cold. And, that’s one of the reasons why some of the best BMX brands aren’t listed below; they don’t offer the palm protection and weather protection that they should.

The Best BMX Gloves

As I’ve mentioned above, both BMX and mountain bike specific gloves are flimsy and thin. Effectively, they don’t offer the grip, weather protection or palm protection that riders need.

That’s why I tend to lean towards gloves designed for motocross (after all, BMX does mean bicycle motocross). They offer a lot more grip, protection, and weather protection. They also tend to last a lot longer than your typical BMX gloves.

Below one of the sets of gloves I’ve used over the years for BMX, MTB and MX.

Fox Racing Dirt Paw BMX Gloves

If you’ve been involved in the BMX or MX scene for a while, you’ll have heard of Fox Racing. They’re one of the most popular extreme sports brands on the planet. And over the years, I’ve had a ton of their gear; it’s always served me well.

Fit

What you’ll find with cheap BMX gloves, is the fit is horrific.

Fox Racing know that, which is why they’ve made sure their Dirt Paw gloves are made from stretch polyester. This ensures that these BMX gloves fit better than most, and are extremely comfortable, even at the end of a full day’s riding.

Closure

My pet hate with MTB and BMX specific gloves is the fastening (or lack of) around the wrist. Essentially, they’re mostly “slip-on” gloves, so you can’t tighten them for a perfect fit around the wrist. They either come up too loose, or too tight.

This is why for MTB and BMX, I always use motocross style gloves; most of them come with a Velcro strap across the wrist (just like the Fox BMX gloves do) for the perfect fit.

Price

Depending on where you buy Dirt Paws from, you should be getting change from $30. And, when directly comparing price with lesser known brands (or poor quality ones), you’ll only be paying an extra $5 or so, which in my opinion, is well worth the money.

Sizing

Another problem I’ve found with cheap BMX gloves, is that sizing is inconsistent. And, I’m not in the business of messing about ordering, sending gear back, and reordering; it’s annoying.

Fox Racing gloves have always been consistent for me when it comes to sizing.

Not sure what size Fox Racing BMX gloves you need? Head over their site, there’s a specific glove sizing chart.

Padding

Back when I raced enduros, I struggled with blisters. No enduro specific gloves helped. Then I tried out Fox Racing Dirt Paws.

They have a high quality clarino padded palm, and even after 3 hours on a motocross bike, I didn’t get blisters. Nowadays, I pretty much use them on all the different types of bikes I own (MTB, BMX and MX).

If you’re struggling with blisters, then the Fox Racing Dirt Paw BMX gloves are for you.

Fox Racing BMX Gloves Review

So, the big question is, should you buy these BMX gloves, or be looking elsewhere?

I’ve put Fox Racing on our list of the best BMX gloves available for a ton of reasons. They offer all the protection you need, have great reviews online, fit perfectly and have the all-important Velcro strap across the wrist area.

If you’re looking for a set of comfortable BMX gloves, then the Fox Racing Dirt Paws are for you!

The Best BMX Glove Brands

I don’t know many people that don’t like Fox Racing as a brand, but some do prefer other leading brands in the BMX, MTB and MX industry. So, if you’re new to BMX and aren’t sure what the best BMX glove brands are, don’t worry!

Below are a few brands from our best MX gear page that manufacture gloves:

Alias MX
Alpinestars
Answer Racing
Seven MX
Shift MX
Thor
Troy Lee Designs

Remember, make sure you look for gloves from these brands that have a padded palm, and a Velcro strap across the wrist; this allows you to get the best fit possible, like the Fox Racing BMX gloves mentioned above.