• Kona Pseudopod Back Country glove
• £20
• Kona

There are at last count about umpteen gazillion gloves on the market. And here’re some more. Kona has a small and simple glove range from armoured dirt jumpy ones to fingerless road mitts. The Pseudopod Back Country fits somewhere in the middle, being sturdier than the XC glove but not as hefty as the John Cowan Freeride. Which places it exactly in the all-round, midweight full-finger category that somehow all our favourite gloves occupy.

They’re nice, simple gloves with all the essential features and no gimmicks. The palm is synthetic leather and the back’s a combination of synthetic leather, stretchy Airprene across the knuckles and some meshy bits. Little patches on the fingers are enough to ward off errant undergrowth. There’s a minimalist Velcro tab closure out of the way underneath the wrist. Close inspection of the label reveals that the Back Countries are “1% genuine leather” – that’s the extra grippy bits on the end of the first two fingers. And of course there’s a towelling thumb for all (or most) of your wiping needs.

In use they fit well, with good stretchiness in the right places and no bunching on the palm. They’re very thinly padded, which we like although some people may find more padding to their taste. They’re holding up well, having taken a few falls, got very sweaty and covered in energy goop and bits of banana and repeatedly washed in our usual “chuck ’em in the machine with everything else” style.

Positives: Perfectly good, reasonable price, bit of “team look” if you’ve got a Kona
Negatives: Don’t particularly stand out from the glove herd

There aren’t, to be fair, many things you can do differently with gloves. Kona’s offering is perfectly competent although no better than quite a few others. If you need gloves and your local shop carries these then you won’t be disappointed, and Kona riders looking for a hint of the factory look will find them well worth seeking out.

Performance: 4/5
Value: 4/5
Overall: 4/5