Slaloming between tight trees on buffed-out singletrack is fun, until you clip an aspen with your bars and go face-first into the dirt. If you're wearing the Giro Xen Gloves when it happens, the Poron XRD padding on the heel of the palm will harden immediately, working with the Technogel palm padding to absorb the blow so you can keep on riding without wincing whenever you roll over a bump. Giro's lightweight sonic-welded armor provides moderate padding for the back of your hand, and silicone print at the fingertips helps you brake and shift with confidence even when you're getting trounced through brake bump and rock gutters.