Brancale Leather Cycling Gloves
From Silca to Shinola, cycling entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the larger cultural trend of embracing resurrected or rebooted heritage brands. Beginning in the 1960s and lasting into the neon '90s, the Italian company Brancale was, along with Cinelli, the premier manufacturer of leather hairnets, a respected producer of early hardshell helmets (including the Brancale Sport, worn by the villain Belov in American Flyers), and a supplier of handmade leather shoes for Greg LeMond and other stylish champions. The new Brancale, based in the US and manufacturing here as well as in Italy and England, offers bibs, jerseys, socks, and arm warmers featuring the iconic logo. But its most striking product pays tribute to the brand's legacy in leather: short-finger ($180) and long-finger ($200) gloves. That's pricey for an inessential piece of kit that's subject to a lot of wear as well as outright abuse, but it's competitive with similar mitts from Rapha, Dromarti, and others. And because leather acquires character as it ages, and absorbs the ravages of water, sweat, grease, and abrasion, devotees will happily pay more for a product that has not only a longer life than fabric versions, but also a more beautiful one.
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