I suppose it's semi-vintage, anyway ... ;>)
I have been wearing a pair of Louis Garneau mesh-back gloves since about May or so. I had tried the modern lycra-back stuff, but they developed holes and the palms wore out rapidly. The leather palmed Garneaus appear to be quite durable - they've lasted far longer than the old Schwinn mesh-back gloves with the perfect-for-riding-white-Peugeots red white and blue stripes in the mesh. I don't think I ever had a pair of gloves in the old days last as well, to be honest ...
The light-grey leather palms don't stain bar tape. They are decently padded, the way I remember gloves being years ago. They're certainly durable - when I went over the bars last July, about the ONLY parts of my anatomy that had no road rash were my palms - though my fingertips had some cool road rash, and try explaining that one to a non-cyclist! I think the world of these gloves.
The pads, interestingly enough, have a discreet "ergonomic" treatment that should appeal to those who have dabbled in Chieromancy and Palmistry - the seams roughly approximate the lines of head, health, heart and life. With wear and tear, they develop all the other little lines, so much so that it's almost tempting to take them by the Gypsy fortune teller ...
Russ Fitzgerald
Greenwood SC
rfitzger@emeraldis.com