suggestions for super protective riding gloves

[RIDERR1150GSADV]

I have a set of Held Akira race gloves and like the build quality and materials used. Maybe you had a bad pair. The Akira's were very $$ too, but so far are holding up well with about 3 years of riding with them.
A friend of mine went down a few weeks back and her $200 gloves were shredded resulting in her getting stitches. I think the Akira's would have faired much better as there are rivets in the palm area preventing the tarmac from gripping and thus ripping the palms wide open.
I would look for palms made out of one piece of leather with reinforcement sewn on top. Here glove palms were made up of differnt pieces and that is why, IMHO, they failed as the stitches didn't hold up..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCMUasNerV4

[RIDERR1150GSADV]

I have a set of Held Akira race gloves and like the build quality and materials used. Maybe you had a bad pair. The Akira's were very $$ too, but so far are holding up well with about 3 years of riding with them.
A friend of mine went down a few weeks back and her $200 gloves were shredded resulting in her getting stitches. I think the Akira's would have faired much better as there are rivets in the palm area preventing the tarmac from gripping and thus ripping the palms wide open.
I would look for palms made out of one piece of leather with reinforcement sewn on top. Here glove palms were made up of differnt pieces and that is why, IMHO, they failed as the stitches didn't hold up..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCMUasNerV4

[tessler]

I did a review of Velocity Gear's Prodigy riding gloves in the March issue of the Owners News. They're pretty rugged and on par with the Held Phantoms, Sidi Power Glove or Rev'it! Jerez in terms of price and features.

http://www.complexny.com/dev/VelocityGear_March.pdf

[Atomicman52]

The new Rev'it SLR. Just bought a pair. Love 'em!!! size XL worked for me. I think I'm up a size from my usual.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jclse8-d2Os

[alzyck]

I'm not a big fan of Held.

I bought a pair of Held Steve gloves a year ago or so. At first, they were awesome when it came to comfort and the protection looked looked like it would work just fine. Unfortunately they pretty much fell apart before I had them a year. The stitching around the ends of the fingers unraveled.

[BUDDINGGEEZER]

I don't believe the plastic knuckle guard is for crash protection, but for object impact protection while riding.

I have a pair of Teknic thunder gloves.http://www.teknicgear.com/thunder-wp-glove/

They offer great crash protection (Kevlar protection of the little finger) and were very hard to break in, but now are comfortable. Mine are not remotely waterproof. Great price.

Ralph Sims

[jduke]

Contact Tommy Kincaid, owner of HELDUSA: www.heldusa.com

[carockwell]

I am sorry that I can't remember the name right now, but there is an orthopedic surgeon who follows motorcycle racing (ie. he is on track for emergency medical care) who rates safety equipment. He is not a big fan of the hard knuckle protection and says that padding and unburstable seams are what you want for a track glove. With that in mind, Helimot gloves or Kushi-t-ani (no hyphens in actual spelling but the swear word police block the s**t)gloves would be my top choices. I go with Helimot because they fit better, have great customer service, and they are made in USA.

[oldhway]

Merged the 2 threads into gear for best response and to keep things tidy.

[mistercindy]

Hard to advise someone who, at first glance, says the Held Phantoms are of poor quality for the price. You may not like the way they fit, or perhaps after a while of riding with them you find they aren't made for you, or you happened to get a defective glove, etc... But Held has a fairly universal reputation for high quality. My Held Steves, which I wear half the year in cooler months, have five years and 30,000 miles on them, and they're doing well.

Ever bought from NewEnough.com? They set the standard for internet sales when it comes to motorcycle stuff. Their own reviews of products don't pull punches, and here's their conclusions relative to the Phantom gloves:

As of this writing, the Phantom gloves would be the absolute “end all” protective/functional racing glove we can offer you. ... If you weren’t sure what you wanted other than “the very best” then you’ve found it.

You may want to check out Helimot's buffalo gloves, too. Hope you find what you're looking for.

[ANDYMCLAIN]

Held. I have worn nothing but Held for eight years now. Different models fit differently so you'll have to try them on although Held now offers several models for long skinny hands or short stubby ones. I have a set of Phantoms and feel quite well protected. My only complaint is that the wrist strap could have been better thought out. I believe they go for about $250 now but if you insist on spending more money Held now offers a racing model with even more protection for about $100 more.

[MLS2GO]

I have the new Kevlar gloves from www.cycleport.com
I just returned from a 3100 mile trip in 8 days and only wore these gloves. There are the most comfortable gloves I have ever worn and are not leather. Who would have thunk it? Not me I know. Anything short of nuclear explosion looks fine with these. The Kevlar breathes and Kevlar does not transfer heat like leather. I owre them into the high 80's and they were fine. I have not worn them in high humidity and high temperature yet, but when you hold them up in the airstream, you can feel the air going through them and drying the sweat. Here the link.

http://www.motoport.com/_product_354...r_Racing_Glove

Don't let the racing glove thing scare you, they work great for touring.

[ELTIGRE1]

I won't be buying any more Held gloves. Bought a pair of "Steves" and loved them - while they lasted. Wore a hole through the right thumb. I took them to the Held booth at Barber last October and was told they couldn't be repaired. I tried on a number of gloves at the booth and the sizes ran the gamut. I have 9.5 Steves but the 9.5 in new Steves didn't fit. Some gloves fit in size 10, some in 9.5 and some in 11. Held used to be a great glove-maker. Not so much now.

[peacetoall]

I did a review of Velocity Gear's Prodigy riding gloves in the March issue of the Owners News. They're pretty rugged and on par with the Held Phantoms, Sidi Power Glove or Rev'it! Jerez in terms of price and features.

http://www.complexny.com/dev/VelocityGear_March.pdf

Your informative article and another one in webbikeworld http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcyc...rodigy-gloves/ are quite convincing for the Velocity Gear Prodigy. It seems to have all the right features for utmost protection.

How is the comfort and the venting/cooling of the Prodigy glove? Did you actually wear them on the street for an extended period? Depending on your answer, I may order the Prodigy.

After speaking with helimot in california (all gloves are made in U.S.A. in their shop), went ahead and ordered all three of their gloves. They are ok about returns / exchanges.

Short list now is:
3 out of the Helimot gloves, all in black
http://www.helimot.com/shopexd.asp?id=67
http://www.helimot.com/shopexd.asp?id=64
http://www.helimot.com/shopexd.asp?id=63

Kus hitani GPR 5 avail in black only (the space between the s and h eliminated on purpose to avoid the computer thinking it is s**t)

Velocity Gear Prodigy http://www.highvelocitygear.com/prodigy.htm

I have actually ordered the GPR 5 and the 3 Helimot gloves. As a bonus, for $7 each finger, Helimot will custom size the finger/s if needed and I am sending a tracing of the hands.

I will keep 1 (or maybe a 2nd one as a spare )

[Visian]

good lord, all these fancy gloves... i feel so inadequate!

i use lowly Elkskin Ropers from Aerostich.

they last f-o-r-e-v-e-r, stand up to get-offs on gravel or pavement, are reasonably priced and don't make you look like robocop.

they do make your hands black the first time you ride in the rain with them....





i do also use my 20 year-old Thurlow Deerskins from time to time.... world's most comfortable gloves.