Cheap Summer Gloves

[V8RX7]

Fun summer road biking - how much do you need to spend to get reasonable protection ?

Why do so many have massive armour on the back of the fingers / knuckles ?

Does CE prove much ?

I was looking at

Spada Wyatt £25
ARMR SHL225 £27
Racer Stone £35
Richa Rock £35

Anything good / bad about them or do I need to spend more ?

[seveb]

V8RX7 said:

Fun summer road biking - how much do you need to spend to get reasonable protection ?

Why do so many have massive armour on the back of the fingers / knuckles ?

Does CE prove much ?

I was looking at

Spada Wyatt £25
ARMR SHL225 £27
Racer Stone £35
Richa Rock £35

Anything good / bad about them or do I need to spend more ?

When you come off, you often roll over and over - in rolling, your hands smash the road surface, either front or back depending on roll, so knuckle and bone protection on the back of the hand is very important.

Only CE certified clothing can be sold as motorbike protective clothing these days.

I'd spend £50 or more on gloves - double stitched seams, genuine leather, PU (plastic) knuckle and finger protection or better, double layer leather on the base of the palm where you put your hand down if you fall forward. Scaphoid protection is good too - it's a slider usually on the outer edge of the glove which helps your hand to slide rather than stop quickly and break the small bone in the wrist.

I've not looked at the gloves you've mentioned - they are all known brands, just make sure they have protection and some good reviews. Look on eBay to buy or Sportsbikeshop but their ranges are limited these days for some reason.

Also - some gloves are described as urban - this means lighter weight for slower speeds in town.

[jchesh]

I have these https://www.ficsmotorcycles.co.uk/product/rayven-a... as my summer gloves and am very happy with them. I got them from Silvermans who generally only sell good quality stuff. They don't seem to be in stock with them anymore (although they still have other Rayven gloves) but the link above appears to have stock as do a few other online shops.

Edited by jchesh on Wednesday 19th February 15:56

[airsafari87]

Why do you only want gloves with 'reasonable' protection?

You could get gloves with 'good' protection at a decent price you know?

First on my list when I'm buying gloves is their fit.
Then the protection they offer.
And their aesthetics come in last.

[V8RX7]

airsafari87 said:

Why do you only want gloves with 'reasonable' protection?

You could get gloves with 'good' protection at a decent price you know?

First on my list when I'm buying gloves is their fit.
Then the protection they offer.
And their aesthetics come in last.

As always it's how far do you go, I'm riding a 690 at 80mph not a hayabusa at 200

I have some heavy warm gloves I want lighter, cooler ones for the summer, if you have sensible suggestions lets hear them.

[GriffoDP]

I've used some Knox Orsa for the last two or three years as a pretty light summer glove. Though it's probably a bit more expensive than your examples.

It has the scaphoid protection going on, but my only complaint is it's quite short. I might go for a gauntlet approach this year.

[airsafari87]

V8RX7 said:

As always it's how far do you go, I'm riding a 690 at 80mph not a hayabusa at 200

I have some heavy warm gloves I want lighter, cooler ones for the summer, if you have sensible suggestions lets hear them.

I dont wear cheap summer gloves so I don't have any to make.

I do wear RST Tractec Evo Race CE's in the summer though.

Edited by airsafari87 on Wednesday 19th February 20:03

Edited by airsafari87 on Wednesday 19th February 20:05

[Jazoli]

V8RX7 said:

As always it's how far do you go, I'm riding a 690 at 80mph not a hayabusa at 200

I wouldn't want to put my hands down at 20mph never mind 80mph, buy the best you can afford, I have the RST Tractech EVO's and they are great.

I've taken the liberty of screenshotting ride magazines test of sub £100 gloves, hope it helps

[iacabu]

Helpful post above ^

I've got RST stunt gloves.

Out of the few I tried on in J&S at my budget, they were the best fit, looked good and I've been really happy with them. Not too hot last summer, helped by the finger vents, and have been fine through the winter so far, although it's been quite mild and I've only done short rides to work

[anonymous-user]

Cheers for that as looking out for some new gear including gloves. Was actually going to go for the RSTs as on a bit of a budget.

[snagzie]

I got some Richa RS-86 from SBS last year. Goats leather, really light and very comfy.

Around £50

[V8RX7]

Jazoli said:

I wouldn't want to put my hands down at 20mph never mind 80mph, buy the best you can afford, I have the RST Tractech EVO's and they are great.

I've taken the liberty of screenshotting ride magazines test of sub £100 gloves, hope it helps

Thanks I appreciate it

I recall Ride regularly found that some of the cheaper gear was as good as the expensive stuff and that still appears to be the case, although I have to say, that test seems basic with very close results

We all want to know that they won't come apart in a crash so without destruction testing it isn't much more valuable than anyone's opinion.

I've seen people cut up unbranded gloves on youtube so I wouldn't be buying any of them.

I take on board what everyone has said and will have another look

[TeamBigfoot]

I have the Oxford RP2 without the gauntlet - so the short ones. I've only used them for one season and they're shot to pieces. The wrist straps have both failed (feels like cheap velcro) and the stitching is starting to split.

I'd spend a bit more and get good gloves - if anything they'll last longer.

[Salted_Peanut]

V8RX7 said:

Does CE prove much ?

It's now a legal requirement for all motorcycle gloves to be CE standard. CE Level 1 gloves have only passed basic tests in seam strength, tear strength and abrasion resistance. It's basic stuff, and unfortunately most gloves on the market are only Level 1.

CE Level 2 gloves have passed tougher tests for all these, e.g. Level 2 gloves should have twice as good abrasion resistance as Level 1 gloves. Additionally, Level 2 gloves are tested for impact protection for your knuckles. I think Spada Covert gloves are probably the cheapest Level 2 gloves on the market.

See: Motorcycle glove CE markings explained

[pessimal]

its starting to annoy me that CE marking seem to be so under used.

would love to be able to search most bike shops by what CE rating a jacket or gloves are

[V8RX7]

Salted_Peanut said:

It's now a legal requirement for all motorcycle gloves to be CE standard. CE Level 1 gloves have only passed basic tests in seam strength, tear strength and abrasion resistance. It's basic stuff, and unfortunately most gloves on the market are only Level 1.

CE Level 2 gloves have passed tougher tests for all these, e.g. Level 2 gloves should have twice as good abrasion resistance as Level 1 gloves. Additionally, Level 2 gloves are tested for impact protection for your knuckles. I think Spada Covert gloves are probably the cheapest Level 2 gloves on the market.

See: Motorcycle glove CE markings explained

It's frustrating - even on Spadas page I can't see that they are CE Level 2 rated although google shows several resellers mentioning it.

[V8RX7]

Salted_Peanut said:

I think Spada Covert gloves are probably the cheapest Level 2 gloves on the market.

I've just bought a pair, hopefully I'll never find out how good they are

[NJH]

Thanks Jazoli for sharing that, very timely as I have been struggling to find the right size gloves apart from my Halvarssons winters (which themselves aren't perfect). Seeing that Held give short and long finger lengths I will have to try a pair of their gloves, stubby fingers unfortunately.

[cbmotorsport]

If you fall over, the first thing you put out to break your fall is you hands. Same goes for falling off a bike in many crashes. Worth making sure the first point of contact with the road is well protected. :-)

[Pothole]

cbmotorsport said:

If you fall over, the first thing you put out to break your fall is you hands. Same goes for falling off a bike in many crashes. Worth making sure the first point of contact with the road is well protected. :-)

Happily I can't say I've had "many crashes", but in the ones I have had my anecdata disagrees with your assertion. In my younger, even more stupid days, as a courier I had two offs with no gloves on at all...hands undamaged both times, despite going over the bonnet of a u-turning car in one of them.