Joe Rocket GPX Gloves - Crash Tested
These Joe Rocket gloves are constructed of 1.0mm thick cowhide with extra leather and double stitching on the palm. In addition to that they have high density plastic positioned along the knuckles so if you crash you won't be missing too much skin on the top of your hand. They also look pretty intimidating if you were to get into a fight while wearing them!
The Construction
I received these gloves as a gift from a friend who was buying some newer gloves of his own, so he gave them to me since my gloves at the time were pretty beat up. I think he had used these for at least a year, maybe more before he gave them to me, so they were a little weather beaten but very comfortable. The leather on the palm is doubled up where it needs to be, but in other areas it's thin so you can feel the controls of the motorcycle really well.
The Crash and Aftermath
I won't go over the whole crash again, if you want to read that then please check out my review of the First Gear Overpants I was wearing at the time of the high side. At the time of the crash I was traveling 15-25mph when I flipped over the handle bars and I managed to catch myself with my hands and knees. As you can tell from the pictures my left glove received a 2 inch cut near my thumb, the only section on the palm that has only 1 layer of leather. Where the leather was double stacked on itself you can barely tell it was in an accident, and that is very good!
Conclusion
The stitching seemed to have held up well too, in fact the only real damage on the glove is that small gash on the palm. I was pretty lucky, although the glove did get cut, my hand was perfectly fine underneath it, in fact my only injury was a couple sore wrists from catching myself from the fall. It makes me wonder though if I was traveling faster, like maybe 50-60mph, if the gloves would have had a catastrophic failure considering I was traveling at half the speed and I managed to tear the leather on the palm. I suppose as long as the glove protected my hand then it did its job, even if it sacrificed itself in the process.
I definitely plan on ordering more Joe Rocket gear in the future, I think they achieve a good balance of protection and comfort.
Comments
Rip?
Are the gloves supposed to rip during the crash, sort of like how a car has crumple zones? The car is destroyed, but the people inside are ok.
Good value
Depends on how worn out the gloves are. But those gloves are good value for the price. But if you want higher quality, you should be willing to pay more as well.
JR Gloves one time deal
I crashed around 40 mph on the highway on an exit ramp, high sided after locking my front tire... I was wearing Joe Rocket Supermoto gloves and did its job and had not hand injuries. Leather on palm broke as well, and I am glad I was not going any faster otherwise I don't think the glove would have held up. After that crash from this past summer in 2008, I found a deal on teknic speedstar gloves... full gauntlet just in case + higher quality. I was fairly dissapointed at the JR gloves lasting only one crash.
Joe Rocket GPX gloves - repeat performance
I was looking for another pair of the GPX not GPX2 gloves as a back up to my current set and came across this review. I have had the same pair for nearly two years now. I do not use them on the street but have used them for some 15 track days on my zx10r.
I highsided at Streets of Willow at about 40MPH and the gloves held up well except for tearing the wrist buckle off the back of the glove. The palm took a bit of abuse but the knuckles, wrist bone pad and back of the glove took most of the abuse. The glove stayed on and I rode the rest of the day on my other bike.
I stiched the buckle back on with some nylon thread and used them again until October 2008 where a low sided at 60MPH in turn 5-6 at AAA Speedway. This was a fairly more spectacular incident where I rolled for quite some time bang both glove and hands repeatedly while trying to get flattened out to stop.
The my repair failed as did the stitching in the right index fingertip. Other than that there is clear abrasion on both wrist bone pads, knuckles, palm, fingertips, and back of the right wrist.
I am more than happy with the performance of these gloves and like the "inside out" construction and Pittards leather over other manufacturers. I'm sure every incident is different and failures happen but when I get these back from the leathers store, I'll use them as my gloves for low speed tracks and hopefully find a new pair for the fast ones.
Failure of JR gear is not unique
I've destroyed my share of Joe Rocket apparel in the past few years. I wouldn't count anything from JR as anything more than a one-time-use gear. I wouldn't trust their gloves on anyone's hands. They're poorly stitched, poorly constructed and feel as though they explode on impact. I've seen everything from the leather ripping to stitch failures to simply abraiding through the leather at varrying speeds (buddy of mine destroyed a pair of speedmasters at a <10km/h drop).
In stark contrast to my Held and MotoGP gloves which have been through a lot of abuse: both are still in stellar shape. I will happily never buy another JR. Save your hands: they're the first thing to touch down.
The glove mentioned in this
The glove mentioned in this article seems very useful for bike rider. But in my opinion this if not a perfection of saving from possible hazard of accident especially for the bike racer. Knee pad and helmet is the most important thing. Ankle Brace, bandage or medical kit is very necessary aftermath accident.