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Bike Brands for Newbie Gear
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March 5, 2010 at 9:25 pm #24799WeaponZeroParticipant
The reason I recomend gloves with kuckle protectors is because I’ve heard numerous stories from people who said their knuckles were caught under the bike handlebars in an unscheduled getoff.
March 5, 2010 at 10:32 pm #24800SantaCruzRiderParticipantOne of the most common collisions is the bike that gets cut off by the car turning left in front of him/her. If you are unfortunate enough to not be able to stop or swerve, you’re very likely going to still have your hands on the grips as you hit the side of that car. In that case, there’s a decent chance your clenched hands will fly from the grips and your knuckes may be making contact with your mirrors and fairing/shield, possibly even with the offending car.
I’m not suggesting your Held gloves are lacking. And let’s face it, you can’t armor everything.March 5, 2010 at 11:10 pm #24801Gary856ParticipantBut even then the point is you’re not stiff-arming superman style so your hand/knuckle get knocked backward which cushions the impact. Like eon wrote (he said it better than I did) there is generally no weight behind the hand/knuckle. I think this is why a lot of high-end gloves use soft armor (padding) in the knuckle area, even though they’re at a price point where they could use hard armor if they needed to. You’re more likely to have broken wrists than knuckles. in a head-on or T-bone your head/shoulder are likely to take the brunt of the impact.
March 5, 2010 at 11:35 pm #24802eternal05ParticipantLike you, Eon, I’m both a tech guy and an avid musician. Losing use of a hand or some fingers would ruin me.
Hand injuries are very common, and I’m totally on board with WeaponZero on this one. Every racer out there has a broken pinky finger (easily avoided by a joined ring/pinky glove…though some people don’t like the feel of that) and broken metacarpals (knuckle/palm armor). That’s why these days they build gloves like this:
To be fair, I’m not sure if you’re less likely to injure these parts if you’re on the street (as opposed to the track), but I don’t know of any hard statistics that suggest they should be different.
March 6, 2010 at 12:07 am #24803Gary856ParticipantWhat’s interesting is when it comes to back protector, I’d choose the hard-shell Dainese type over the soft T-Pro Forcefield type. I figure if I slid and hit a rock or the curb with my back, I’d want a hardshell back protector to spread out the “point” impact force. That’s a different consideration from glove armoring where I’m ok with soft armor (usually a combo of hi-density foam padding and an extra layer of leather).
March 6, 2010 at 12:13 am #24804eonParticipantIn the instant before a crash if I could choose to have hard parts on the back of my glove I would do so. I just don’t think it’s the most important feature on a glove, especially if you are on a budget and have to pick and choose between features. I am much more concerned about the overall quality of the glove. I have not heard stories about hands getting crushed but have heard stories about gloves shredding (and seen the pictures), so that’s why I’ve avoided the cheaper gloves. A high end sports glove (like those Held gloves pictured by eternal) are going to have all the bells and whistles but probably have a price to match.
One of my other pair of gloves, RevIts Airvolution, is described as a summer sports glove.
The cut is much tighter than the Held and my thumb is severely restricted in its movement. I imagine this would help prevent injuries in a crash but it puts a strain on my thumb as I try to operate the controls and switches. If I’m going to be in the saddle for more than a few hours this can be important. Just saying not all gloves have the same goals.
March 6, 2010 at 12:35 am #24805SantaCruzRiderParticipantI think you’re banking alot on your ability to predict points of impact and whether or not your body will be relaxed enough to lessen any impact.
As for what high end manufacturers choose to make, it’s likely as predicated on their customers wanting to be able to tuck their gloves into a jacket pocket (so, no hard armor) as it is on crash testing.
I’ve yet to see any solid research showing how different types of gear save life/limb in real crashes, so your guess is as good as anyone’s. My guess is different, so that’s what I’ll use to inform my choice of gear.March 6, 2010 at 6:38 am #24806Gary856Participantoh yeah since every accident is different I don’t think there one universally correct answer. I don’t have anything against having hard knuckle armors – 3 of my 4 gloves have them, but not for the most expensive pair (Helimot Buffalo Pro 360) – so I’m only trying to discuss the “possible” theory behind the different armor design philosophy.
March 6, 2010 at 4:37 pm #24810Sean_DParticipant…. the fit and finish is amazing, but unfortunately they have a price tag to match. I do own one pair, the Steve Glove. That glove is considered a touring glove. It doesn’t have the carbon protection, but is made from Kangaroo palms (stronger than leather), and has kevlar and foam protection throughout as well as rivets in the palm area that are supposed to prevent friction and shredding in a slide. Knock on wood I have never had to test them.
Some nice protection for the $$ my IMHO is the British Motorcycle Gear products. Despite the name they are a San Diego based company. I came upon them at a show and have purchased a few items from them. The Montana Jacket, as well as both the ThermoSport Winter Glove and Rapido Summer Glove. These things are well made with carbon, kevlar and keprotec reinforcements all over the fingers, hands, thumbs, palms, etc. They come at a “reasonable” price of $79. Yes, there are cheaper gloves out there, but I haven’t found any that offer that level of protection for that price. Held Gloves, by comparison, start at around $150 and go north of there into the $300’s.
BMG Rapido Glove – http://www.britishmotorcyclegear.com/rapido-gloves.asp
March 6, 2010 at 7:17 pm #24811RabParticipantThis is kinda timely for me as I just spent the last few days on the internet and at my local dealers evaluating Winter motorcycle gloves. I bought the Cortech Scarab Winter Gloves which seemed to fit great in the store, but on riding home in them I discovered that the fit didn’t work for me once my hands were on the bars for an extended period.
Anyway, I returned those to the dealer and ended up ordering the British Motorcycle Gear ThermoSports Winter Gloves. Whereas most of the other Winter Gloves I looked at had some of the features I wanted, the ThermoSports seem to offer all of the qualities I was looking for; and at a “reasonable” price.
As the entire BMG staff was at the Daytona Bike Week Races last week, I haven’t received the gloves yet, so the jury’s still out on them.
March 7, 2010 at 1:32 am #24813Sean_DParticipant… they reply quickly, if you have questions about fit they will answer them, if the size is still wrong they will exchange them. They seem to be a really nice company from my experiences with them. Luckily they shipped my jacket right before Bike Week so I received that two days ago
I did the bucket test with my Thermosports and submerged them almost to the top of the cuff for about 10 minutes and they both passed (more than I can say about a pair of “Waterproof Joe Rocket Gloves I have), but I understand if for some reason one or both doesn’t they do warrant them to be waterproof.
March 7, 2010 at 8:15 am #24817Gary856ParticipantI bought a pair of BMG ThermoSport (about $100), and then Cycle Gear had a 30% NewYearDay sale so I bought a pair of Cortech Scarab gloves (about $60 after discount). Got them mainly for their water proof capability for rain rides.
These two pair of gloves look very similar to me (until I put them side-by-side). The ThermoSport has thicker insulation -> bulkier, less feeling. The Scarab has thinner insulation -> less bulky, more feeling. It doesn’t get that cold here in the SF Bay Area, so I ended up wearing the less bulky Scarab more than the ThermoSport.
Although the ThermoSport is bulkier, it doesn’t seem “obviously warmer” than the Scarab. On a cold morning, my finger tips would still get pretty cold after a 20 min freeway commute.
March 7, 2010 at 8:03 pm #24826RabParticipantThanks for the comparo but like I said, the fit of the Scarab (glove thumbs too short when gripping the grips) just wouldn’t work for me and I don’t think a bigger size (than large) would have helped as then they would have been too loose.
Like you, one of my main criteria in selecting these was waterproofness as well as hard armor and a wrist closure that hopefully tightens around my wrist. Some gloves have a wrist closure but not enough velcro to tighten them up sufficiently (like my current Olympia Ultimas).
Re. the temperature in the SF Bay area there are times in the year when on my morning high-speed commute I need both grip heaters and heated gloves together to prevent frostbite turning my fingers black (okay, I exaggerate a little). I don’t think there are any non-heated gloves on the market that will truly keep your hands warm at low temps for any length of time, so I’m hoping that the ThermoSport together with my heated grips will cover most situations. My heated gloves (Firstgear Carbon) are a pain in the proverbial to plug-in and out; especially if you want to change jackets and have to move the jacket wiring harness.
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