Hands are one of the most important parts of the human body. I am always amazed when I see motorcyclists riding around with either no gloves or gloves that don’t offer good protection. Why buy a pair of gloves that have no hard knuckle protection? You ever think what your hand will look like (or function like) with your knuckles shaved off? No? Well I’m going to guess that it wouldn’t be pretty (or functional).

What are my normal criteria for gloves?

1.  They must be comfortable.
2. They should offer hard knuckle protection
3. They should offer good finger protection on the sides (pinky and thumb)
4. As a bonus, they should flow decent air around one’s digits to keep the hands cool on those scorching summer days.

This video review below explains the different gloves pretty well-

Because of the nature of motorcycle riding, hands do a lot of work. Along with driving and braking, they are often tasked with changing gears as well as handling the throttle and clutch. The products that we’ll go over are some of the best gloves for riders because they’re designed to grant your hands protection while still giving you full control over your ride. These gloves come in various colors and are ideal for both men and women.

Here is my pick of favorite tested motorcycle gloves:

1. SHIFT Racing Vertex Gloves

First let’s get one thing out in the open…….these gloves are tight. Not so tight that you need to get a larger size than normal, but just tight enough that you need to spend some quality break-in time with these babies. When I first put them on I almost called SHIFT and asked for a larger size…..but I decided to wear them for a few days and see what happened.

After about 2 weeks of wearing them everyday (no honey, I always wear gloves when mowing the lawn) they loosened-up enough that they now fit like a glove (hahaha).

To me being able to move your hand around inside a race glove is not a good thing. I like complete and utter control when I’m pushing it and loose gloves don’t give me that feeling. It’s kind of like wearing a loose fitting leathers…… they may be more comfortable around the paddock and maybe even on the bike…..but they won’t be if you should decide that you need to go horizontal (and vertical and horizontal and vertical, etc..).

SHIFT built the Vertex gloves to withstand the rigors of track use; both on and off the bike. To that end they have included some features that should allow the gloves to have a long life while providing good protection for those occasional off the bike moments.

As you can see the Vertex gloves are a long gauntlet style glove as any track biased glove should be. The Vertex gloves have composite reinforced knuckle protection that looks like a silver carbon fiber. SHIFT also put the same material on the middle two fingers just below the second knuckle. Why only the two middle fingers and not on the two outside fingers I don’t know other than it being a styling exercise.

An open-back knuckle design adds to the flexibility of the Vertex glove keeping them from getting tighter when you close your fingers around the bars.

SHIFT put a perforated leather panel on the back of the glove up on the gauntlet area. Even though it seems like it would be ineffectual as a cooling system as your sleeve would be under that part of the glove, many, many manufacturers do it. That means that either there really is a benefit or it has become de rigueur in the industry to have them.

The Vertex glove also has these little “ram air”scoops on the three fingers as well. Again, not sure if they really work but at least they do look cool and although they are plastic they are tall enough to provide additional protection in case of a crash.

Keeping with the theme of added protection, SHIFT added padding and additional layers of leather to strategic contact points; thumb, palm, and the outside of the little finger. Also on the little finger side of the glove are two patches of what appears to be Kevlar. SHIFT did put a layer of Kevlar into the glove for added abrasion resistance and it appears that they added padding and another contact patch of the stuff to the outside of the glove as well.

Now I can hear some of you already; “Kevlar is puncture resistant but doesn’t have very good abrasion resistance”. Be that as it may, and I’m not agreeing nor disagreeing as I haven’t tested the theory myself, any added layering is going to be helpful.

On the palm is a piece of added material that appears to be a brushed leather. This provides copious amounts of grip even in the wet so your hand sliding around on the grips should never be a problem. Keeping with the glove’s main design focus as a race glove, there isn’t any added padding to the palm area. Once again this is to maintain as much feel as possible between your hands and the bars; a desirable thing that extra “comfort” padding would reduce or eliminate.

One last feature that is very nice is the wrist strap and gauntlet closure. The wrist strap is thin with plenty of velcro to ensure a good fit while the gauntlet closure is very wide with plenty of velcro as well. First thing to do is cinch down the wrist strap and then cinch down the gauntlet closure. Done in this order the wide gauntlet closure will cover the end of the wrist strap helping to ensure that it doesn’t come loose and let the glove slide right off.

The only real negative I have experienced with the glove is that they are a little stiffer than I would ultimately like them to be. This may be a feature of having them fully lined with Kevlar and most likely will go away with some more riding time. The stiffness is not terrible but unexpected from SHIFT Racing as other gloves from them have been soft and pliable right out of the “box”. I’ll try to keep you updated via the forum if or when they seem to loosen-up.

2. Komodo Meso Race Gloves

Right after taking the Meso’s out of the box I could tell that these gloves mean business. They not only look the part but also provide valuable features that every rider will enjoy.

First and foremost these gloves are comfortable right from the start, with the outer skin constructed of leather so breaking them in for days on end wasn’t necessary. I’m always concerned when I get a new pair of gloves because I’m not sure if I’m going to have a problem shifting or if my hands are going to hurt after hours of wearing them.

Thankfully I had none of those issues and after five hours of riding I didn’t miss a shift and my hands/wrists didn’t hurt at all. I’ll attribute this to the gel under the Kevlar enforced palms which not only reduced the “buzz” from the bars but also provided for additional comfort and impact absorption.

These high performance race gloves come in standard sizes: S, M, L, XL, XXL (US) and are true to form. This means if you’re a medium then order a medium. If you’re a large then a large it is then. No guessing if the glove is going to be too big or too small and waiting weeks for the correct size to be shipped. These sizes should accommodate almost every rider, which is a good thing since we all don’t have the same anatomy. I’ll let you create your own punch line here.

High impact Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) covers the knuckles and fingers along with Schoeller Keprotec abrasion resistant material under the palms and on the fingers show that this glove is serious about safety. Combine that with Kevlar reenforced palms and pinky fingers with a shell constructed of 1.0mm premium cowhide leather for abrasion and tear resistance and you’d be hard pressed to find a glove with more protection.

Knowing that my hands are heavily fortified in the case of a crash puts my mind at ease. Yes, even I worry about crashing but luckily I haven’t had the misfortune of trying out any of my gear.

An elastic wrist and top wrist strap helps keep the Meso’s in place so you won’t have to worry about them moving around during a ride. And while we’re looking at the wrist, notice that the glove has a nice size cuff to reduce wind turbulence that sometimes occurs when wearing just a jacket. Everywhere you look you see a quality product along with a well thought out design.

During the summer months when it’s hazy, hot and humid some riders wait until the sun sets for cooler temperatures to ride but others ride to work, have group rides planned or just “grin and bear it.” If you fall into one of the later categories then these gloves will help alleviate some of those heat issues since they provide great ventilation via knuckle air vents.

It’s currently fall as I write this and the temperatures are cool so the aeration feels just fine. I can see though that anything below freezing might chill your fingers so be aware of this fact.

If I knew of these gloves when I was looking for a new pair they would’ve been at the top of my list. Komodo’s Meso product line of gloves provides superior protection and has all the characteristics that I (and you) should want in a motorcycle glove.

I like to keep a low-profile so I chose black but Komodo does offer the Meso’s in the following colors: red, blue, yellow, green and silver. Add to the fact that it’s half the price of some of its competitors and it wins by a KO.

3. Ceno Shorty Gloves

One of the hardest parts about being a moto-journalist is being objective. We have to put aside any personal feeling, biases, and/or prejudices and just report in a comprehensive, objective, and fair manner. This means that even if we absolutely love something we can’t just come out and say “Wow! We love this ____” without people pointing their fingers and muttering deprecations like “sell-out” under their breath.

That being said I’ll let you in on a little secret; I love these gloves! Listen…..I think someone just muttered “sell-out” under their breath. Well mutter away ye who doubt, it changes naught. Plain and simply these are some of the nicest gloves I have ever worn.

So I guess that means they are perfect right? Let’s look at them a little more closely and see if that is true shall we?

The Ceno Shorty gloves are a mini-gauntlet style glove that allows your jacket sleeve to go under the glove instead of on top. While not offering the same level of protection as a full gauntlet glove the mini-gauntlet is much preferred over having no gauntlet at all. The Ceno Shorty gloves are a 1.0mm leather glove with even more leather reinforcing on the palm for added abrasion resistance.

Because you can never have too much abrasion resistance, the fingers and palm of the gloves are lined with Schoeller Keprotec material too.

The knuckle protection which is made from Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) for maximum protection from abrasion and impact. The backs of the fingers also benefit from added padding and some quite large solid plastic “sliders” as well. The plastic sliders are some of the tallest I’ve ever seen and should provide great protection if your hand gets caught knuckle side down between your body and the ground (no I’m not going to test and see just how much protection).

One thing that is always talked about but not always found is external seams on the fingers. I’ve owned more motorcycle specific gloves (even big name ones) that have had their seams sewn on the inside of the fingers. The Ceno Shorty gloves are made with the seams on the outside of the fingers thereby eliminating any source of irritation on long rides.

If I asked you which pair of jeans were your favorite you would probably pull out the pair that you’ve had the longest. Same thing if I asked you about t-shirts or shoes; things that are broken in are softer and more comfortable. Motorcycle gloves are often the same way; sometimes it takes a little time (and hot water) to break in a glove so that it…well….fits like a glove.

This doesn’t apply to the Ceno Shorty gloves. Right out of the package these gloves were soft and fit absolutely perfectly. The material used on the glove liner feels almost like a micro-fiber and gives the gloves a plush feeling.

The added plushness on the inside doesn’t equate to less feedback when riding. The added softness actually dampens vibrations to some degree while keeping your hands cushioned and comfortable on longer rides.

The Ceno Shorty gloves aren’t vented or perforated so wearing them in the heat of summer probably won’t be something you’ll do. Conversely they really aren’t winter gloves either as below 50 degrees my fingers got a little cold. I would say that for most of you the comfort range will be between 50 and 80 degrees. Much hotter than 80 and you’ll want ventilated gloves while temps under 50 will have most of you reaching for some better insulated gloves.

That being said, my fingers get cold VERY easily so you may find that the Ceno Shorty gloves are good for colder temps than I have outlined above. The gloves do have a velcro closure on the mini-gauntlet to block any wind from making a -turn and heading into your sleeve.

Komodo makes the Ceno Shorty glove in all black, black/blue, black/red, and black/yellow so you should be able to find a color that matches your bike, helmet, jacket, or personality.

4. Shift Carbine Hybrid Gloves

I’ve always worn (and will continue to wear) long gauntlet-style leather gloves. I believe they offer the best protection and let’s face it, they just look cool. Speaking of protection the Carbine’soffer dual compound Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) knuckle armor for maximum impact and abrasion resistance. This is something to look for as you never want to experience road rash on your hands or any part of your body.

These gloves have an open-back stretch knuckle panel which aids in flexibility. Combine that with pre-curved leather/Cordura finger sidewalls and overlapping leather finger guards means that you will have complete coverage of your hands. I should also mention that the leather palm area has reinforced padding which will serve you well in the unfortunate case of an accident. Plus it’ll help dissipate “bar buzz.”

The wrist and gauntlet closes via a hook-n-loop mechanism for maximum adjustability. Every now and then tightening one glove while having the other one on is sometimes difficult. I liked the fact that Shift eliminated this problem in its entirety by providing a little rubber extension on the wrist adjuster which helps you easily grab and tighten the wrist part of the glove while you already have one glove on. A simple solution but very effective none the less.

The weather this time of year is normally cold but thanks to global warming I used these gloves for quite some time before going to a non-perforated pair. Normal break-in wasn’t necessary as the Carbine’s were the ideal size so no stretching or bending needed to be done. Once I adjusted the cuff to fit over my jacket I didn’t find any wind creep into my sleeves which is great since even with the warm afternoon temperatures, the morning mercury let you know there was a chill in the air.

The planets must be aligned in a favorable way since the past few sets of gloves I’ve tested I’ve had zero issues with shifting, braking, lever feel or comfort. The Carbine’s were no exception and right from the start they did their job just as they should. These gloves are perforated, have air vents on the knuckles and are on the light side so just like any other gear I’ve told you about be conscious of the weather. These aren’t going to be the ideal gloves to be wearing when it’s freezing outside but you could come close to that mark.

Shift produces the Carbine’s in my favorite colors: Black/Silver and Black. I of course went for black but did you really expect me to choose anything else? These gloves are extremely comfortable and are perfect for the rider who doesn’t want to spend a lot of money on a pair of race gloves but still wants the highest protection for their hands.

5. Cortech Scarab Winter Gloves

Being in sunny Florida you don’t get much chance to wear winter gloves, right? Wrong. Especially if you like to ride early in the morning or late at night in November through March. It isn’t like it is up north or in the Midwest, but it does get down into the 30’s and low 40’s some evenings/mornings. Those temperatures can and do make my fingers numb so when Helmet House sent me a pair of their Cortech Scarab Winter Gloves I was very eager to test them out.

Cortech uses aniline drum-dyed cowhide leather construction for better wear characteristics and put a Hipora waterproof and breathable barrier inside. This is hugely important since cold, WET hands are a zillion times worse than just cold hands. The palm of the Scarab Winter Glove is made of aniline drum-dyed goatskin and has abrasion-resistant titanium/carbon protection panels.

The Scarab Winter Gloves use 3M Thinsulate 100gm insulation to keep your hands from freezing and breaking off. The 100gm insulation from 3M is built to insulate parts of your body that don’t see a lot of movement and therefore don’t see a lot of blood-flow to keep things all toasty.

A big plus of these gloves in my book is that they off almost all the armor protection of a track glove (I said “almost” as these aren’t a track glove therefore not made for that usage) but with cold weather riding in mind. There are molded titanium/carbon protectors for your knuckles, fingers, and wrist areas.

Even though the inside is made with a soft brushed fleece lining the gloves do not feel overly bulky. Cortech put little rubber pull tabs on the ends of the velcro closure flaps to aid in tightening and loosening them while wearing the gloves.

My hands get cold in any weather below 50 degrees no matter what gloves I’ve worn, even snowmobile gloves made for the Alaskan winter. After about 60 minutes of cruising with those giant snowmobile gloves on my fingers went numb and stayed that way until I took them someplace warm. While 60 minutes may not seem like much, almost every pair of winter “riding” gloves I’ve tried leave my fingers feeling numb after only 20-30 minutes of riding.

The biggest problem with the snowmobile gloves were their size/thickness. I felt like I was trying to operate the controls with flippers instead of hands. When is the last time you saw a dolphin riding a motorcycle? Exactly my point.

The Cortech Scarab Winter Gloves are much, much thinner than the snowmobile gloves and even thinner and easier to maneuver in than some winter “riding” gloves. While riding in 40 degree weather my fingers stayed mostly warm right up until the 60 minute mark when they started getting cold. This is much better than other winter riding gloves and on par with the snowmobile gloves.

The interesting thing was that as soon as I stopped and before I could even take off the gloves my fingers started to warm back up on their own; no need to defrost them over an open flame. I noticed this phenomenon a few times now and it even happens when I slow down or stop at a light.

I really think these gloves offer a great combination of warmth, style, and protection that is hard to beat. If you have normal fingers that don’t get cold at the drop of a hat or the first cold breeze, the Cortech Scarab Winter Gloves should give you hours of warmth without that “flipper” feeling of big bulky winter riding gloves.

6. Joe Rocket Speedway Gloves

The Speedway gloves are pretty substantial in construction and are indeed, a comfortable fit too. The gloves have unique pads protecting the knuckles and a rubber ventilation hole to create a ram air effect at speed. Obviously, when riding in 80-degree weather, this air venting helped tremendously in stopping my palms and fingers from sweating. On the outer side of each of the palms there is another pad, it’s on the exact place on my palm that makes contact with the clip ons offering a further degree of comfort and protection.

There is a double layer of stitching to ensure safety on all the areas where your hands may make unwanted contact with the ground and a double layer of Velcro with a miniature belt that secures the glove around the wrist to make sure these babies don’t come off if (and when) you do touch down.

Did I mention they were good-looking gloves too?

My opinion as a test rider and local track rider? These Joe Rocket gloves are good, they are comfortable and they offer a high degree of protection. They are great as a race glove and even riding on your local Sunday school session and if you’re like me, they’re going to save you some skin in those dog leggy, Daytona type crashes.

7. Allbikestuff Race Gloves

The quality of these gloves is pretty remarkable considering the price. My previous choice of hand protection was in the form of a high dollar item (of which I purchased, rather than swagged) and these particular gloves are every bit as good, if not better, at a little less than half the price.

Starting from the top we have the usual and de rigueur Carbon Fiber knuckle guard that sits atop a second leather sleeve, which in turn, cantilevered over the top of your knuckle as you clench your fist. No bunching up, no break-in period and totally comfortable from day one.

That same carbon piece is found on each one of your finger knuckles and for further protection included in the wristband too. The palm and little finger has Swiss made Keprotec Kevlar double stitched on the palm and wrapped around your smallest digit for pinky protection.

There is also a closed-cell foam triangular pad on the palm area that comes into contact with the motorcycle grip. It’s probably for crash protection, but it also seems to insulate your palm somewhat against vibration.

The liner is a fleeced type Cordura to help wick moisture away from your skin. Living in Florida I’ve felt no discomfort sweat-wise and the best of all, no dye has bled through to my fingers for the embarrassing gray dyed finger look from the black gloves of old. This same lining gives a very luxurious, bordering on sexy (what?) feel.

This model also has an adjustable Velcro wristband to stop the glove pulling off in the event of some rough and tumble and an adjustable cuff to protect that sticky out bone on your wrist, the name of which escapes me at the mo…

All in all I’m very impressed. They have certainly stayed nice looking. Everyone who has seen and tried on the glove has suggested a selling price in excess of 125 of George Washington’s finest.

8. SR1 Road Race Gloves

SR-1 gloves offer triple protection in the knuckle area with an accordion style design that has carbon Kevlar inserts on each joint. The wrist-band has a strap that prevents the glove pulling off your hand on impact and a further cuff that shields that wrist-band for further impact safety, and there’s also a Velcro cuff fastener to snug the whole thing up to your leathers. Oh, and the fingers are also pre-curved too, so again, minimal break-in.

The gloves also have a vented area around the rear portion of the glove that seems to draw moisture away as you ride.

My palms sweat a lot (basically because I’m scared witless most of the time) and my hands are staying dry in these. The pinky finger seems well protected and features a one-piece wrap around leather portion that extends from the top of the little finger, down to the wrists (you don’t need to be snagging the little guy who went to the market, or was he the one who went home?).

There’s also a nifty suede reinforcement on the inner thumb and forefinger which helps with grip and feel too. The liner, by the way, is also full Kevlar for further abrasion resistance.

All in all, a very competent looking glove, and after the many times I’ve crashed, I can usually spot a bum glove.

9. Alpinestars SMX-2 A C Gloves

I took the gloves out and gave them the ol’ once over to see how they were put together. First impression? They seem like a decent pair of gloves. Couple of minor things that I wasn’t crazy about.

First, and Alpinestars is not the only company to do this, I like gloves that come OVER the jacket and these don’t. Is that bad? Not if you are like most riders who probably don’t care. So I’ll say no problem with the gloves and move on to the next point.

Point two has to do with the small velcro fastener around the wrist. I have never liked the small fastener idea. Alpinestars is again not the only company to do this as it seems to be an industry standard. It just really bothers me. Go ahead and call me Don and point out the nearest windmill, I’ll understand.

Looking at the top of the gloves we see that the knuckles are covered in carbon fiber. The armor is placed in a floating leather sheath that allows some movement to limit or eliminate binding or pinching in the knuckle area. The knuckle protection fit my knuckles perfectly the first time I put the glove on; something that my old Alpinestars did not do. You will also notice that the gloves have a finger joint protector in rubber on each finger.

Moving onward towards the palm of the glove we find a Clarino synthetic leather palm with full grain leather reinforcements. As you can see the leather is pretty plentiful on the palm of the hand. A nice touch is in the padded leather reinforcement which sits at the heal of your hand and does provide some cushioning when your hand is on the grips.

Also, the gloves have silicon printing on the fingertips (first two on each hand) to ensure a better grip. It works very well to keep your fingers on the lever and is a nice touch. My only question about the design of the silicone printing is; why does it look like a rocket? Interesting isn’t it.

This brings us to the picture below and one of the two things that I find fault with these gloves.
The thumb is almost entirely covered in breathable fabric. While this does allow the air to move freely, greatly cooling the hand within, it does little to nothing for protection in a fall. It is hard to see in the picture but the leather from the palm ends mid-point up the side of your thumb.

This allows the entire top half of your thumb to be exposed. This is probably the biggest fault I have with these gloves. The only other thing (which should lessen over time) is that the seams are on the inside of the glove and will leave nice indentations on your hands.

One thing these gloves do really well is flow some serious air around your hands. If you live in the sub-tropical wasteland known as Florida (or God’s waiting room as it is sometimes called) a lot of airflow is greatly desired. These gloves deliver that airflow and more.

Overall, a stylish glove that just isn’t quite up to the level of design that I have seen in other Alpinestars products. If Alpinestars would protect the thumb a little better and either trim the seams a little or place them outside the glove, these would go from good gloves for the price to great gloves for the price.

10. Shift Stealth Gloves

When I first received the gloves I was a little wary of them.  I almost sent these gloves back to Shift with the note saying that “sorry these gloves are not my thing”. I’m glad I didn’t.

Don’t get me wrong, I still would like better protection, but the niche this glove was made for they fill well. The Stealth glove is (I imagine) made for those quick runs to the store, the commute to work, or for those who like to stunt.

I have been wearing them for a month now of non-stop riding. I do wear them on my daily rides on the bike that don’t involve high intensity riding or silly antics.

First thing I noticed about these gloves after I put them on was how very comfortable they are. The lack of hard armor makes them feel like a second layer of skin. The palms are leather from the heel of your hand to the tips of your fingers.

Remember that bonus item I look for in gloves? The Stealths deliver that in spades. I have never had any glove flow air like these do. Some of that airflow comes from sacrificing some of the protection that comes from having hard knuckle and finger protection though. If you live in a hot climate that will be a decision that you’ll have to make; better protection or better cooling. Like I said before, for normal commuting, I wear these, and for Sunday morning blasts, I wear a glove with better protection.

As for knuckle, protection the gloves do offer it somewhat, in the form of rubber “bones” on the back of the glove. I use the word “bones” as a friend of mine after seeing the glove, thought that they had a skeleton appearance to them.

The gloves also offer extra padding, on the tops of your fingers, that is sewn into the fabric.

While this is probably not a glove that I would have even looked at in the store, I am enjoying them immensely. They flow a ton of air, offer some protection in case of a fall, and are built with a quality that I am beginning to expect from Shift Racing’s products.

If you are looking for a hot weather glove to help keep your hands cool the Stealth gloves might be worth a look. If you are one of those riders that like to wear mechanics gloves when you ride, these gloves are definitely worth a look. They have all the comfort of your mechanics gloves, but with better abrasion protection.

11. Alpinestars GP Tech Gloves

I’ve always worn full gauntlet style gloves as opposed to short-cuff gloves. I like the added protection and the ability to wrap the ends of the gloves around my jacket sleeves to stop the wind from blowing up them. Plus most tracks require full gloves for open track days or sanctioned racing events. If Rossi, Hayden and the other Moto GP, WSBK and AMA riders wear them then who am I to buck the system?

My former gloves were a pair of Teknic Lightning which were (and still are) good gloves. I’d rate them the “best bang for the buck” in terms of quality, protection and features. I knew that my next pair of gloves was going to be a higher quality/feature rich set so I was very interested in trying a more upscale version than what I currently own and Alpinestars didn’t disappoint.

The Kevlar stitching throughout (for added strength) is top shelf and the patented third and fourth finger bridge protects against finger roll and potential seam bursting during impacts. If you don’t like the bridge between the fingers you could always cut it with a sharp pair of scissors. And before you ask, no I’m not going to crash test them to see how well they work (and hopefully neither will you).

If for some reason you do get the unfortunate opportunity to crash test these gloves I think you’ll be happy to know that the protection they offer is outstanding. The PU injected knuckle and finger sliders have been included for superior impact and abrasion resistance. The top of the glove is reinforced with knit Kevlar and features highly abrasion-resistant material and the palm (consisting of strong, supple kangaroo leather) is reinforced with Pittards digital leather and an advanced direct-inject Kevlar panel.

Now all the protection in the world won’t be useful if the glove doesn’t fit properly, right? Right! One thing that has always been a problem for me is fit. I have large hands (I’ll leave the dirty jokes to you) and long fingers so finding a glove that “fits” isn’t always easy. These GP gloves fit “like a glove.” Go figure! The input from professional racers and the anatomical design really do offer a perfect fit.

After further inspection I noticed that the fingers have external seams which should provide for more comfort and the perforated cuff along with ventilated finger forchettes will certainly keep your hands cool on those hot summer days. Another nice touch is the padded Kevlar top panel which again provides impact resistance and flexibility. These small but extremely important details show that the years of work by the Alpinestars Research & Development department have rewarded us with a supremely high performance and comfortably fitting glove.

After a few days of rain the sun finally appeared and it was time to go test these gloves out on a combination of highway riding and some back road twisties. Considering it’s Spring, the morning temps were on the cool side but nowhere near as cold as a December day. The gloves provided me with enough “touch” to manipulate the levers without any restraint or binding and gave perfect feedback while riding. Contrary to what most people think, full style race gloves are not always bulky and these gloves prove that. They’re very lightweight and after riding with these all day I didn’t have one problem.

Complaints? Honestly these gloves are as close to perfect as a glove of this type could be. I would say that with all the ventilation that these GP Tech gloves provide, those that live in a climate that change seasons (you know you who are) might think twice about using these when the temperatures are hovering around the freezing mark.

I have to admit that I’ve been a big fan of Teknic gear for years now (although I have owned other gear from different manufacturers) but having been introduced to the Alpinestars product line has made my allegiance come into question. If you asked me: “Would I buy a pair of these gloves?” without hesitation I’d answer a resounding “Yes.”

Alpinestars have created a pair of high quality gloves that look and feel fantastic but more importantly provide superior protection. Being the frugal person I am I’ve checked a few web sites for similar gloves produced by other manufacturers (e.g. Joe Rocket, Held, Icon, etc.) and these gloves are in the upper price range but as the old saying goes: “You get what you pay for.”

12. SHIFT Fury Gloves

Made from both leather and textile they come with added leather patches in all the normal abrasion zones. I for one will suffer my hands being a little hotter for better protection. While the Fury gloves do flow more air than a full leather glove, they are not up to the airflow level of actual “mesh” gloves. That, however, is an acceptable trade-off to make, at least to me.

I usually wear a large but the Fury gloves seem to run small so make sure you get one size larger than normal. Once the proper size was obtained I was very happy with the overall fit and finish of the gloves. The fingers are pre-curved for your comfort and the open stretch knuckle panel offers great flexibility.

The Fury glove does have ventilated leather both top and bottom on each finger. Also the first two fingers of each hand have these small vents to help flow even more air through the glove. The thumb has non-ventilated leather on the inner part but is textile on the outer which flows a decent amount of air; this same textile material is found on the side of each finger between the leather panels on the top and bottom.

My only gripe about the use of textile on the thumb is that it wraps too far around. If you were to go down and your thumb was folded under your hand the leather part won’t contact the ground. Instead you will be relying on the textile panel to absorb all the abrasion. While textile does an admirable job at that I’d feel better having more leather in that zone.

SHIFT also made the Fury glove with a hard composite knuckle protector that is both impact and abrasion resistant. Being friends with someone who crashed and had his hand trapped under him as he slid I know the value of having good knuckle protection; luckily he does too. After sliding on the asphalt with his hand trapped under him, the knuckle protector was completely worn down (you could see his knuckles through the holes) but his hand came through unscathed. Having skin abraded off is one thing; having bone shaved down is something I don’t want to imagine.

Since this is meant to be a summer glove there is no gauntlet and your jacket is meant to go over the cuff. Since the cuff will be directly touching your wrist SHIFT made it from “Embossed Airprene” so it is nice and soft (and stretchy).

13. SHIFT Stryker Leather Gloves

I’ve always worn full gauntlet style gloves as that’s what I feel most comfortable wearing. Sure, my hands and palms sweat when the temperatures reach the upper 90’s (even with some vented versions) but that’s to be expected right? Well, it turns out that there are other options than full on race gloves and SHIFT’s Stryker gloves fit the bill.

Protection should be a concern of every rider otherwise we’d all be wearing weight lifting gloves. Those gloves should best be left in your gym locker and instead you should be wearing the Stryker’s. These gloves are short cuff, full leather gloves that are designed for optimal protection and abrasion resistance. They have integrated knuckle armor for impact and abrasion resistance and premium leather palms with reinforced padding.

Safety is only one aspect of having a pair of gloves because if they’re not comfortable then no matter how much protection they provide you’re not going to wear them. So it’s nice that the Stryker has accordion stretch behind the knuckle panels which aids in its comfort and flexibility. With these added panel’s movement is natural and not restricted. The pre-curved leather finger sidewalls alleviate bunching and once you put these gloves on there are no rough edges inside them caused by incorrect stitching or by left over material during construction.

Perforated panels help with air flow and since these gloves are lightweight you can certainly feel the air while riding. Recently it’s been abnormally hot (helloooo global warming) and this was definitely the biggest benefit for wearing these types of gloves over a full cuff type of glove.

Unlike other gloves that can be bulky and difficult to carry these gloves are easy to store in your jacket pocket. This was perfect when I was having to stop multiple times on a recent outing. I’d just take them off and stick them in my jacket and I was good to go.

The main downside to these gloves (besides wearing them when it’s freezing outside) is that they offer very little wet weather protection. Just like any leather product once they get, they stay wet. Which means if you’re heading out for a ride and there’s a good chance of rain in the forecast you might want to bring your waterproof gloves instead of these.

Although I didn’t mind excess air flow coming in my jacket because of the hot weather the Stryker’s do come with embossed airprene wrist cuffs as well as hook and loop wrist closures. This is perfect when you want to tuck your jacket cuffs in your gloves or just make sure that you have a nice tight fit around your wrists.

SHIFT has sizes that range from small (8) to XXL (12) and come in the best color – black. The Stryker gloves certainly offer good protection and are a reasonable compromise if you don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars for a pair of gloves or wear full gauntlet style gloves because of the environment you live in.