Track / Sports gloves. Help!

[samjlevy]

So I’m currently getting a new wardrobe of gear. I’ve sorted boots, helmet, leathers etc… I’m really struggling on gloves. So far I’ve tried the following.

A* GP Pro - Large too big, medium too small.
Knox Handroid - These fit well be hate the design.
Racer High Racer - Fit well but the stitching was questionable.
RST Tracktech EVO - Seem to get some bad feedback.

Budget is around £300.

The Handroid are shortlisted for now.

[Mr Squarekins]

I've got the rst and like them. Good fit, good feel and never annoy me.

Gloves are such a personal thing, go to a shop where they have them all out.

[Theoffshoredoc]

Held? Lots of size options.

[samjlevy]

Theoffshoredoc said:

Held? Lots of size options.

I’m going to try Held Phantom Evo, slightly over budget.

The only thing putting off those is the huge gauntlet size.

Mr Squarekins said:

I've got the rst and like them. Good fit, good feel and never annoy me.

Gloves are such a personal thing, go to a shop where they have them all out.

Have you ever had a crash in these? Just wondering how they hold up. They are massively under budget.

I was also looking at the Five RFX1, but not heard of these before.

Edited by samjlevy on Sunday 19th June 22:07

[samjlevy]

Ordered the following from Sportsbikeshop:

Held Phantom Evo
Knox Handroid
Revit Jerez 3

Will try them all on and report back.

If anyone has any other suggestions that would be great.

[Tonberry]

Try the Racer High Speed. Very well made.

Not a fan of Rev It gloves due to poor build quality but that new pair might have been improved.

Any of the top spec Held gloves are worth a try too.

[Sea Demon]

I've got the RST's, really comfy & I think they look good - came off at brands using them and help up well to slide along the track

[samjlevy]

I’ve grabbed a pair of RST Tracktech short gloves for daily dry duties, they are actually really comfy so considering getting the long gauntlet ones for more spirited rides / track, just heard a lot of horror stories of seams busting open when crashing.

Also ordered some Racer High Speed to try again. Does anyone know how these compare to the Racer High Racer?

Edited by samjlevy on Monday 20th June 18:34

[Salted_Peanut]

While Held and Racer gloves usually get my vote, I’d now look to the BKS 003 Race gloves from BKS M2M (not to be confused with J&S’s BKS). Considering the exceptional quality of BKS M2M’s leathers, I imagine the 003 Race will be über-gloves.

I think black-k1 was considering buying a pair, so he might have first-hand experience of the BKS race glove.

I've never had a stitch out of place with Racer gloves (several pairs, all lasting exceptionally well), but I have been disappointed with Rev'it.

[samjlevy]

Salted_Peanut said:

While Held and Racer gloves usually get my vote, I’d now look to the BKS 003 Race gloves from BKS M2M (not to be confused with J&S’s BKS). Considering the exceptional quality of BKS M2M’s leathers, I imagine the 003 Race will be über-gloves.

I think black-k1 was considering buying a pair, so he might have first-hand experience of the BKS race glove.

I've never had a stitch out of place with Racer gloves (several pairs, all lasting exceptionally well), but I have been disappointed with Rev'it.

The BKS ones look good actually.

Have you had any crashes in the Racer gloves? Which ones did you have?

[Zarco]

I crashed in Racer High Speed gloves a couple of weeks ago (low side at Silverstone). The armour/sliders wore down a bit and the wrist strap on one is knackered, but they didn't fall apart. Only injury was I tweaked my little finger somehow.






This thread is handy as I need new gloves now. I've worn Racers since 2008 when I started riding (had another pair for 6yrs). Chap in shop recommended them and I like the fit.

[samjlevy]

They look like they held up really well actually.

I’m hoping the Held Phantom Pro fit well as the crash reports seem great, the only issue is they don’t have palm sliders, you have to go up to the Titans for that but they are £415 which is over budget.

[Zarco]

I wasn't going very fast fortunately. All my gear held up well. Helmet didn't touch the floor thankfully too.

Was surprised you thought the stitching was questionable on Racer gloves tbh. I'm no expert but they look decent to me.

Edited by Zarco on Tuesday 21st June 08:56

[samjlevy]

Zarco said:

I wasn't going very fast fortunately. All my gear held up well. Helmet didn't touch the floor thankfully too.

Was surprised you thought the stitching was questionable on Racer gloves tbh. I'm no expert but they look decent to me.

Edited by Zarco on Tuesday 21st June 08:56

It may have been a bad pair. I have a pair of High Racer arriving today and High Speed arriving tomorrow, so will see if they are better. Out of interest what is the difference between the two? It seems the high speed is the top of the range with the Racer below it?

[Salted_Peanut]

It's hard to fathom which Racer gloves are top of their range. I have had Racer R-Safe and High Racer gloves (each used for several years and on multiple tours across Europe). The R-Safe were wonderfully over-engineered – swathes of SuperFabric® and an extra palm slider – yet were ten quid cheaper than the High Racer gloves. Incidentally, the R-Safe felt half a size smaller than other Racer gloves.

samjlevy said:

I’m hoping the Held Phantom Pro fit well as the crash reports seem great, the only issue is they don’t have palm sliders, you have to go up to the Titans for that but they are £415 which is over budget.

£415? Ouch! Considering the Titan's price, I'd first try the BKS 003 Race gloves. The 003 Race has better palm sliders (the Titan has one carbon slider on the ball of the thumb, whereas the 003 Race has two Knox sliders). And while Held's build quality is excellent, I trust Brian Sansom's BKS quality even more. But I haven't seen them in the leather.

[samjlevy]

So the gloves arrived, apart from the High Speed.

Held Phantom Pro - These are the same as the phantom 2 but with a bridged finger and slightly more scaphoid padding. They are exceptionally well made, but I really don’t like how the movement around the wrist is so restrictive, I understand protection is paramount, but I just can’t gel with them.

Racer High Racer - Very comfy, stitching on these ones look perfect. I’m going to see how the High Speed are tomorrow, but they fit quite well, the pinky is a little too long for me but apart from that, can’t fault them.

Knox Handroid - These fit exceptionally well but they are far to big and bulky. I know these are a great glove but I hate the stupid bits through the top of the fingers and I keep hitting them on the brake lever.

Revit Jerez - Horrible fit, I’m a thin guy but these are made for the thinnest hands known to man. How anyone gets there fingers in these beyond me.

I really do like the Held Phantom Pro, the feel they give is so much better than everything I’ve tried, if they had a bit more movement they would be perfect. Hopefully the High Speed will be a good fit. I’ll try the BKS as well.

When I say restrict movement, the wrist protector as pictured below really digs in to the top of my hand, it may be the shape of my hands causing this.

Edited by samjlevy on Tuesday 21st June 17:25

[samjlevy]

So I’ve been for a ride with the Phantom Pro, just a short one. I range SBS first to ensure I could return them after going for a short ride and they said it was fine. I really do love them, the palms don’t feel like you are wearing a glove, the feel through them is incredible, but when on full throttle I can still feel the wrist protector digging in to the top of my hand which is annoying, I’m thinking it’s because of the shape of my wrists and hands. I’m in two minds whether to try and get used to them or not, as apart from that the fit, comfort and feel of them is incredible.

Another option is to change the throttle tube on the ZX6R, which probably needs to be done anyway as there is far too much needed to get to full throttle, almost have to reposition my hand. If I did this the wrist guard wouldn’t dig in to my hand and I’d have a perfect pair of gloves.

Edited by samjlevy on Tuesday 21st June 17:59

[Tribal Chestnut]

I’ve got the same Racers as Zarco and recently had to send them back to SBS for a repair - see photo.

Edit: bought the Racers in August last year and have only worn them when the weather has been decent, so definitely not a wear and tear problem.

I’ve also got some Dainese FMPs. Had them for 8 or 9 years and have crashed in them a few times, but they still have plenty of life left.

[samjlevy]

I’ve seen similar things with Racers to be honest.

I’m 90% sure I’m going to keep the Phantom Pro, they are possibly a tiny bit long on my pinky, but apart from that I really like them. A little bit annoying that they dig in to the back of my hand but I’m possibly overthinking it. No idea what else I can try apart from the BKS suggested above.

Edited by samjlevy on Tuesday 21st June 23:43

[samjlevy]

Has anyone tried 4SR gloves?

Seen very interesting, they look very protective.

https://www.4sr.com/e-shop/stingray-race-spec-grey...

Edited by samjlevy on Wednesday 22 June 09:28