When it comes to year-round kit gloves are possibly the most important part. They keep your fingers and general hand area protected, er, obviously.
Ever had those deep freeze moments where your fingers seemingly refuse to behave? Not that you could feel them if they did! Just writing that brings back horrid memories of long, early morning and very painful motorway journeys in February.
It’s a tricky thing for manufacturers to perfect, given that they have to walk a thin line between physical protections, protection from the elements while also allowing enough freedom of movement to do the whole motorbike control part.
There are some lovely heated gloves on the market, but they also usually come with a prohibitive price tag. The same goes for the more Gucci level of non-heated winter gloves, too. Fret not, there are still plenty of very decent gloves out there which won’t break the bank:
Racer Tour Winter
Price: £79.99 | Available: www.bikerheadz.co.uk
The Racer Tour winter edition comes with some interesting letters after its moniker – FHH, which translates to ‘For Heated Handlebars’. It means they’ve been designed with heated grips in mind. The palm has a membrane underneath the outer, rather than a membrane with full insulating garb. Instead sits on the top and sides of the glove/fingers.
It’s not hugely different to what a lot of manufacturers are currently doing with winter gloves, because the palm and underside of fingers can’t be too thick. It’d be interesting to see how far this philosophy has been taken, so we’ll try and get hold of a set.
This pair are waterproof, breathable and windproof. They feature knuckle protection, have a ‘touch-screen’ finger and are a very interesting pair of gloves to kick things off with. Available in sizes small to 3XL. Browse the Racer Tour Winter gloves here.
RST Paragon WP
Price: £59.99 | Available: www.rst-moto.com
We must add quickly, there is a heated Paragon glove too at £189.99, but that’s too pricey for our countdown so we’re sticking with the waterproof pair.
They have an internal Hipora lining with is both waterproof and breathable within the full-grain cow hide fashioned outer, with a double-layer reinforcement on the palm.
The fingers are pre-curved with smart-touch digital leather, reflective logos and a visor-wiping strip on both hands. Available in sizes extra small to 2XL, and like the rest of the RST Paragon line, there’s a lot of glove here for very little outlay. Get your hands on them here.
Spada Enforcer WP
Price: £69.99 | Available: www.spadaclothing.co.uk
The Enforcer is Spada’s version of a full winter race glove, which we like a lot! This means plenty of physical protection.
It has a moulded carbon-fibre knuckle section, and the general reinforcements feature Keprotec inserts. There’s a Hipora waterproof/breathable lining, plus a Thinsulate thermal liner to help keep your fingers any other natural colour than blue…
Meanwhile, the visor-wipe lives on the left thumb, there’s a fluoro colour option and they come in sizes extra small to 2XL. The Enforcer is right up our street and we think you should seriously consider them. Take a look for yourself here.
Oxford Calgary 1.0
Price: £49.99 | Available: www.oxfordproducts.com
Oxford’s Calgary is an all season glove and is very smartly made, and comes in a penny less than half of our budget limit.
Accordion panels on the two big fingers allows more movement and feel without compromising their effectiveness at keeping out the cold. The entire glove is waterproof. There’s decent knuckle protection, but it’s neatly hidden by the outer layer of leather.
All in all, it’s not a ‘racey’ glove, but a very good year-round glove nonetheless, and is available in sizes small to 3XL. Browse more of Oxford’s products here.
Alpinestars Apex Drystar
Price: £74.99 | Available: www.oxfordproducts.com
It’s nice to see one of the big names here on this list, with Alpinestars presenting the Apex Drystar front and centre.
They have a lovely soft Velour lining which is insulated for your pleasure, sorry, warmth. The main body is made from goats’ skin with padded fingers, moulded PU knuckle protectors and a textile-based reinforcement lives in the palm.
The glove also features A’stars’ patented finger-bridge, has a touch-screen friendly finger-tip, dual-wrist adjuster, and is available in sizes small to 3XL. Take a look for yourself here.
Richa Hurricane
Price: £99.99 | Available: www.nevis.uk.com
Well, well, who’d of thought that in a budget gloves feature a Richa glove would be the most expensive in our list thus far?
The Hurricane is a superb glove worth every penny of the asking price. Made from a combination of goat-leather and Polyamide, the glove features a prominent CE approved knuckle protector and a Gore-Tex liner which provides the essential waterproof/breathable part, while a tri-fleece liner is on temperature duty.
Leather reinforcements on the pinky and palm, reflective prints so there’s a better chance of someone seeing you flick them the bird after they’ve cut you up at night, and there’s plenty of Richa’s own impact protection gel living inside too. They’re available in sizes small to 3XL. Check the pair out here.
Weise Montana
Price: £79.99 | Available: www.thekeycollection.co.uk
The Montana glove from Weise is an interesting item. They’ve gone for a lighter weight mitten but one that does not shirk its winter duty.
The secret is in the construction, with a 120-gramme Thinsulate Supreme inner liner inside a Hipora waterpoof/breathable membrane, surrounded by a polyester and full-grain leather outer, and double leather layers in important positions.
TPU type inserts protect your knuckles, finger areas are padded and there are stretch panels exactly where you need them and a Chamude palm lining for increased grip. It also sports a double-layer storm/weather cuff system, and this set of gloves is available in sizes small to 4XL. Take a look at the Weise Montana here.
Bering Tusk GTX
Price: £100 | Available: www.bikerheadz.co.uk
This cheeky little number sits bang on our limit at £100!
For your money you get the 100% waterproof/breathable Gore-Tex treatment, so you know you’re getting the good stuff here.
The gloves have a fixed polyester mesh lining, with a dedicated Micro-Polar thermal liner, while the outer is a mix of Amara material and goat leather. There’s palm reinforcement on the protection front, allied to decent knuckle guards on the opposing side, and the usual grippy bits for the pressing of screens with fingers. Coming right at you in sizes small to 3XL, a set of these would look rather fancy on you, don’t you think? Check them out here.
Furygan Escape 37.5
Price: £89.99 | Available: www.nevis.uk.com
If you’re wondering what the 37.5 part in this glove’s name is about, it is a system for removing moisture from your hands before it turns to sweat because, as Furygan points out, dispensing with it keeps you comfortable for longer.
According to official information, ‘if you need warming or cooling based on the amount of humidity next to your skin‘.
Say what now?! The 37.5 materials’ own ‘particles’ apparently catch the infrared energy generated by your hand and speeds up the evaporation process. Wow, we’re not sure if this is either genuinely a genius move on Furygan’s part, or if other gloves are similar and don’t go deep into the details, but either way it all sounds rather spiffing, doesn’t it?
Aside from that, it has all the right waterpoof/breathable and thermal linings, protective parts, touch-screen fingertips and correctly placed reinforcement within its textile and goat-leather construction, and comes in sizes small to 3XL. Take a look here.
Richa Tundra EVO
Price: £39.99 | Available: www.nevis.uk.com
Here we have an incredibly cheap set of gloves to join this fine horde, and one from a manufacturer we trust, check out Richa’s Tundra EVO.
This is more of a mid-season pair of gloves, with winter use in mind at a bit of a push, but then for less than £40 what else do you want? They’re mostly designed to be warm and very comfortable to wear yet a decent Hipora membrane does the waterproof/breathable shimmy, the drawstring closure is fully adjustable and it comes with extra padding for protection in the areas most likely to make you say ‘ouch’ if a bad thing happens.
And, that’s about it really, aside from a fluoro/black option and the fact they come in sizes extra small to 2XL. If you’re after cheap and cheerful, look no further!
01507 529529 | SHewitt@Mortons.co.uk
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