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Summer Gloves - Triumph Watch Gloves
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(Review courtesy of Barbara Alam)
Catalogue Price: £35 (tho I paid £25)
These unlined ladies gloves are made of soft, supple leather on the underside which feels like a second-skin – the overall effect is of riding with bare hands. Palms and first two fingertips have padded Keprotec® "abrasion panels" (i.e. grippy bits) which really are non-slip.
Backs of fingers are made of the same soft leather, reinforced with bendy padded bits at the first finger joint and small circular pads at the second. There's room at the end of the fingers for your fingernails, too (for those of us who don't do our own maintenance!) but not so much that it will catch on the clutch and brake levers if empty.
The knuckles of each hand are covered with solid,
ventilated plastic knuckle guard panels which fit well - like a glove, in fact. Backs of hands are made of a fabric which feels very much like neoprene and wrists have Velcro straps to tighten.
The really cool bit is the watch panel, a clear circular "window" on the left wrist through which you can see your watch face. Great if you can't afford a little clock for your dashboard. Not you're left-handed, though, and wear your watch on your right wrist because the right hand glove features a circular solid leather patch instead. Why?!
Overall these are nice practical gloves which feel as though they've been made for me – and for riding, not just sitting pretty on the back. They don't claim to be waterproof, though, so for warm sunny days only.
Summer Gloves - RS Super Nova vs Swift Pole Position
After a helmet, gloves are probably the next most important purchase. There are a bewildering array of gloves on the market and the latest models feature trick-looking hard protectors over the knuckles.
The RS Super Nova gloves don't have any of that. They are a no-nonsense pair of leather gloves and one of a very few gloves that are actually CE approved. This means they have passed a series of tough tests for things like abrasion resistance, burst strength of seams, effectiveness of the wrist restraint and colour fastness.
The gloves are all leather, perceptibly thicker than most summer gloves and similar to the leather
used in riding suits. This means that the gloves are initially stiff, and need considerable breaking in They are also warm to wear, more of a three season glove than a true summer only glove - they
can actually be a bit too warm in mid-summer, even though they are unlined. The seams are double stitched with kevlar reinforced thread. Fingers are slightly pre-curved and the thumb and
the first two fingers are also articulated.
The palm and much of the outside of the hand are double layered for abrasion resistance, and there is a a padded protector over the back of the hand and the fingers. The cuff is cut deep, which can cause some problems bunching up with an overjacket, though it fits over the top of a leather jacket or riding suit sleeve, which is the intention. The wrist restraint is excellent - the leather strap loops right round the wrist, and the piece of Velcro which secures it is long enough for a secure grip - you can do this up tight and be absolutely certain the glove will not come off in a crash.
There are some nice detail points. There is an extra layer of leather alongside the forefinger -
I often wear a hole in gloves here where it rubs on the switchgear. The finish is painted rather than dyed so your hands don't come out a funny colour after rain, but the result that after
extended use is that the gloves can look a bit tatty.
So how do they hold up in use? The answer is very well indeed! I bought a pair at the beginning of 1996, used them virtually every day from April to November (and on warmer winter days too) and they lasted till the middle of 1999 before the leather finally wore out in several places and they needed replacing. With a bit of leather food occasionally, the leather stayed flexible. On wet days, they weren't waterproof but could be described as showerproof. I haven't crash tested the gloves, but the general resistance to wear and tear suggests that they would do their job as designed.
The problem with doing any meaningful reports on clothing is that by the time anyone has notched up enough miles to show up the good and bad points the item is out of production . However, performance of past products might help you choose a new one. So it is with the the Swift Pole Position gloves, the original model being replaced by a new armoured pair in the summer of '99. However, there were still plenty of stalls selling the old model at the Alexandra Palace show in 2000 and 2001, so I expect they will be around in the bargain basement bins for some time yet.
When the glove first appeared a couple of years ago it won several awards in the comics as a value for money glove. I came across a pair in the sales at the beginning of 98, needing a spare pair for very hot days and holiday riding (nothing worse than putting your hands back in a clammy wet glove).
The leather is much thinner and more flexible than the RS gloves, and they are comfortable right away but after a bit of use they get a bit baggy. Even the black ones (just why did I choose black for summer use?) are cool on the hottest days.
Construction is reasonable (ie nothing has come to bits yet) but they don't feel anything like as tough as the RS gloves. They are not CE approved.
However, virtually the first ride showed up a major problem with the gloves - the dye is not colour fast. My black pair leaves my hands an interesting shade of blue. It doesn't take rain to do this either, the sweat from your hands on a humid day is sufficient. The result is that after relatively little use, my black pair have turned an unusual shade of grey . This may seem like a trivial if annoying fault, but many of the dyes used in the colouring of leather are in fact carcinogenic!
Conclusions? For £49.95, the Super Novas may not look as high tech at the latest models but are a top glove at the price. If you are looking for a good glove at a reasonable price, I think they are unbeatable.
At bargain bin prices (I saw them for as little as £20 at Ally Pally) the Pole Positions are good value. Not as tough as the Super Novas, and I doubt they would stand up as well in an accident, but certainly not the worst gloves in the world.
Survival Skills is an approved trainer and assessor
for Buckinghamshire County Council
and "National Motorcycle Escort Group" Qualified
Copyright © 2007 Survival Skills & Kevin Williams
Last Page update Wednesday, November 14, 2007
