Summer Gloves

[mtnbiker1185]

So I know I am kind of early with this, but wanted to start looking now and get some peoples opinions on summer gloves. More specifically the Scorpion Vortex Air and Scorpion SGS MK II. I live in southeast VA so summer time riding can get upwards of 100F. I like the protection of the SGS MK II but am concerned it will be too hot. Meanwhile, the Vortex Air gloves look like they have good ventilation but don't have the palm sliders. Up to this point I have been using Mechanics gloves but they are beginning to show wear from the wind. My question is, does anyone have any experience with either of the Scorpion gloves in hot weather? Are palm sliders something to be super concerned with or no? My winter gloves have them, but it seems that doing a quick Google search finds a number of various opinions but most of which are geared towards track riders and not commuters.

 

[MZ5]

Sorry, I haven't worn Scorpion gloves. My reply is to say that for my own use, I do strongly prefer to have palm sliders of some sort. I have worn and will wear gloves without, but I really do want them there. I live in southern AZ, so I understand your concern with getting too hot or sweating too much.

 

[mtnbiker1185]

Sorry, I haven't worn Scorpion gloves. My reply is to say that for my own use, I do strongly prefer to have palm sliders of some sort. I have worn and will wear gloves without, but I really do want them there. I live in southern AZ, so I understand your concern with getting too hot or sweating too much.

Thanks for the feedback. What gloves do you use?

I'm not married to the scorpion gloves. I settled on those just from a preliminary search on revzilla.

 

[melensdad]

No clue on the Scorpion gloves.

All the moto gloves I buy have palm sliders. Skin grafts to the palm are apparently very painful, I prefer not to find out. There are a lot of good moto gloves out there with palm sliders, knuckle protection, and many are now incorporating squeegees to a thumb or index finger to wipe your visor clear too.

In the summer my wife rides with KLIM mesh moto gloves but I don't recall the specific model.
I ride with Dianese Air Master in the summer.

I will say that i have multiple pairs of gloves and switch them with weather.

 

[New Commuter700]

In the Before I was riding 4 to 500 miles a week back and forth to work. Summer gloves are a necessity here in AZ and I wear them at least 8 months of the year. My biggest complaint was colors, most of them only come in black. I want people to see my hand (and finger) signals. I have now had 3 pairs of summer gloves because they don't last forever. The first was about $30 on Amazon (red gloves). The second were less money and had more protection but my finger would cramp up so I went back to the first one. However since I got the throttle assist the 2nd pair feels better and so far is wearing better (Blue gloves).

I don't know how more expensive gloves like those you listed will fair, durability wise, but I see no reason to spend more than $30 on a pair of summer gloves, both pair are pretty light and allow the wind to pass without the hot air burning my knuckles. If I have to buy a new pair every year or two then $15 is better than spending $80. But again, I don't know, I haven't tried the more expensive ones. They may last 100,000 miles instead of 20.

 

[fleetingyouth]

I've had a pair of the Rev'it Striker gloves for many years and they look brand new still. I wear them for probably 6 months of the year. Now I don't spend as much in 100-degree weather but when I have they worked great and kept my hands cool. They are upper mesh with knuckle and finger protection and goat leather palm. They breathe incredibly well. I think they are up to Striker 3's which are a little different than the original striker's I have but I will be picking up a pair soon for backup because I like them so much. The only downside is they don't have a palm slider instead they have a thick pad instead. I'd prefer the slider but the pad is better than nothing.
If full protection is what you really want Rev'it also has a hot weather glove called the Cayenne Pro which is more expensive but is full perforated goatskin and has a slider. I have not used them so can't say how good they are in high heat, but all my Rev'it gloves have held up really well for years and I feel protected if I ever were to fall in them.

 

[mzflorida]

So I know I am kind of early with this, but wanted to start looking now and get some peoples opinions on summer gloves. More specifically the Scorpion Vortex Air and Scorpion SGS MK II. I live in southeast VA so summer time riding can get upwards of 100F. I like the protection of the SGS MK II but am concerned it will be too hot. Meanwhile, the Vortex Air gloves look like they have good ventilation but don't have the palm sliders. Up to this point I have been using Mechanics gloves but they are beginning to show wear from the wind. My question is, does anyone have any experience with either of the Scorpion gloves in hot weather? Are palm sliders something to be super concerned with or no? My winter gloves have them, but it seems that doing a quick Google search finds a number of various opinions but most of which are geared towards track riders and not commuters.

I have a pair of scorpion mesh. They flow a lot of air and also transfer quite a bit of dye. They have never been uncomfortable. Some protection is better than none, but I cannot speak to their performance. There are some reviews where riders report they saved their palms. Not sure if that is helpful.

 

[mtnbiker1185]

I've had a pair of the Rev'it Striker gloves for many years and they look brand new still. I wear them for probably 6 months of the year. Now I don't spend as much in 100-degree weather but when I have they worked great and kept my hands cool. They are upper mesh with knuckle and finger protection and goat leather palm. They breathe incredibly well. I think they are up to Striker 3's which are a little different than the original striker's I have but I will be picking up a pair soon for backup because I like them so much. The only downside is they don't have a palm slider instead they have a thick pad instead. I'd prefer the slider but the pad is better than nothing.
If full protection is what you really want Rev'it also has a hot weather glove called the Cayenne Pro which is more expensive but is full perforated goatskin and has a slider. I have not used them so can't say how good they are in high heat, but all my Rev'it gloves have held up really well for years and I feel protected if I ever were to fall in them.

So my real dilemma is that I don't really know what I want or really even need. Like most commuters, I am trying to strike a balance between protection and comfort. From looking online there are a lot of people who swear by hard palm sliders. Those individuals seem to either do track days (which makes sense) or have gone down with gloves that had hard palm sliders and will always have them after seeing the aftermath of the sliders. While that is fine, it doesn't really lend to knowing whether they would have faired just as well with reinforced leather pads or not. There are always rumors of people who didn't have hard palm sliders jacking up their hands in a crash, but they always seem to leave out what gloves, if any, the rider did have on.

 

[fleetingyouth]

It looks like you are a mtn biker? Have you taken a lot of falls? Have you trained and learned the proper ways to fall?

Wrist injuries are really common in a lot of sports that involve falling. I've been snowboarding since the 90's and learned early how not to use my hands in a fall so as to protect myself from wrist injuries. Does that mean I won't put my wrist out and break it of course not and I don't think it means I won't do that if I ever take a fall on a bike. But I do think knowledge and experience in falling do play a part in protecting yourself just like wearing protective gear.

Sometimes we have to make decisions on what gear we ride with and how much protection vs comfort/utility that gear has. This will always be different for each rider based on knowledge and experience. I think I'm much more likely to whack my knuckles in a crash or take a hit from a rock than put my hands out in a fall so I based my gear selection on that.

If you have never taken a fall have or no experience in falling hard with momentum then I think you are at a higher risk to use your hands to brace the fall and would benefit more from sliders.

There is no disadvantage to having sliders that I am aware of and I have them on my winter gloves but not on my summer or rain gloves. If I did track days I would probably use gloves with sliders. If I had an all-round pair of gauntlets for touring id be inclined for a pair with sliders. But I commute daily in the city and the striker gloves were a good price, fit me perfectly with lots of protection but also flexible and cool in the summer. I couldn't find a pair at the time that matched all that with a slider so I chose them.

That's just my opinion and plenty of people ride with cheap gloves with no protection or $300 gloves with all the protection.

 

[mtnbiker1185]

It looks like you are a mtn biker? Have you taken a lot of falls? Have you trained and learned the proper ways to fall?

Wrist injuries are really common in a lot of sports that involve falling. I've been snowboarding since the 90's and learned early how not to use my hands in a fall so as to protect myself from wrist injuries. Does that mean I won't put my wrist out and break it of course not and I don't think it means I won't do that if I ever take a fall on a bike. But I do think knowledge and experience in falling do play a part in protecting yourself just like wearing protective gear.

Sometimes we have to make decisions on what gear we ride with and how much protection vs comfort/utility that gear has. This will always be different for each rider based on knowledge and experience. I think I'm much more likely to whack my knuckles in a crash or take a hit from a rock than put my hands out in a fall so I based my gear selection on that.

If you have never taken a fall have or no experience in falling hard with momentum then I think you are at a higher risk to use your hands to brace the fall and would benefit more from sliders.

There is no disadvantage to having sliders that I am aware of and I have them on my winter gloves but not on my summer or rain gloves. If I did track days I would probably use gloves with sliders. If I had an all-round pair of gauntlets for touring id be inclined for a pair with sliders. But I commute daily in the city and the striker gloves were a good price, fit me perfectly with lots of protection but also flexible and cool in the summer. I couldn't find a pair at the time that matched all that with a slider so I chose them.

That's just my opinion and plenty of people ride with cheap gloves with no protection or $300 gloves with all the protection.

I was actually thinking about that on my way in to work today. Not only did I use to mountain bike, but I grew up riding and racing dirt bikes. You learn pretty quick how to hit the ground in such a way to minimize damage.

Thanks for all the info everyone!

 

[dduelin]

My 'summer' gloves are Cortech HDX 3's. I've had two versions in maybe 6 years. I'll wear them in 65F and up so they get a lot of use, probably 12 to 15,000 miles a year. For me they strike a balance between protection and comfort and the ability to use an iPhone touchscreen with the forefinger is a plus. The leather dye will color my hands the first couple of times they get wet but after that they handle getting wet and drying out really well.

 

[potter0o]

These are my gloves Five I have had them for five season. I had an earlier pair that had an issue in the first year which they covered under warranty. Pretty happy with them. They don't seem to be popular in the US but are stocked at my local dealer in Canada. I am a commuter so I am usually looking for bang for the buck. I don't regret the gloves. A longer gauntlet would be nice for protection but it might make it brutally hot...so many choices. Good luck with your search.

 

[melensdad]

... have gone down with gloves that had hard palm sliders and will always have them after seeing the aftermath of the sliders. While that is fine, it doesn't really lend to knowing whether they would have faired just as well with reinforced leather pads or not. There are always rumors of people who didn't have hard palm sliders jacking up their hands in a crash, but they always seem to leave out what gloves, if any, the rider did have on.

It is my understanding -- and I hope to never find out the hard way -- that leather tends to grip asphalt during a fall rather than slide across the asphalt and that can lead to other types of hand injuries. Over the last few years I've noticed that sliders are also added to the little finger side of some of the better designed gloves in addition to a palm slider.

FWIW I'm willing to spend an extra bit of $ for protection and functionality

 

[MZ5]

Thanks for the feedback. What gloves do you use?

The gloves I suppose I wear most are a pair of Spidi TX-1 that I found at an amazingly low price. I’d call them a summer glove.

I also have 2 pair of Velocity Gear gloves. That company stopped production a couple or few years ago now. They passed all the safety tests of the old (2012, as I recall) CE Level 2 glove standard. They’re outstanding hand protection. That protection comes at a cost of reduced dexterity, as they have a full Kevlar liner inside. Worth the protection to me, but some didn’t like them. They do make it hard to get something out of a pocket, etc.

 

[mzflorida]

Didn't the EU have a motorcycle gear rating/testing/certification/classification program? I did a quick search and it's returning nothing. If they do that might help inform your decision making process if the EU products are equal to the US products.

 

[MZ5]

Yes, Europe (still) uses CE certification for all motorcycle gear. The standards have changed over the years, and generally not (or never, that I happen to know of) in a way that improves rider protection.

The Spidi gloves I have are CE certified to the new but not-much-good glove standard.

 

[melensdad]

I find this guy amusing. At the 4 minute mark he compares a 2 year old glove to a new glove of the same maker/model. Interesting.

 

[Therapy]

Yea, but do they work when tex....errr, using the phone map?

 

[melensdad]

Yea, but do they work when tex....errr, using the phone map?

My summer gloves do, sort of.

 

[Rabbit]

If you’re still looking check out the Knox Orza mark 2. They definitely have ventilation and palm sliders as Knox patented theirs. They are 150$ at Revzilla but look to be worth the money.