Gloves to replace Helimot Leather Racers?
- Thread starter FoolishMortal
- Start date
dtrides
Well-known member
I plan to buy some Held but I purchased some RST in the short term ( had to get ready for the race season on a tight budget)...then the covid set in and shut things down.
DT
FoolishMortal
Gary J: Ride in Peace
I have tried two sets of Held gloves. Unfortunately, I didn’t care for either set; one felt like silly gimmickry and the other felt like a set of Mechanix gardening gloves.
I’m hoping for better with one of the other four pairs I ordered.
FoolishMortal
Gary J: Ride in Peace
My list, now with notes:
- Held Steve - Far too light in terms of leather, padding and armor. Not sure what would make these worth $170.
- Held Chikara - Gimmicky armor with open venting. I could see getting a bee stuck in one (or more). Did not inspire confidence.
- Lee Parks Sumo R - not ordered
- Alpinestars GP Plus R V2 - not ordered
- Spidi Carbo 7 - Removed in favor of the Carbo 1, which have not yet been received
- Racer High Racer - not received yet
- Rev'It Stellar - not received yet
- RS Taichi GP-WRX NXT052 - Received in Large, which has fingers that are too short. Nice gloves, though, so if the others don't work, I may try the XL.
FoolishMortal
Gary J: Ride in Peace
I got my shipments of gloves and a winner has emerged from the pack. I will write up my notes soon. 
FoolishMortal
Gary J: Ride in Peace
The final (for now) verdict:
- Held Steve - Far too light in terms of leather, padding and armor. Not sure what would make these worth $170.
- Held Chikara - Gimmicky armor with open venting. I could see getting a bee stuck in one (or more) of the knuckle vents. Did not inspire confidence.
- Lee Parks Sumo R - not ordered
- Alpinestars GP Plus R V2 - not ordered
- Spidi Carbo 7 - Removed in favor of the Carbo 1. These win! They have the best fit for my long/thin fingers with ample padding and protection on the palm. The knuckle armor floats, which seems to be a key factor. Armor on the fingers is foam, which is fine, and there's some protection for the thumb ball joint. They even flow a little air, which is nice when you're riding in 90+ temps. I would like for the gauntlet to be a little longer and for the pinkie/ring fingers to be joined, but I'll get over these niggles.
- Racer High Racer - Really nice gloves with the best armor of the bunch (but read further). The middle fingers are too short for me. It may be that I could get another pair in the same size (Large) and, due to tolerances, find that the fingers all work for me, but I needed to make a decision so I could ride to Reno and back over the weekend. Oh, and I really didn't like that there is exposed thread along the pinkie side of the glove - all that armor and exposed stitching, really? Maybe there's another layer under that, but I can understand the reviews that said the side of the glove blew out and exposed the side of the hand.
- Rev'It Stellar - Really nice gloves. The fit is snug, the fingers are long enough and they look the business. Unfortunately, the knuckle armor is not on a "floating" panel, and so I felt a fair bit of pressure across the knuckles when my hands were around the grips. Maybe that would have loosened up as the gloves broke in...but we'll never know.
- RS Taichi GP-WRX NXT052 - Received in Large, which has fingers that are too short. It's too bad, because these are obviously well made and would have given great protection.
Last edited:
Gary856
Are we having fun yet?
These are my current gloves, my third pair of Helimot Buffalo Pro. I used to have Helimot repair worn out fingers (they always wore thru like these), but since he's no longer here I had to do it myself this time. It would be cool if these could go another 6 months; maybe a year, even. I have a new pair waiting in the closet but these still work fine.
