I think gloves are probably the third piece of protective gear typically purchased by a motorcyclist. First the helmet, then the jacket, then gloves. Boots are probably fourth, with most bikers never getting specialized pants. I wear all of these things (and sometimes more) every time I ride. I use a keyboard and mouse to make a living, so I am even more paranoid about my hands than most.

Leather is typically the best protective material for abrasion depending on the quality, thickness, and type of leather (cow vs kangaroo vs goat, etc). Leather forms to your body’s peculiarities over time, which made my otherwise questionably-made Held Ninja gloves a fantastic glove to wear.

Unfortunately, leather’s protective qualities fade over time due to exposure to the elements. I am not sure how violent the quality degradation is, Cycleport founder Wayne seems to think it can be up to 20%, especially if the leather has been exposed to rain.

I purchased a pair of Cycleport (also known as Motoport) kevlar full gauntlet kevlar racing gloves. The gloves were $129 before shipping, which pits it against the upper tier of racing gloves from other manufacturers. Here’s my review.

Blah blah blah, skip to the summary.

The first thing I thought when I took the gloves out of the box was, “why the fuck did they send me an extra large,” but we’ll talk about Cycleport’s measurement marketing strategy later. The second thing I thought about was how well-made the gloves were. I think Motoport is a company basically run by one man and a few dedicated helpers. They are FAR better made than the Held Ninja gloves, which had offset, asymmetrical stitching on the outside of the glove, and irregular stitching in the inside finger boxes. My middle finger on my right hand sometimes pushes up on the inner seam of the Held glove, and it’s uncomfortable. The Cycleport gloves fit just like a typical winter glove when I pulled them on. Immediately comfortable.

The Motoport / Cycleport kevlar gloves do not have the typical protective features I’ve come to expect from a motorcycling glove. Here’s what you get:

• There is a knuckle protector up top. The knuckle protector has little holes in the front for venting, but similar to most other manufacturers this is for more show than performance. There is additional armor along the tops of each finger.
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  The palms of the gloves are covered some extra protective material in the high-contact areas (palm, fingertips). Leather gloves typically have extra padding and leather here.

• They have a wrist strap and forearm strap with a hook-and-loop (velcro) closure. The wrist strap to be too narrow for my tastes.
• The gloves went probably an inch and a half past my wrist, part of an increasing phenomenon Web Bike World has identified as the “missing gauntlet.” In contrast to some other gloves I own, the Cycleport glove does not have the longest gauntlet, but it’s not the shortest, either. For $130, I’d want this to be the last glove I ever bought. It needs a longer gauntlet.
• I felt that the gloves were under-armored and reinforced. I think Motoport is depending on the abrasion resistance of the kevlar to protect the rider, whereas other gloves use a combination of the material plus armor and padding. I was aghast that the gloves did not have more protection around the wrist, the thumbs, and the blade of the hand. The product picture on the Cycleport Web site is too small to properly discern what levels of protection were in this area, but had the product pictures been of better quality I would have rejected the gloves immediately.

  

I had to send the extra large gloves back because they were too big. The fingers were long by about three-quarters of an inch across the board and I couldn’t get the wrist strap tight enough to be safe. My replacement pair arrived in about a week, and unfortunately they just didn’t work out once I wore them in a riding environment.

After about twenty minutes the gloves started to pinch across the top of my hand and cut off circulation to my ring and pinky fingers on both hands. I could relieve this by taking my hand off of the grip and extending my fingers. I have a forty-five minute ride to work each way, and by the time I arrived at my destination I couldn’t wait to take the gloves off. EVERY pair of gloves I’ve owned started out tight in some areas, but after two hundred miles of use I called Wayne at Cycleport.

While the gloves are made of Motoport’s “stretch” blend of kevlar, Dynatec, and Lycra, Wayne said they would never really conform to the shape of my hand. If I was having such pain points with the large, I’d need to go XL … which were too long. I wound up sending them back for a refund.

The Cycleport gloves aren’t pre-curved like most motorcycle gloves. Other gloves are slightly curved like the position your hands are in when you are gripping the handlebars. Hold a true motorcycling glove up, and the fingers will bend forward slightly. The Motoport gloves are cut more like ski/winter gloves: the fingers lay flat. I think this has a lot to do with why they were uncomfortable in my case.

I’d also like to take a moment to beef with Motoport’s marketing strategy of not allowing you to order by traditional letter sizes. You have to go through an elaborate system of measuring yourself before you place an order. In the case of the gloves, I had to trace each of my hands and then email the scans to Motoport. To me, this means I am getting a custom pair of gloves based on the peculiarities of my hands. This made me feel comfortable spending more money than with another manufacturer who had “off-the-shelf” sizing. I was very disappointed to receive my gloves in size extra large. I would have NEVER ordered an XL glove, having owned four other pairs of gloves from three different manufacturers in size medium or large. The Held gloves are number sized, which is great for people like me who could fit in one or two size ranges.

Come on, Cycleport. If you are going to make me take measurements and trace my hands, at least provide me with custom-fit gear. If you are going to send me letter-sized gloves and use letter-sized jacket and pants as a starting point for your products, just ask me what fucking size I wear. The measuring games are a farce, and insinuate that your products are custom when they are not.

I was disappointed with the Motoport / Cycleport kevlar motorcycle gloves. Since my hands are a size 9 (and thus borderline between medium and large) the lack of pre-curved fingers contributed to the fit issue. I would expect more protection for $130, especially when compared to less expensive leather gloves that offer wrist, thumb, and pinky protection.

I do not recommend the Motoport gloves.