Gloves – how important are they? My answer is: always extremely important. I would never go riding without my gloves on. You wouldn’t go riding without your helmet, well gloves are just as important whether you are riding for hours or just popping to the local shops.
Your hands are one of the most important parts of successful and safe riding, so need to be protected. We all know that when we trip over, our instinct is to put our hands out to protect yourself, well the same instinct kicks in when you fall off your bike, your hands immediately go out to protect yourself.
Also, after riding for a while your hands can become numb and start tingling - gloves will help prevent this and keep your hands warm to enable you to continue to ride your bike safely. They also help absorb the vibrations that come through the handlebars when riding.
Gloves also offer you grip. Even in the heat of the summer your hands will become sweaty from the heat thus lessening the grip you have on your bars. Good gloves can prevent or at least absorb any sweat thus preventing this.
Motorcycle gloves should provide you with the comfort you need when riding. They will prevent abrasions from moving elements such as dust, soil or small rocks or even from a rock thrown by a car ahead of you can which can hurt the hand when riding.
Ideally, a motorcycle glove should fit snugly without feeling restrictive or tight in the knuckles, or cutting off circulation. Your fingers should not be touching the ends of the glove; neither should glove fingers be too long. There should not be any additional material bunching up in the palm area.
So now we know why we should wear gloves, let’s have a look at some that are available.
Just like jackets and trousers that are available for women, there are also now good choice for us ladies in gloves, certainly much more than there used to be and we also can choose from textile or leather.
The Richa Ladies' Elegance Textile Waterproof Gloves are a comfortable waterproof and breathable glove with a stylish design on the back of the hand. A Hipora® membrane is used together with a softshell fabric construction which makes them comfortable to wear. They have a velcro wrist strap and are reinforced on the palm with padded inserts. Another very useful aspect to these gloves is the visor wipe on the left index finger – perfect when caught out in the rain.
RST Ladies' Paragon CE Leather Waterproof Gloves come from a best-selling glove made by RST but now offered in ladies sizes. They are a leather Maxtex® construction with a double layer of leather on the palm for extra protection. Stretch comfort panels and a waterproof and breathable Hipora® lining make these a very comfortable glove. They also have carbon knuckle protectors which is useful when unexpectedly coming into contact with the ground!
With their very useful pull tab these Spidi Ladies' Flash CE Leather Gloves are easy to pull on and are made from a soft suede microfiber with a comfortable Neoprene short cuff. They have side of hand, palm and back of hand padding and elasticized fabric making them really comfortable to wear. The reflective zones for night-riding are also a very good idea.
Now these Dainese Ladies' Carbon D1 Long Leather Gloves also come as a short leather glove giving you extra choice to find the glove that suits you best. These lightweight, armoured, leather sports gloves are built with similar levels of protection as some of Dainese's top spec race gloves and are affordable. They are reinforced in goatskin between the thumb, index finger and palm with an Amica® suede on the palm. The pre-curved fingers, adjustable cuff strap and tightening strap will ensure you get the perfect fit for your hand. The only choice you need to make is whether you go for the long or short version ……
The Spidi Ladies' Charm Leather Glove are a soft and light leather glove with stretch inserts making them ideal for urban and short touring use. They are designed with ladies in mind and are reinforced with Keramide® over the palm area, double leather layers over side small finger area offering you a high resistance to abrasion. With the wide Powertech shield all over knuckles too, these stylish gloves offer you comfort, style and protection.
Specifically designed for women, these Alpinestars Ladies' Stella SP-1 V2 Leather Gloves have increased stretch zones, aramid fibre reinforcements and an ergonomically profiled knuckle protector. These sport racing fit gloves offer a high level of comfort and superior protection and have synthetic suede side reinforcements on landing zones for abrasion resistance and durability. They have an increased accordion leather stretch inserts on fingers, thumb and backhand to improve the fit with advanced polymer hard knuckle protection offering you protection without impeding hand flex or movement. The double wrist closure system, with hook and loop grip closures to ensure a close fit and secure closures will you give you both style and protection when riding.
So ladies, all you need to do now is make your choice. Don’t forget to try on a few different styles and makes to find the gloves that suit you and give you the comfort, style and protection you deserve when riding.
Happy riding ladies :-)
Biker Kaz
