New gloves

I always struggle to find decent gloves for motorcycling; to complicate matters I don't wear leather so that rules out a large sector of the market. Last month Trail Bike Magazine ran an advert for Klim gloves that sounded pretty good. They claimed good protection, some warmth and waterproof for £51.

The UK distibutor for this US brand is Adventure-spec which seems to be a smallish eRetailer outfit based in Leeds. On the online shop the cost was £60 including VAT which is getting a bit pricey, but not too out of line of the competition. The gloves arrived within 5 days, but not to the dispatch address that I'd entered on the website. The gloves appear well made with tidy seams.

I'm never sure whether to order Medium or Large sized gloves; I have long but slim hands and so really need Large so that my fingers aren't caught at the ends, but Medium would give a better fit across the palm. This is a problem with online shops - but I went for large. This isn't ideal as the neoprene cuff isn't all that firm. I suspect the width is rather excessive in relation to the length for anyone. Since I ordered my gloves Adventure-spec have posted a size guide on the website which would put me on a Medium for width.

I've only used the gloves in the dry so far and for that they have been comfortable enough. As the fit was loose I wore some cut resistant gloves as liners for both the extra protection and as insulation (see the Ixion website for a discussion on Kevlar liners). I've had one low speed tumble in stones/mud and that hasn't done any harm to the gloves (or me).

I'm not going to wish for bad weather but some rain will be needed to test their water resistance!