Gloves for Tracks

I recently crashed at a Track event. All of the gear held except for the Gloves. I was wearing JR GPX. The padded protection around the little finger came off and the skin was exposed to the track. I got a small scratch but more importantly am concerned that a $100 glove did not hold. So what should be the min. budget for tracks gloves or is it that the gloves like JR GPX are good enough but this was a freak accident.

Call JR and complain. I bet they make it right w/ you. Just be cool about it.

I called them. They asked me to send the gloves to their warranty dept. They will have a look at it and figure out if the glove has any defects. Basically, no gaurantees that the glove will hold even in a low-side.

You can try Held, Alpine star, Nankai. These are top of the line for gloves.

Held! The Galaxy in particular. The Akira is also good, and a bit more reasonably priced. A lot of folks also have had good experiences with Technik and Alpinestars.

[nhfirefighter13]

Try some Alpinestars GP Pro gloves. Very comfy and seemingly well made.
I had a pair of these at Jennings. Don't know if you took a look at them or not but I like mine.

I have gone down twice in my Teknic Violator Pro's ($69 from newenough.com, regularly $129) and am still using them. I will add, however, that the first time I went down was a long tumble in the grass and the 2nd time was a high side where I didn't do much sliding (more of a big thud followed by a little bit of rolling and then me taking a nap on the pavement). They have held up very well so far but I can't really say how they would do in an actual slide since I haven't experienced that kind of crash yet. Hopefully I won't find out either until next year or later.

gautamde : I recently crashed at a Track event. All of the gear held except for the Gloves. I was wearing JR GPX. The padded protection around the little finger came off and the skin was exposed to the track. I got a small scratch but more importantly am concerned that a $100 glove did not hold. So what should be the min. budget for tracks gloves or is it that the gloves like JR GPX are good enough but this was a freak accident.

Ya know...you should have said something to us about your gloves being torn...I had a 2nd pair of gloves with me that may have fit you.

I wear Held Galaxy gloves...they've been crash tested and performed flawlessly. I'm on my 2nd pair. I won't wear any others as they fit me the best too.

There are other good recommendations given too. The Technics gloves are nicely made and inexpensive for the quality. You learned a lesson about gloves from your crash...not all gloves will withstand even a small crash.

[G-Force Junkie]

I crash tested my JR Speedway (I think) twice and they held up pretty well, but never did a a sliding hand plant with them. I retired them after wearing a hole in the palm from normal use (about a year). Now I have a pair of the Technic Vilalator pros, and while I was iffy about them, seeing more than one Technic suits blow the seams apart on mild 30mph crashes, they seem to be holding up real well and I actualy think they offer more protection than my old gloves. Thicker, doubled up material, beefier padding, etc. How old were your gloves? After finding the wer hole in my old gloves, I realised they are probally not crash worthy well before I actualy realise it so From now on I'll try and make it a habit to buy new gloves on a regular schedule even if there is life left in the old ones. The price of gloves, versuse injuring my hands and skin grafts is less.

mike

G-Force Junkie : I crash tested my JR Speedway (I think) twice and they held up pretty well, but never did a a sliding hand plant with them. *I retired them after wearing a hole in the palm from normal use (about a year). *

Yikes! I finally retired a pair of Held gloves that I had for street use simply because they were over 5 years old and I was afraid the leather may be getting dried out. But, there were no holes in them anywhere and they *looked* fine, no worn stitching or anything. I have NEVER had a pair of Helds wear thru the palm in normal usage in five years, let alone one. Needless to say, they are all I will buy. I think you made the right decision: A pair of gloves that wears through the palm in one year of normal use probably won't hold up very well in a sliding crash, IMHO.

nhfirefighter13 : Try some Alpinestars GP Pro gloves. Very comfy and seemingly well made.

I'll throw in for the Alpinestars GP Pro, as well.

I've crash-tested them twice, once with a sliding palm plant and they're still good to go. *Some _minor_ abrasion on the left palm, but didn't even really thin out the material. *This was a low-side get-off on the street at about 60mph.

They were a little stiff at first, and do take a little while to break-in, but are now very comfortable.

At the time I bought my gloves, I had all the gear to buy and hence my budget was limited. But now I see the importance of top quality gear. As suggetsed, I will try the following:
1. Held Galaxy
2. Alpinestars GP Pro
3. Teknic Violator
4. JR Speedway
....and see which one fits me the best.

HondaGal : Quote (gautamde @ June 30 2003, 2:28pm)I recently crashed at a Track event. All of the gear held except for the Gloves. I was wearing JR GPX. The padded protection around the little finger came off and the skin was exposed to the track.

Ya know...you should have said something to us about your gloves being torn...I had a 2nd pair of gloves with me that may have fit you. *
I probably should have...thanks for the offer...ur a great help as always. Between using ur trailer for shade, help getting *bike of the trailer, using ur water, Honda Spray and other tools, I already am deep in debt of you and Hondagaltoo

On the other hand I thought using as torn glove will scare me into slowing down and riding defensively *

It must've worked, too! After you stopped paying attention to your speed and instead worked on being smooth like I was explaining, your turns looked 100% better and you weren't really any slower. Much improved by the afternoon of the first day and the second day! Great job!!

[gliberios]

For $129.99 the AGV Sport gloves are AWESOME!!! I had JR Speedmasters for less then 6 months and they fell apart not once but twice from normal use. I called JR and they said this is normal?!?! I think this says something about this company. IMO

another vote for the Alpinestar GP PLUS, good stuff they are.

[abtech]

The RS Taichi's are about as good as you will find (that's if you can find them). Other than that, I loved my Cycle Racers (posted pics before, but no longer available anywhere). The Cycle Racers held up very well in a palms down 120 mph getoff. The gloves gave up their life, but saved my hands . . .

Glad to hear of the rs-taichi quality,I have the gp max on the way for my lady,trying to get her into the sport and want to make sure she is properly equipped first.

I destroyed one set of the $195 RS Taichi GP Evo gloves in a 60 mph lowside. They fell apart at the palms. Another set survived an 80 mph crash.

[ND4SPD]

I got the Teknic Violator's just like lfg. Never crashed in them, but they seem to be holding up just fine from normal wear, where my other 3-4 pair of gloves that I've owned haven't