Pro Tip: Keeping Your Gloves From Slipping on Your Hands

I ended up getting this tip from Justin Starling recently and he got it from Zach Osborne. Zach was wanting more grip from his gloves and a way to improve his arm pump (that he sometimes suffers from) so he looked to some sports tape adhesive spray. The idea behind this pro tip is to prevent your motorcycle gloves from sliding around on your palms while you ride. At times, no matter how good the fit of your gloves are, they will slide a little on the palms of your hands when sweaty, which means your gloves will shift a little while on the grips. When you’re riding a dirt bike, you want to be as locked in as you can without feeling tight.

You can go to your local sporting goods store and grab some “Mueller Stickum Grip Enhance Spray” or “Pre-Tape” and get some extra feeling/grip next time you ride. Before you start riding, you will want to spray a decent amount of the spray on your palms as well as the back of your hand then slide on your gloves. Yes, it will be a little harder to put your glove on, but that’s the point. What this spray does is create a layer of grip between the material of your gloves and your skin, which in turn makes your glove feel like a second layer of skin. I was skeptical when I first heard about this, but I quickly found out that the adhesive spray allows for better feel on the grips when late in motos. My hands sweat when I ride and that makes my gloves slide around while riding. I then have to grip harder in order to compensate for the slip I get on the palms of my gloves. With the Stickum spray on my skin, my gloves are planted against my skin and allow me to feel more contact to my grips, which allows me to loosen my grip late in motos. It has saved some arm fatigue and has helped my grip “strength” late in motos. You will have to get some dishsoap or something with some grit to get all of the sticky residue off once you’re done riding, but to me the extra clean up time is worth it.

If you’re having trouble with some arm pump, with glove slippage or maybe just want some extra contact/feeling from your gloves to your grips, try this secret that some professional racers have been doing for quite sometime. If you have any questions about this pro tip email me at kris@keeferinctesting.com

Leatt GPX 1.5 Gloves

To continue with our favorite minimalistic gloves, I enlisted my off-road guy Michael Allen to chime in. Here are his thoughts about one of his favorite’s. -KK

When it comes to gloves there is always a trade off between protection and comfort. Although most companies provide a midrange glove that has decent protection and comfort, they never seem to be as comfortable as a thin minimalist glove. Maybe that’s one of the reasons that I’m a handguard guy, because I don’t want to rely on the protection of a bulky glove. Either way, when I come across a good minimalist glove, I usually wear it until it has holes and is completely worn out. I love a good glove so much that although I agree with Kris (don’t mix match gear) I’ll wear a good glove with any gear regardless of if it matches my current gear. 

Recently I came across one of my all-time favorite gloves when I received a new set of Leatt gear that came with a pair of Leatt GPX 1.5 Gripr gloves. Although these are not Leatt’s top of the line glove they have become my favorite “go to” gloves (especially since they’re black and white, which matches other sets of gear). They consist of a thick elastic cuff that stays in place on your wrist, while not cutting off the circulation. The material on the palm is called MicroGrip and it also wraps around the thumb area where you grip the handlebars. The palm is also seamless which makes the grip comfortable without any hot spots from stitching. The back of the hand, as well as the sides of the fingers are made of a very breathable material that helps keep hand sweat to a minimum. 

Although these gloves are minimalist on the outside, they help protect the palm very well against chaffing and blisters. In terms of going bush bashing, you may want to look into more protective gloves or get a set of handguards. The only issue I’ve had with these gloves is the elastic wrist stitching can come separated from the palm of the glove. This happened when I would pull the glove on carelessly from one area of the elastic repeatedly. To show how much I liked these gloves, I had my wife re-sew them, so I could continue wearing them on a big trail ride I had the following day. If you like really comfortable gloves and aren’t too concerned about outer protection or warmth, look into the Leatt GPX 1.5 Gripr glove line.  -Michael Allen 

100% Brisker Gloves

Once a year I head down to Mexico to race the infamous Tecate Enduro. The event is always the first weekend of December which means temperatures vary between 30-50 degrees Fahrenheit. Before leaving this year, Kris handed me a pair of 100% Brisker gloves and said they may come in handy at this race. They sure did! The Brisker is 100%’s glove targeted at cold weather riding while not being super bulky like a snow glove. On top of the glove is a padded, insulated soft top which creates a slight barrier between the top of your hand and the elements. The palms of the Brisker are a single layer Clarion material and the inside is a “moisture wicking” micro fiber which is very comfortable. The wrists use a hook and loop adjustable strap to keep a tight seal from the elements as well as using Tech Threads which are supposed to let the rider be able to use touch screen devices without having to take the gloves off. 

Sure enough, when the morning of the race came upon us, it was about 40 degrees Fahrenheit and my start time was at 7:43am. I got dressed and went straight for the Brisker’s and headed to the line. I’m an XL when it comes to gloves and when I went to put the gloves on I didn’t think they were going to fit at first.  Once I got my fat hands past the cuff, they went right in, fit really well, and the material inside the glove was very comfortable on this cold Mexico morning. The hook and loop strap stayed in place and never came un-done. The Brisker did an excellent job of blocking the cold weather from the tops of my hands, but I did have handguards on which helped, although I never felt a cold breeze through the gloves. The padded top, while doing a great job of protecting me from the cold, didn’t do such a great job of protecting my delicate fingers from bushes (I know they aren’t armor gloves). There were multiple times that I was slapped by a bush through the padding and it still gave me quite the sting. Once it started to warm up (55 degrees), I noticed that the palms didn’t do the best job of getting rid of sweat. When I would take the gloves on/off between special tests, the inside of the gloves stayed damp from my sweat. I’m sure it wouldn’t have been as bad if temps stayed in the 40’s, but as the temps went up, the perspiration got slightly worse. The Tech Threads are good for pressing on smart phone screens, but when it comes to swiping (either for Tinder on the trail or just to open your phone) the gloves aren’t very effective. Overall, I think these gloves are the best cold weather gloves I’ve ever used to date and I have tried a few recently. A lot of the gloves on the market are too thick and feel very bulky when using the bikes controls. The Brisker however just feels like a normal glove with some added padding to the top of the glove with extra warmth. I’d definitely recommend these gloves for cold trail rides, or even cold mornings at the track. The looks of the Brisker doesn't scream “COLD WEATHER GLOVES” as it looks “cool” enough for moto dudes. If you have any questions about the 100% Brisker gloves or anything else at Keefer Inc. Testing feel free to send me an email at Michael@keeferinctesting.com.  -Michael Allen

100% Cognito Glove Product Review

Now that the weather in So Cal is finally starting to cool down I’m now able to enjoy more trail riding time. When I go trail riding I’m almost always a handguard guy, but there are times when I’m at introductions for new bikes that don’t come with handguards (I.E. the 2019 Honda 450X). Most of the riding gear I get is moto based, which is fine when it comes to the pant/jersey, but most moto gloves don’t stand up very well to bushes and other trail riding  shrubbery/roost. This is where 100% comes in; they have multiple glove lines that you can wear depending on what type of riding you’re doing. The first pair I got to test are named the Cognito and they offer more protection than your typical moto glove. The four-way stretch material on top of the glove is very rugged, doesn’t snag on bushes, and is much more resistant to punctures. The top of the glove (on the knuckles) uses D3O® material for additional impact resistance. Admittedly when I saw the gloves for the first time I thought the knuckles looked slightly bulky (like street bike gloves) and would hinder movement, but I was wrong. The first couple times I wore the Cognito gloves the knuckle area was a little stiff but once I wore them a few times I didn’t even notice a hindrance from the added protection. The D3O® material absorbs impacts while keeping its ability to be flexible and well ventilated. This is not only handy for trail riding; I also found it helpful when getting roosted while riding moto. The wrist strap seals well, but in my opinion is a little too thick and bunches, which is slightly un-comfortable when your wrist is at its maximum range of motion (full throttle). 

When compared to moto gloves the Cognito’s are slightly thicker, but still ventilate well because the sides of the fingers are perforated. The Cognito glove isn't for your cold weather riding conditions. The Cognito glove also uses Tech Thread which is supposed to give you the ability to still use your smart phone with the gloves on. While the Tech Threads work for tapping icons on a smart phone, I found it difficult to swipe my finger on the screen and have the phone recognize it. Over the last month of riding these gloves have held up well and shown minimal signs of wear. There are five colorways available, which is nice because you should be able to find something that will go with your gear set. With a price tag of $39.50 they aren’t the cheapest glove out there, but in my opinion, for the protection and features, the price meets the gloves quality. If you have any questions about the Cognito glove feel free to reach out to me at Michael@Keeferinctesting.com. -Michael Allen