
Originally Posted by
XR250 Si
I'm not sure if I saw any Quasi gloves.
Quasi is one of the KBers, located here in Hamilscum. The link in my previous post points to the entry for the gloves on his web site - $89 for the Cordura Extreme. He does mail order.
Lias has some and reckons they withstood the rain extremely well when he rode from here to New Plymouth. His hands were damp but he thinks that was not from the gloves leaking but from putting wet hands back in his gloves after stopping and taking them off a few times.
Personally I'd love the Icon "TiMax" - Titanium knuckle protectors and skid plates on the cuff, rivets on the main impact point of the palm, seriously designed to protect your hands in a crash but seriously expensive, too.
My Darbis are crap - some gloves are made with a built-in curve to the fingers so that when you wrap your fingers around the throttle the underside does not bunch up too much. My Darbis were not made in such a fashion and it feels like I'm trying to grip the throttle while holding a teatowel. The lining bunches so badly that trying to put them on with even slightly damp hands is a mission and they soak through in a matter of minutes in a decent rain. To cap it all off, they do not have wrist fasteners, just zips to size-down the cuffs and even when zipped tight I can put on and remove the gloves with ease (given dry hands) so if I have an accident I'd better pray my hands are wet or I'm likely to find out what it feels like to have my gloves ripped off my hands at speed.
When choosing gloves, ensure that they are not merely comfortable but that you cannot remove them when they are fastened - if you can take them off, you can bet the road can.
Thanks for your assessment of the relative differences between the Gaerne Explorers and the Sidi Canyons. What are the prices like and where did you find them? I can't find either here in Hamilscum.
I find I spend a lot of time walking around in my riding boots when I come into town on the bike and my Sidis are indeed excellent for that - comfortable, flexible but with good protection. I could imagine that the Canyons would be made with comfort in mind. I didn't try the Dririders on, but they look very similar to my Sidis except they have hard impact pads on both the inside and outside of the ankles (my Sidis only have them on the outside - bugger all protection for your ankle if the bike lands on you.) MX boots look too rigid - serious armour but screw walking around town buying things while wearing them.
My ideal jacket would be 3/4 length, waterproof shell, hard armour at shoulders, elbows forearms and spine, and have a removable thermal layer. The Spool and Mobig jackets at "Road and Sport" fit that description and are only $200. The Spool leggings likewise come with the armour at the knees, removable liner and waterproof shell. They're only $200 as well.
Motorbike Camping for the win!
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