Best Motorcycle Racing Gloves

Technically speaking, the Supertech glove is at the top of the food chain when it comes to Alpinestars racing gloves (at least of this writing). However, in our experience, the Supertech glove has an extremely tight wrist closure, making it next to impossible to squeeze our hands into. Moving up a size helps solve that problem, but then the finger lengths become too long. A glove (or any piece of safety equipment, really) can have all the features in the world, but if it’s uncomfortable then you’re not going to wear it, which obviously defeats the purpose.

Move down the Alpinestars hierarchy to the GP Pro R3 and you have a fully-featured glove that’s much easier to put on. It uses a combination of cow, goat, and kangaroo leather for optimum abrasion protection, feedback, and comfort. The seams are stitched on the outside, to avoid the possibility of your fingers getting chaffed. The long cuff with hard armor protects your wrist in a fall, and the knuckle armor has tiny vent holes built-in for airflow – a piece inspired by the gloves worn in MotoGP. Accordion panels across the fingers and backhand allow the glove to move with the hand in its natural motion. Alpinestars signature finger bridge between the third and fourth fingers help reduce the chance of the little finger rolling underneath the hand in a fall.

Some of the top racers in MotoAmerica competition wear the Cortech Adrenaline 3.0RR glove, and for good reason – it provides a great amount of protection for a reasonable price. Constructed from 0.8-0.9mm cowhide, the Adrenaline can withstand road rash. Goatskin is used in the palms for great feel at the controls. As the scaphoid is commonly injured in motorcycle falls (and often takes a long time to heal), the Adrenaline uses Knox SPS sliders to help reduce the chance of injury. Along the fingers, thumb, and ulna you’ll find Superfabric for an added layer of abrasion resistance. Other features include molded TPU knuckle and wrist protectors, Kevlar lining and stitching, pre-curved palm and fingers, 360º wrist closure strap, and accordion finger flex panels.

One look at the Handroid glove by Knox and you’ll understand why it’s called that. Clearly, the most noteworthy thing about the Handroid is its flexible exoskeleton across the knuckle, thumb, and fingers. The Metapod over the knuckles is lined with gel for extra comfort. The palm features a patented dual compound scaphoid protection system Knox says “eliminates the grab effect that occurs when a leather palm makes contact with the road, reducing the risk of hyper extension which can be the cause of a broken scaphoid.” More sliders are placed throughout the glove’s extremities, further promoting sliding, versus grabbing, in a fall. Moving to the wrist closure, the Handroid employs Knox Boa lacing system, where the glove’s gauntlet acts as a wrist brace and a central dial tightens the closure with equal pressure from all sides. To release, simply pull up on the dial. A kangaroo leather palm, Japanese Aniline leather exterior, Amara grip pad with silicon print, and Japanese polyester high-tenacity thread round out the Handroid’s features.

If the Dainese gloves are good enough for Valentino Rossi, then they must be good enough for you, right? Here we have the Full Metal 6 glove, which uses considerable amounts of goatskin for suppleness. Stitching is done with Aramid fibers for strength, and the glove is reinforced internally with an Aramid fiber jersey. There are carbon fiber inserts at the joints of the fingers, as well as titanium on the knuckles for further impact protection. Dainese’s DCP system on the pinky finger helps reduce the odds of the little finger sliding under the hand in a slide. And speaking of slide, a polyurethane insert on the palm helps promote the hand to slide in a fall, rather than pure leather which will catch on the pavement, potentially causing the hand to roll.

A distinguishing quality of Racer gloves is the instant familiarity when trying them on for the first time. They fit like, well… a glove. Racer is proud of the fact its gloves require virtually no break-in time, and this is achieved through outstanding fit made possible by a kangaroo palm with cowhide chassis that’s very supple and pliable. There are two dual-density Knox SPS palm sliders, with TPU hard protectors on the fingers, knuckles and wrist. The knuckle protection is covered with Superfabric for further reinforcement. Double wrist closures provide a secure fit. Racer gloves might not be as well known as some of the other gloves on this list, but they are widely loved by those who’ve tried them, including us.

The latest in Spidi’s long heritage of racing gloves, the Carbo Track EVO gloves use vented 0.8mm – 0.9mm cow leather to help keep your hands from getting sweaty. Superfabric is then placed in all the usual impact areas to protect your hand from abrasion and road rash. High tenacity Tenax 6.6 keramide is triple twisted into the nylon stretch zones to provide extreme levels of abrasion resistance even in the areas that aren’t covered in leather. As an example of Spidi’s attention to detail, heat-resistant microfiber panels are placed on the palm. If you’re not sure why that’s important, then consider yourself lucky you’ve never slid along the asphalt for very long (it gets pretty hot). Hook and loop closures around the wrist keep the glove secured to your hand, and accordion stretch panels ensure maximum range of motion.