Summer Gloves - £75 versus £160 - A Fair Fight?
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I'm a firm believer that it’s a lot harder to buy cack than you think, so I’m shunning Alpinestars and Dainese gloves this year and looking at two pairs which have landed on the Londonbikers.com review desk. First up are the arc-on Stingers, and following that we have a top line glove from Held, the Ride Recommended Phantoms.
Both of these names you may have heard somewhere before, arc-on (and yes, it isn’t capitalised) we looked at last year when Ian Gillett brought his company to our attention and quickly established himself as a purveyor of proper quality gear at about half the price of the big names. Ian keeps his London based operation a web-only business to minimise the overheads which in turn keeps the sale price down. Held is a very established Germany company (Held translating to ‘Hero’) with over 3000 dealers throughout its homeland, Austria and France but only recently has the brand been introduced in full to the UK. I’m looking at their catalogue, and it’s 385 pages thick! My interest in them was piqued when I saw Jon Kirkham (Superstock BMW rider) dressed in Held leathers (oh what smart leathers they are too) and gloves. There and then I decided Londonbikers.com needed to know more. Both companies supply BSB support racers in fact, last year arc-on supplied Matt Bond on the Mist Suzuki who survived a massive off at Brands thanks largely to his suit holding together very well, this year they supply Chris Martin and Jamie Devine in Supersport and Superstock 600, plus our very own Gabs in Bemsee mini-twins (more of which later). The British scene is much less glamorous than the international paddocks and the riders wear off the shelf products, albeit tailored to fit as well as possible in some cases, but the gear is the same as we can buy. Which makes it real.
The arc-on Stinger
Arc-on’s Stinger is a new glove for 2010, sitting alongside the impressive Corse glove which is still on sale should you prefer a more race orientated product. Both gloves retail at £75 which puts them right in the most popular buying range – the £50-£100 price range. Held’s Phantom on the other hand (ahem) come in at £160 (and there is a model above them in the line-up). This article is as much about the individual gloves as it is about the differences between them. Let’s hope there are some differences given that one pair is more than twice the price of the other.
I’ve discussed prices and quality with Ian from arc-on many times and he always emphasises that because he doesn’t have a shop, staff, huge stock levels, warehouses, offices and of course doesn’t have to give away 100s of products to racers to crash in, he can keep the prices down to affordable levels. Your £75 doesn’t partly subsidise a troop of racers’ clothing allowances. The level he keeps to is affordable quality. He makes no attempt to convince anyone that his products are the best in the world, instead he argues that not everyone can afford top line gear and those people, the majority of us in fact, deserve the very best that our limited budgets can afford.
The Stinger glove is a handsome fellow, and its beauty isn’t just visual. I can quite honestly say this is the most comfortable motorcycle glove I’ve ever tried on. The extremely soft leather requires no awkward bedding in period meaning these can be worn for a day’s riding straight out of the packet, not something every glove can boast. My current summer gloves, a pair of Racers, needed a long time to loosen up and frankly have never been this comfortable. A soft interior lining enhances the comfort factor with no hard seams to catch on your fingernails (unlike my 6yr old Alpinestars GP Pro gloves, and the reason why I moved to Racers).
On the exterior the Stingers bristle with all the lumps and bumps modern sports gloves have to protect the back of the hand should it slap down on the road, the finger joints (except little finger) and knuckles are covered with hard carbon/plastic mix moulds while the wrist gets a larger, more armoured protection plate. There’s even a patch of Stingray skin, more of which later, on the outer edge of the hand.
Movement is catered for with a Kevlar stretch panel on the top of the thumb joint plus corrugated leather sections at the top of each finger, along with the overall softness of the leather adding its own flex to aid movement.
Naturally that same Kevlar is going to let water in at a moment’s notice, but let’s be honest we all expect to get wet hands in a summer shower - a price we pay for summer riding. 
The palms have a kangaroo skin look, but actually it isn’t hide from that animal, it’s full grade-A milled cowhide like the rest of the glove. Criss-crossing the palm are reinforcing bands of Kevlar matting and double layers of leather over the finger joints, since the heel of the palm and that area at the base of the fingers are the likely candidates for initial ground contact.
Wrist fastening is the regulation palm heel strap plus the larger wrist cuff wrap over type, both Velco. Once on the glove feels very secure, being tight enough a fit without fastening to require a firm pull off, and once both straps are done up the glove feels perfectly capable of staying on my hand should I end up tarmac surfing. All the double stitching along the major seams (bonded nylon thread) should help it stay in one piece too, no good it staying on your hand but disintegrating before you come to rest.
Niggles? Only one, and it’s a result of Ian’s determination to keep the price down. On the wrist plate is a stencilled ‘arc-on’ which doesn’t do the rest of the product justice. My example is badly applied, and is easily scratched off which cheapens the glove substantially. Were I to be keeping these gloves I would immediately take a talon to it and remove it once and for all. But it’s hardly a huge issue is it?
Otherwise these gloves do exactly what they say on the tin, and look pretty stylish in black and white too. No other colours are available but if you can’t make B&W work with your gear you must have some pretty far out colours going on (your name’s not Elad or Alex is it?).
How will they stand up against the £160 Held gloves though? We’ll see shortly.
The Held Phantom
Held’s Phantoms are professional race gloves and boy do they feel it - just picking one up makes it pretty clear where the money has gone, with the Phantom resisting the urge to yield to the touch as the Stingers do. Perhaps it’s the Kangaroo skin construction or the amount of carbon fibre armour in them, but they feel more substantial as befits their price. They aren’t stiff or in need of breaking-in, don’t misunderstand, they are flexible where they are designed to be and are very comfortable on the bike. They don’t cosset like the Stingers, but make up for that with an increased feeling of strength and durability over the cheaper gloves.
Starting at the wrist end, the gauntlet is longer than the Stinger and features two rigid carbon fibre plates which cover a similar area to the Stinger’s single plate but reach further over the top of the wrist. Looking at the two pairs I can see the Stinger’s wrist plate stands higher than the Held’s which might offset its lack of reach should this contact the ground but there's no doubt the Held's cuff protects more of the wrist. 
Fastening is the same traditional system on both gloves but again the Held edges it in terms of Velco patch size and strength, plus the wrap over flap has a length of elastic across it to help retain some tension once the glove is done up. Another good design feature of the Phantom is the wrist strap which fastens to the side rather than on the base of the glove as per the Stinger (and my Racer and Alpinestars GPs do too) which means if you go palm-down and slide the chances of ripping the wrist strap open / off are greatly reduced. 
There is also a visor-wiping blade on the left glove, which is a surprise - something I'm used to seeing on winter gloves.
The main body of the glove is dominated by the huge carbon-fibre knuckle shell which is coated in a ceramic/polymer matrix (which I’m sure is a very good thing!) and finally a Kevlar branded fibrous outer layer which I’m struggling not to start picking at such is it's tactile nature.
Also very obvious is the new ‘must have’ for sports gloves, Stingray skin. This odd sounding ingredient brings a vast increase in abrasion resistance albeit at a high price per sq metre. Plus those of you who loved Steve Urwin will no doubt grin a revengeful grin when slipping your hand inside these beauties. According to the Held catalogue, Kangaroo chafed through after 4000 revolutions of a 10 Newton loaded H22 friction wheel and Stingray after 20,000. So that’s 5 times more resistance by my maths. We see this miracle skin on the outer edges on the hand area and across the joints of the two smallest fingers, whereas on the Stingers there is just the one patch. It’s not difficult to imagine that a lowside on 
track could see this section of the hand (being the closest to the ground) being first to touch down thus taking the brunt of inital abrasion.
Neither of these gloves employ the little finger bridges, something dedicated race gloves often have to strengthen the weakest and often most vulnerable fingers by bonding them to the next finger. Both Held and arc-on offer gloves with this feature, Held’s top line £200 Titan, £110 Chakira and £80 Short Race gloves all feature this and so does arc-on’s Corse, so if it’s important to you then you have that choice.
A substantial difference between the two pairs is that the Held glove doesn’t have any Kevlar stretch panels, so they rely on the elasticity of the Kangaroo skin for the range of movement which perhaps explains the rigidity of the Phantoms over the Stingers, not to mention explaining where some of the extra money went.
On the road the Held gloves are very impressive although Garret did report his fingernails catching on the internal seams at the end of the finger sections, and of course comfort is largely dependent upon correct fitment. The Held gloves are a little tight on my hands so I can’t publish my experience of wearing them, but I have no reason to doubt Garret’s very positive experience.
Certainly the longer cuff of the Phantom is appreciated over the Stinger when you’ve long arms and find that most sleeves come out of shorter cuffs after a few minutes riding. I’ve taken to wearing the Stinger gloves under my sleeves instead, and I will say both offer enough Velcro to achieve a decent closing when worn this way (only relevant to those of a more gangly frame).
So what do I know from spending time with both pairs?
- Money talks.
Side-by-side the Held Phantoms are a better glove than the arc-on Stingers. No-one would disagree with that, but they are twice the price. So are they twice as good?
To answer that more important question let me suggest this: If I was going to be doing trackdays and a lot of fast ‘balls-out’ riding then I would be aiming for the top end of gloves, boots, leathers etc because I’m deliberately putting myself in harm’s way. The gear I’d wear would have to be as good as possible, and I’d save and sacrifice to be able to afford these Held Phantoms - they ooze quality and strength all over without looking too flashy or bling plus I know that all my £160 goes into the company and its products. They are gloves which will last for years, take all the abuse both I cand the weather can throw at them then come back for more. Items of this quality are rare, and require an investment. But you will get your money back over time.
Most of us though aren’t booking trackdays left right and centre, or dashing about the country roads at top speed each and every Sunday. Instead we may commute, head out on a couple of evenings and enjoy a ride-out on a Sunday. So we aren’t exactly pushing the performance envelope and I would be perfectly happy to dress accordingly. Which is where the Stingers come in.
They are comfortable, very comfortable, and so can be worn all day without causing distractions, yet have all the protective features of more expensive gloves. Sure they may not have the same life in them as the Phantoms do, but don't think they aren't capable of doing their principle job. Recently our member Gabs (Powerpuffgirl) was knocked off at 80mph while racing her SV650 in a pair of arc-on Corse gloves. The gloves took the brunt of the lowside, which ground a hole in the Kevlar stretch panel on the index finger. After examination it appears that all the protective qualities of this £75 glove did their job - kevlar panels are there to allow movement, not provide protection. All the leather, the seams and armour performed perfectly and once the panel is replaced the gloves would be good to go again. To my mind the gloves did their job of keeping her hands safe and uninjured in the crash. Having to replace a £75 pair of gloves after an 80mph crash which left my hands uninjured should be considered a huge result. See image 20 for a close look at the damaged gloves as sent back to Ian.The Stingers only have this at the thumb joint - a far less important place stress-wise than where it's found on the Corse.
To sum up then both these gloves are excellent products, and I think the moral of this story is that you don’t have to spend top dollar to get near premium quality. Lots of lucky people will be able to spend £160 and be very happy with their premier level Phantoms, but those who don’t can buy a glove to be proud of, one which will do them proud even if they suffer the same misfortune as Gabs did.
Thanks to Ian at arc-on and Michael at Held for the review samples and putting up with some delay while various bikes went o/s delaying the review. Both of you guys are doing us bikers proud with your products.
http://www.arc-on.co.uk/all-products/gloves/stinger-gloves.html
Held product range is available from GetGeared, both online and instore, click here for details.
