As soon as the weather warmed up, I was starting to think my GoreTex Alpinestars winter gloves were becoming a bit overkill and it was time to dig out the summer gloves. I turned the house up-side down but couldn’t find last years gloves anywhere (Frank Thomas items)! I was gutted, another £50 lost. So a trip to see BabyJ at Infinity in Great Portland St was in order…
James is great, he’ll completely debunk your ideas of what you want, and with me, normally in a very sarcastic manner, then tell you what you really want and why you should want it. This time he pointed out that Joe Rocket were a great brand to buy into at the moment because they do a very swanky range compared to the other notable brands.
I wanted something that was fit for road and track use. This meant not short-cuff city items which are normally £30+, but also not the complete overkill £120 items with huge cuffs that are designed for racers. Joe Rocket had something inbetween, the GPX 2.0. It’s a glove with a full cuff, so enthused trust in it for track riding, but mainly I liked it because it is made from very soft, but very strong Pittards leather.
This Pittards leather, from what I can find out, is Ceramic infused and thus meant to be very tough, but has other properties like already being as soft as it’s going to get, so there’s no need to break them in, you just pop them on and enjoy them. It has a very luxurious feel to it, which sold me nearly straight away.
The other big bonus for me was the heavy knuckle protection with built-in air-scoop to keep your hands cool in the summer. I’ve had enough of having really sweaty hands during the summer. There’s other armour all over the sensitive parts where your hand’s likely to drag or hit the ground. The palm is extra strengthened.
They cost £80 normally, though an LB member discount see’s that a bit lower when LB is mentioned. The first ride with them was fab, they felt right from the off, giving brilliant grip of the controls, a real close bond with them but also giving the feeling that you’re very well protected. BabyJ is very fickle when it comes to the quality of clothing, so if he believes it’ll be up to the job of keeping my hands safe, then I’m happy to believe so as well.
One thing I really like about them is the securing mechanism. They have two of them; first you secure the wrist with a simple, but tight velcro over-strap, then you secure the cuff with a velcro strip. This strip has two ways of working, so you’re guaranteed to get it into, or over your jacket. I have two jackets I use mainly, the first requires gloves to go over, and the other requires them to go inside. These gloves work perfectly with both. They’re also easy to remove. I’ve had gloves before which are hard to remove or secure with a gloved hand.
One pet-hate I have with other gloves is that the securing mechanisms are too loose and often become unsecured in the event of a crash, meaning you might very well lose your gloves mid-crash! I’ve seen this happen before at the track and absolutely do not want it happening to me. Big feel-good factor with this system.
If you’ve not heard of Joe Rocket before, they’re a Canadian outfit and have been around for a while. They do a lot of sponsorship with in the American AMA race series, with the AMA champion, Matt Mladin wearing their gear. They make the whole shebang, leathers, jackets, gloves, etc.
They come in a range of colours, feel great, look great and even smell great. It’s the sort of purchase that makes you feel really good, i.e. retail-therapy. Top job Joe Rocket! Here’s some snaps. I thought I’d share this experience as there may be others looking to buy summer gloves now and this might help.
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