Ive used the A* GP-Plus as my primary trackday riding gloves and after about two riding seasons and a few trackdays on them they were worn to bits. So I have picked up a pair of rd/wht A* GP-Tech gloves with the main duties of trackday riding.
Here is my write up review about my experience with these gloves over the season of trackday riding as well as having two offs with them on. I will grade the category from a 1-10 with 10 being the best and 1 the worse I found with these gloves.
Looks: 10
They look right even after being dirty after a good riding session. They match my MX-1 and GP-Pro tracksuit so I couldnt complain. A* did a good job on the color ways of these gloves as well as their new stitching.
They have every finger, aside from the thumb, stitched in the regular stitching, outside, while the thumb has its stitching on the inside, all to make the fit inside the glove that much smoother and less rubbing on your hands. The stitched leather in the palm area provided the glove last longer due to it being an area that will be in constant use, throttling/braking and clutching, which I found to be a real relief as my GP-Plus was about to be worn through in the palm area.
Protection: 10
As mentioned before I did have two offs with these gloves on and in both occasion, low sides, they held up and prevented injuries to my hands.
The knuckle area is reinforced nicely to the point it feels like a rock. On the right glove you can see that the knuckle area is grinded down a little bit, and these attest to how well they held up. It is also vented to allow airflow during those hot days to keep your hand well cooled off. Each of the pointing/middle finger also are stitched with the same knuckle reinforcement on the finger to help it slide instead of catching in case of any offs.
Another function that helped in my offs was the stitched together ring/pinky combo. Again you can see on the right glove that there are abrasions to my ring/pinky finger area. They did this to prevent the pinky from being broken, usually happens with the smallest digit, but sewing it to the ring finger and having it act as one unit. This small feature greatly helped reduced injury to my smallest member.
The gauntlet area offers protection in the form a hard plastic outer shell. On both gloves you can see wear and abrasions. This was tremendous in saving my arm and leathers as they took most of the impact. Not to mention they held up extremely well, the left is mostly tarmac stains while the right is grinded down a lot more. The logo they have emblazoned on the gloves act, again, as a slider of sorts, to keep the glove from sticking and causing even more harm.
The side palm is reinforced to help protect that crucial soft area of the hand. Usually in low side offs the rider puts his hands out first and in my case it was no different. The side of my palms landed on the ground first, holding up my body, and the hole, although not going through the gloves, showed how well it held up to such a fall. Padding here and on the lower palm is superb in helping this soft area. The A* logo there adds to their appeal as well I thought.
Fitment: 7
I bought these in a small because indeed my hands are not gorilla sized so the fitment was a bit tight, but nothing I wasnt used to. My only gripe is that the knuckle protection restricted my fingers full mobility of up and down. At times I would have to consciously put in effort to move my fingers up in order to grab the brake/clutch levers.
The thumb was a small nuisance as well by being above the portion of the glove that was indeed packed to the nines with cushion. I can see why though, protecting your digits does come at a small setback.
What I loved about the fit was the inside of the glove made it easy to take on and off. On those hot trackdays you be hard-pressed to be easily pulling on and off your gloves with all the sweat thats built up during the session. The venting and liner materials used equate to a very cool ride and thats key in being comfortable on the track. Worrying about over bodily fluids coming out should be the last thing you think about while finding that apex.
Overall I do enjoy these gloves even with their little nuisances. They held up wonderfully on both occasions but would I spend the money again and buy another pair, probably not. My gripe and then eventually my gripe with the new A* is that their quality has gone down a notch. I noticed on my left glove the stitching on three of the five fingers have gone undone, exposing my digits within. Mind you this glove was the lesser damaged of the two and yet its the first to burst at its seams. I love A* and their product but they really need to step up their quality back to where it used to be. Aside from these, if you have the money by all means spring for them, they look great; perform as they should for a top level glove and vents! What more can you ask for? Well maybe a slight price drop, but we can all dream.
Hope you found this review helpful!
Here is my write up review about my experience with these gloves over the season of trackday riding as well as having two offs with them on. I will grade the category from a 1-10 with 10 being the best and 1 the worse I found with these gloves.
Looks: 10
They look right even after being dirty after a good riding session. They match my MX-1 and GP-Pro tracksuit so I couldnt complain. A* did a good job on the color ways of these gloves as well as their new stitching.
They have every finger, aside from the thumb, stitched in the regular stitching, outside, while the thumb has its stitching on the inside, all to make the fit inside the glove that much smoother and less rubbing on your hands. The stitched leather in the palm area provided the glove last longer due to it being an area that will be in constant use, throttling/braking and clutching, which I found to be a real relief as my GP-Plus was about to be worn through in the palm area.
Protection: 10
As mentioned before I did have two offs with these gloves on and in both occasion, low sides, they held up and prevented injuries to my hands.
The knuckle area is reinforced nicely to the point it feels like a rock. On the right glove you can see that the knuckle area is grinded down a little bit, and these attest to how well they held up. It is also vented to allow airflow during those hot days to keep your hand well cooled off. Each of the pointing/middle finger also are stitched with the same knuckle reinforcement on the finger to help it slide instead of catching in case of any offs.
Another function that helped in my offs was the stitched together ring/pinky combo. Again you can see on the right glove that there are abrasions to my ring/pinky finger area. They did this to prevent the pinky from being broken, usually happens with the smallest digit, but sewing it to the ring finger and having it act as one unit. This small feature greatly helped reduced injury to my smallest member.
The gauntlet area offers protection in the form a hard plastic outer shell. On both gloves you can see wear and abrasions. This was tremendous in saving my arm and leathers as they took most of the impact. Not to mention they held up extremely well, the left is mostly tarmac stains while the right is grinded down a lot more. The logo they have emblazoned on the gloves act, again, as a slider of sorts, to keep the glove from sticking and causing even more harm.
The side palm is reinforced to help protect that crucial soft area of the hand. Usually in low side offs the rider puts his hands out first and in my case it was no different. The side of my palms landed on the ground first, holding up my body, and the hole, although not going through the gloves, showed how well it held up to such a fall. Padding here and on the lower palm is superb in helping this soft area. The A* logo there adds to their appeal as well I thought.
Fitment: 7
I bought these in a small because indeed my hands are not gorilla sized so the fitment was a bit tight, but nothing I wasnt used to. My only gripe is that the knuckle protection restricted my fingers full mobility of up and down. At times I would have to consciously put in effort to move my fingers up in order to grab the brake/clutch levers.
The thumb was a small nuisance as well by being above the portion of the glove that was indeed packed to the nines with cushion. I can see why though, protecting your digits does come at a small setback.
What I loved about the fit was the inside of the glove made it easy to take on and off. On those hot trackdays you be hard-pressed to be easily pulling on and off your gloves with all the sweat thats built up during the session. The venting and liner materials used equate to a very cool ride and thats key in being comfortable on the track. Worrying about over bodily fluids coming out should be the last thing you think about while finding that apex.
Overall I do enjoy these gloves even with their little nuisances. They held up wonderfully on both occasions but would I spend the money again and buy another pair, probably not. My gripe and then eventually my gripe with the new A* is that their quality has gone down a notch. I noticed on my left glove the stitching on three of the five fingers have gone undone, exposing my digits within. Mind you this glove was the lesser damaged of the two and yet its the first to burst at its seams. I love A* and their product but they really need to step up their quality back to where it used to be. Aside from these, if you have the money by all means spring for them, they look great; perform as they should for a top level glove and vents! What more can you ask for? Well maybe a slight price drop, but we can all dream.
Hope you found this review helpful!