Alpinestars Octane S-Moto gloves - review
A fantastically lightweight and highly ventilated summer glove with short wrist closure from Alpinestars, one of my favourite gloves for the hot months and surprisingly good in the cold too.
Supermoto or lightweight Summer gloves
Initial Thoughts
Ifyou are looking for a lightweight and highly vented glove for summeruse you can find a number of products out there on the market, forthose of us using them in the real world the Octane supermoto glove isthe perfect choice, however it must be mentioned that these are notdesigned for balls to the wall superbike thrashing so compared to fullrace style gloves they are not likely to offer the same level ofprotection, however this review is for a nice lightweight glove forsummer use and so far these fit the bill.
Construction
Madefrom Airprene, Mesh and Cordura the Octane is a short wrist glove thatis very light on the scales, in terms of feedback through the bars youreally can feel everything that is going on, the gloves are heavilyvented across the fingers to allow free flowing air to your fingers inhot weather, I found them to be superb in the hottest bouts of summerbut surprisingly good also during the rides this winter. Being a thinand short glove they will not offer you the same comprehensiveprotection as the more race oriented gloves in the range but for thoseof us that are aware of the risks these are simply perfect.
Theback of the glove displays a mean looking PU moulded knuckle whichinventively hides a further ventilation system to enhance the coolingeffect, the palm is of reinforced Clarino construction offering a goodabrasion resistance, as has been mentioned already the short glovemeans it closes at the wrist and not further up the forearm, this isespecially useful when you have tight fitting wrist fastenings on yourleathers and doubles up to serve as additional ventilation when youleave a small gap in the wrist zip.
Features
- Vented PU knuckle for extra protection.
- Airprene, mesh and Cordura® outer construction.
- Reinforced Clarino palm.
- 3D injection-molded rubber protection on back of hand.
- 3D printing on fingers and palm for increased grip.
- Anatomical wrist closure.
- Sonic welded 3D injection-molded logos.
Editor reviews
Reviewed by Leigh Godson July 05, 2008
Last updated: May 29, 2010
Top 10 Reviewer - View all my reviews
Conclusion
For times when the going gets hot the Octane glove is a lifesaver, no more sticky, sweaty hands and that uncomfortable feeling that comes with it.
ventilation is superb all round and the overall construction quality is excellent. I love these gloves so much that I have continued to wear them throughout winter and despite the cold temperatures and biting cold rain the gloves have kept my hands at a reasonable temperature.
oddly the venting in the material does not seem to be a hindrance in the cold. For the track these would not be first choice in terms of safety but for general riding I challenge you to find a more comfortable glove.
