Icon 1000 Prep Gloves (Sold Out)

These gloves are consistent with the major American based brands we carry such as FirstGear, Tour Master, Joe Rocket, etc, so hopefully you’ve had some experience with buying gloves and can choose based upon the fit of a previous pair. If you have no previous experience with glove sizing, go here for help. With the stretch panels built into the glove on the side of the hand and thumb, the gloves feel very comfortable and it is likely the leather will stretch some. If you are sometimes between sizes, I’d advise to try the smaller.

Well, I wore these gloves for a few minutes for the custom photos (take the “View Larger Images” link above) not knowing anything about the features or pricing. I thought the gloves were ultra soft and comfortable as compared to other basic leather short cuff designs, and now looking at the bullet list of features, I know why… kangaroo hide. Kangaroo is widely used in the racing world for gloves because the leather is thin and gives great feel for the controls, but at the same time, it is more abrasion resistant (pound for pound) than other leathers. Also, Held (a brand that uses Kangaroo in most of their gloves) says Kangaroo holds up better to the salts from human sweat and won’t rot as quickly as other leathers… yuck, right? The little knuckle pads are said to be “D3O” which is a brand that makes a fantastic line of armor products and is widely used in all sorts of riding apparel. But these little discs situated above each knuckle couldn’t possibly do a whole lot in case of a crash. I’ve got to call BS on this. Certainly they’d be better than nothing, but the brand name implies something special and it just can’t be.

Otherwise, I think the gloves are a very nice, high end short cuff style. Simple of course, but that is part of the appeal. And the Kangaroo feature will be a pleasure to wear. Pricey for sure, and not for the bargain hunter though. :: Paul, 09-09-14