Summer Glovin' -Summer Gloves Reviewed And Rated

Summer is officially here. With the riding season in full swing across the country, it's time to put away the winter apparel and break out the fair-weather riding gear. Road race style gloves are great on the track and for serious shredding, but for the occasional ride to the beach, bike night or BBQ, nothing feels better than a ventilated set of summer gloves whisking the heat and sweat from your hands.

Riders sometimes choose motocross gloves to beat the heat, but those types of gloves were designed to protect against accidents in the dirt, not pavement. During a crash on the street they tend to tear and disintegrate on impact. The natural reaction when anyone takes a spill is to stick out their hands to break the fall. Without the proper protection, a rashed-up set of digits can result in months of recovery and lonely nights from a lack of self-entertainment.

Summer gloves typically offer less armor than full road-race versions so the protection that is utilized becomes crucial. Typical safety protection comes in the form of padding, reinforced palms and various materials that protect the knuckles. Take a look at the combinations of padding and materials to find a set of cool mitts for your meat hooks.

Diablo Power Trip If money is on your mind, the Diablo fits the bill. Several dollar signs line the palms, which are made from a synthetic material called Clarino. The Diablos look like something the Predator would wear too. Extra material reinforces crucial impact areas. Power Trip PRICE: $34.95 Different styling No padding www.power-trip.com	AXO VR-X A The VR-X gloves offer the benefits of a summer glove, but with more protection. Mesh and leather are intertwined with reinforcements on the palm and thumb areas. Carbon-fiber knuckles give a race-look. AXO Price: $54.99 Racer looks Minimal ventilation www.axo.com	Alpinestars Breeze Airflow The Breeze Airflows offer maximum cooling thanks to mesh on the top and lower parts of the fingers. Leather palms with padding along the fingers, thumbs and sides of the hand offer more protection than mesh only. The gloves are available in black only. Alpinestars Price: $34.95 Maximum cooling Basic looks www.alpinestars.com
Cortech HDX The HDX has goatskin leather palms with mesh fingers with vents to further increase airflow. Hard plastic protects the knuckles while double leather does the palms. Cortech offers the gloves in black, red, blue, yellow, silver, white, pink and light blue. Cortech Price: $41.99 Cool looks Plastic knuckles www.cortechperformance.com	Scorpion Cool HandThe Cool Hand perfectly describes the maximum cooling provided by theses gloves. A full mesh top with ribbed, curved fingers offers flexibility but leather palms lack extra padding. Cool Hand gloves are available in black, blue, red, silver, white and yellow to match any gear. Scorpion Price: $34.95 Extremely flexible Lack padding www.scorpionusa.com	Shift Hybrid X The colored fingers of the Hybrid X gloves appear to constantly make the peace sign. A mesh top offers cooling while goatskin leather palms with padded reinforcements provide protection. Hybrid Xs are available in grey, blue, red and yellow. Shift Price: $29.95 Inexpensive Peace sign design www.shiftracing.com