Ever since the MX market embraced stadium showmanship as the new god, I haven’t been able to find a decent set of armored trail riding MX gloves. I like the extra protection the finger and knuckle pads provide, especially in this current era where bar ends are either short or nonexistent. When my old box-fingered Answer MX gloves got mangled by a chainsaw, I got a couple of pairs of Answer-made Gary Fisher gloves. Made with the same pre-bent ventilated box-finger construction, those held up for many years. The padding has long since compressed flat, and the molded armor plates have faded to a pastel version of the once bright red and yellow. I looked long and hard, and all I could find were non-armored bicycle-like lycra backed gloves. WTF?! I guess nobody rides trails anymore.
Looking for an alternative, I saw some armor-backed Mechanix Wear M-Pact gloves. I have been using their standard gloves for everything from automotive work to carpentry to yardwork, and I’m sold on their utility. I figured I’d give these a try for MTB use. Although not their stated use, the feature set makes them ideal for trail riding. The palm is synthetic leather, doubled in high wear areas and padded around the web of the thumb and at the heel of the palm for vibration absorption when using air tools. There is no padding in the gripping area of the palm, so these gloves won’t make it more difficult to hold onto the bars. The palm-side of the thumb and forefinger is made from a grippier synthetic material for handling tools or small fasteners, which works out good for brake levers and underbar shifters. It’s a homogenous grippy material, unlike the printed-on sticky paint screened onto many current glove fingers.
The back of the glove is a breathable stretch nylon material. Molded onto the back of the hand along the metacarpals, and along the first finger joints are flexible vinyl ribs meant to protect the hand from impacts from engine parts or when tools slip and hands go slamming into fixed, heavy objects. I would have liked it if the padding extended down along the second joint too, since those are still forward-facing under the bars when riding. Most importantly, the fingers and knuckles are protected. The gussets between the fingers are made from a thinner lycra material.
The wrists are elastic with a Velcro tab closure. In my experience with Mechanix Wear products, the elastic should get stretched out and wavy in about two months. That will probably be the only weak point of these gloves, other than perhaps the stitching. For work gloves, I prefer their simple elastic “Fast Fit” gloves to ones with the wide elastic and Velcro since these don’t go loose as rapidly. The similar wrist cuffs on my Fisher gloves work fine even though the gloves are worn out. In any case, you’re gripping the bars – the gloves can’t come off your hands, closure or not!
On initial fitting, I found that they fit true to other Mechanix Wear gloves, so if you can’t find this model locally, you can order them online if you know what size works for you in their other products. They felt warm in a static environment. I test-rode them last Wednesday on a 20-km ride on the Bridgestone. They were no less comfortable than my old gloves on the drop bars. It was a hot day but I didn’t notice my hands being hot. At the end of the ride, my hands were a little black from the new gloves, but they were no damper than usual. The back material and the lycra are apparently adequately breathable. I gave them another try on this Sunday’s heinously hot ride, and again, I didn’t notice any more heat than with my previous gloves. They were comfortable and provided good grip on the bars and controls.
I’ll pick up another pair to rotate through so they last longer.
Recommended
About $25 USD Online
0 Responses to “Mechanix Wear M-Pact Gloves”