Gloves – Why so difficult?

[Nasher]

First off I must say that I’m 51yrs old and at no point in all that time has anyone commented on the size of my hands, I’ve never shook hands with a lady and instantly been invited back to her place, don’t have a bunch of Bananas or Sausages for fingers, or even extraordinarily long piano players appendages.
I do lift weights at the gym 3 times a week, but don't think my hands are at all overly muscular.

Why then, can I not find a pair of riding gloves that fit?

My current gloves are really past it, over 20yrs old, falling to bits, and too hot in this weather. All the logos have worn off, the labels faded and I can’t remember their make or size. I don’t however remember it being difficult to find ones that fitted.

Yesterday I went to J&S, and also to Helmet City in Chichester, and must have tried on over 20 pairs of gloves.

All the stock was a maximum size of 3Xl, none of those really had long enough fingers, and actually a lot were too narrow across the palm. I was stupid enough to only really try on the Right hand glove, and reluctantly settled on a pair of Frank Thomas FT2 summer gloves that fitted (My Right Hand) reasonably nicely, were surprisingly cheap at £59.99, but were also surprisingly large at size 3XL.
J&S had one random pair of 5XL gloves, but although the fingers were long enough the palm was so wide my thumb was only half way in where it should be.

I went out on the M900 this morning and found that I could only just get my Left hand into the glove, but thinking it would stretch tried to go out for a ride.
I had to come home for my old gloves as all my fingers on both hands were compressed into the ends of the fingers when lent on the clip-ons, and my left little finger was so badly compressed by the short glove finger it was very painful.

I’m considering trying to stretch the FT2’s somehow, but am wondering if anyone has had a similar experience and can suggest a brand that might fit.
I’m obviously very reluctant to order any 4XL gloves off the internet in case they still don’t fit when they arrive.

I’m visiting my mother in South Bucks, near Marlow tomorrow, travelling from Petersfield to Winchester then Via Basingstoke and Reading to get there. Does any know of a shop anywhere near that route that has lots of stock I could try on?

Thanks

Nasher.

[Darkness]

You aren’t alone: I have never found a pair that fit properly.
I have an old pair of 3XL GP Tech alpine stars in Kangaroo at the moment, but my problems with fit are lack of width of the palm, plus the glove little finger is the right length, but is too far from the wrist, so has 1/2” of glove past the end of my finger. At least with the glove fourth and little fingers being joined together it’s less obtrusive than some others.
One day I’ll get some made to measure.

[Flip]

You could try Motolegends at Guildford- they have lots of summer gloves in stock.

I bought a pair of Furygan Tom before my Euro trip. Really pleased with them in the hot weather as well perforated and with discreet D30 armour and CE approval.

www.motolegends.com

[DaveR]

Another vote for Motolegends, I have visited their shop several times [ I live in Colchester, but my son lives in Guildford, which, to excuse the pun, is handy] & have always left satisfied, but with a lighter wallet! They do have a good range & will help you with selection etc.
As you are finding it difficult to get the right size, I would advise you call them first, they may well have something buried away in their warehouse.

[Nasher]

Thanks Guys.
I did have a look at Motolegends website before posting this morning, because of Flips good experience he posted about with them when he brought some riding jeans recently.

Every pair I looked at on their website only went up to 3XL, or even 2XL in a lot of cases, so discounted them. Their website doesn't give the option to choose gloves by size, so I might call them and see if they can advise what to do.

My main gripe is that I really don't think I have large, long, or odd shaped hands at all, so it shouldn't be this hard. I need at least 1/4" added to every glove finger length and possibly a bit of width across the palm.

But it's nice to know I'm not alone Darkness.

Nasher.

[mickj]

I have the same problem with gloves made for hobbits. I use 3xl and find the fingers and thumb all too short. You might want to try some knox gloves, my wife just bought a pair and she finds them long enough in the digits that she does not have to keep her nails too short, when I find a dealer with them in stock I'm going to try some for myself. I've had this problem with all bike gear, nothing fits.

[Darkness]

Mmmm; hobbit skin.....that could work? It would have a nice fleecy lining!

[slob]

I've just got some Oxford RP3 summer gloves, they seem reasonably sized (XL) and if anything are little long in the fingers.
I try on gloves in almost every bike shop I visit. If I really like some I'll go back and bulk buy now, knowing that they'll be unavailable in six months.

[BeePee]

I'm in that club too.
The bestest gloves I've EVER had/got ?

https://jofama.se/mcsm/en_gb/product/supreme/

Summer gloves, we toured Italy, Austria, Switzerland last year, 1 of the guys had all new Rukka Goretex gear £200 Rukka gloves too.
My hands were warmer and drier than his with these gloves on, brilliant and comfy within 1 hour of breaking them in.

[Grumpy]

I'm in that club too.
The bestest gloves I've EVER had/got ?

https://jofama.se/mcsm/en_gb/product/supreme/

Summer gloves, we toured Italy, Austria, Switzerland last year, 1 of the guys had all new Rukka Goretex gear £200 Rukka gloves too.
My hands were warmer and drier than his with these gloves on, brilliant and comfy within 1 hour of breaking them in.

I've been converted to the jofama brand over the past couple of years. Most of my riding gear has been traded for jackets/trousers and as the thread, gloves. Excellent quality plus extremely comfortable. Worth ever penny.

[Nasher]

I'm in that club too.
The bestest gloves I've EVER had/got ?

https://jofama.se/mcsm/en_gb/product/supreme/

.

They look good, and a reasonable price too.

For obvious reasons I'd have to try a pair on before ordering them, and it appears Motolegends are a dealer, but the sizes on their site once again only go up to a 2XL.

Nasher.

[BeePee]

Yep, they are brilliant. I always need larger than I should, always struggle to find proper man sized gear, jaikits troosers etc.....but......look no further.
I ride with Lindstrands jaikit and troosers and am fair proud that the size is actually bigger on me than I need, I'm still on a diet though cause I fancy their leathers and don't want any more animals than required being sacrificed.

https://jofama.se/mcsm/en_gb/product/discovery/
https://jofama.se/mcsm/en_gb/product/dede-pants/

[Tim88]

Are the Supreme gloves just for women?

[Stinger101]

I'd recommend custom made Held gloves. Many say money can't buy happiness, but it can buy beautiful gloves which will make you happy for years!

[Char]

BKS used to do made to measure to and they supply the police who have HUGE hands

https://www.bksleather.co.uk/factory-shop-product/bks-gloves

Can’t see on their website but might be worth a call

[Nasher]

Thanks for all the comments Guys

I decided yesterday to take a different route to my Mothers so I could swing by Motolegends.

Firstly I must say what excellent service they provide. The shop was quite busy being Saturday, but I was met at the door by a sales assistant who stuck with me whilst I tried on several pairs of gloves in different sizes.
Apparently I do have long fingers, in her opinion anyway.
It really does feel more like a visit to a decent tailor, but I suppose you could easily spend £2K in there in one go if looking for a good quality set of gear.
The only thing I'd like to see is a slightly less 'Hipster vibe' going on in there, but that's just me.

I tried on a pair of the Halvarssons roadstars in 4XL but they were actually too big, a different make in 14, which should equate to 3XL I couldn’t even get on, let alone be too tight.

Anyway, to cut a long story short I ended up with a pair of Halvarssons Bexter Gloves:
https://www.motolegends.com/gloves/halvarssons-bexter-unisex-glove-black.html

They fit really well, although the little finger could do with being slightly shorter if anything.
Strangely I ended up with size 13!
They are probably going to be just slightly too warm for really hot days, but at least they fit.

Nasher.

[Flip]

Glad you had a good experience there (my little one loves the motorcycle shaped biscuits ...a LOT), I agree about a Hipster vibe but I don't mind it too much as it means gear that looks good off the bike as well as working well on it.

They tend to go either that way or for the full on 'Adventure' bike crowd but either way they seem to only carry quality stuff and their service is way better than most shops no matter how much you're spending in them.

[JET]

If anybody else is still looking, and perhaps doesn’t live close to Motolegends, my other half, who really struggles to find gloves that fit, has 4XL Weiss and Richa gloves, and 3XL Buffalo gloves, all bought from Fowlers in Bristol and all fitting well.