The gloves are stitched in such a way that it is a little too precise with the finger measurements of an ideal hand.
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Riding Gear Update: Ventilated Gloves:
As I had blabbered about somewhere on this thread earlier, I had picked up the Viaterra Tundra a little over a year ago and was using it for my daily commute and for touring as well. I’ll drop an update about the gloves on the Riding Gear Thread separately. When I visited @shyamg28 sometime in April, the man was shocked seeing me use Winter/Non-Breathable WP Gloves every day in Bangalore, irrespective of the weather To be honest, I had completely forgotten what ventilation while riding in the palm area felt like at that point and had grown completely accustomed to riding with the Tundra. He gave me a pair of basic ventilated gloves (Royal Enfield Strident) until I could pick up a proper pair of ventilated gloves. I wore them on the ride back to my place from his, which was some 30km away, and my god, it was bliss in comparison.
I used them whenever it wasn’t cold or rainy outside for the past few months, but they were starting to show signs of wear and tear. Plus, they weren’t protective enough for even my daily commute (I commute on Hosur Road from E City at around 7:30 a.m., where there isn’t too much traffic), where I do hit 80kmph regularly. Hence I decided to pick up a pair of full gauntlet riding gloves that I can use both in the City and on the Highway.
Protection was of top priority. A good pair of full gauntlet gloves can easily run into thousands. I wasn’t looking to spend more than Rs 7000 at the moment and wanted to get the best I could at the price. To do this, I first read up about the CE Rating system
In addition to this, the gloves being full-gauntlet was also a must for me just for the added wrist protection.
The Initial Contenders Were:
- Rynox Storm Evo 3 (Seemed Like Great Value, shortlisted)
- Viaterra Grid (Tried and Tested Product, shortlisted)
- Scala Trekker (Saw a post by a Bhpian, whilst intriguing, the lack of CE certification made me disregard the same)
- Solace Furious V2 (An underrated player in the market with some great products, shortlisted)
- Shield Viper X (No CE Certification, Okayish for the price. Disregarded)
- Rynox Storm Evo 2 (Older Version of the Evo 3, whilst cheaper, lacked a lot of features, hence disregarded)
- Korda Track (No CE Certification, Not too much information. Disregarded)
Onward to the Comparo:
To keep this brief, I made a small table that enumerates on the pointers that I think are fairly essential while choosing the glove:
On the Spec Sheet, the Grid pulls light years ahead of the competition, and the 10% discount that Viaterra provides to repeat customers sweetened the deal. I picked them up for Rs 5399 all-inclusive. The small things that Viaterra do, like dropping you an email after you’ve placed the order to confirm your palm measurements and providing a lifetime repair service, make them stand out IMO.
Negatives:
Whilst my experience with the gloves is mostly positive, there are two negative ones that stood out to me, especially in comparison with the Storm Evo 3. The latter is simply much, much more comfortable to wear in terms of the padding on the interior of the glove. I think Viaterra should up their game in this department.
Secondly, the gloves are stitched in such a way that it is a little too precise with the finger measurements of an ideal hand. Everyone’s hands will have variations, I discovered on trying this glove that there are a few Millimetres of difference between my left and right palm in terms of both length and width, apparent at the area where the fingers join the palm. Because of this, the gloves felt weird the first few times I used them, but now seem better. I’ll keep the forum updated on this front. The Storm Evo 3 in comparison had a just little excess leather on the joint areas making it a comfortable fit right from the get-go.
Overall though the exemplary protection at the price point bolstered my decision and I’m a happy rider. Cheers!
Keyword: Bought Viaterra Grid riding gloves: First impressions on fit & comfort