by Bill C. for webBikeWorld.com
The Alpinestars Sledge
Street Sport Riding Gloves are one of many different
styles of motorcycle gloves offered by Alpinestars.
The "Sledge" model is new
for 2007; apparently, it's so new, it hasn't even shown
up on their website as this article was published.
The Sledge gloves feature
leather in the palms with Clarino synthetic leather used
in a few places. I think the Clarino is used in a
patch that covers the inside of the thumb and continues
across the top of the palm, which is probably the
highest wear area on motorcycle gloves because it's
where the rider's hand meets the handlebar grips.
The Sledge gloves also have
a cool hidden knuckle protector underneath the
leather. It's molded to fit the shape of the
knuckles and it includes some padding sewn underneath
the knuckle protector on the inside of the glove.
I didn't even realize the gloves had a knuckle protector
until I put them on for the first time.
The gloves are fully lined,
although the lining is missing from a few areas inside,
like the "web" at the base of the fingers. The
Sledge gloves appear to have a much higher level of
quality than other summer motorcycle gloves I've
encountered recently. For example, the stitching
and detail at the base of the thumb and the wedge-shaped
sections of Lycra fabric sewn into the sides of the
fingers at the middle joint are very well done.
The outer sections of the
fingers and thumb include padded sections of EVA
(ethylene vinyl acetate) closed-cell foam, which is a
fancy name for your basic squishy foam padding. My
guess is that this doesn't add anything to the
protective qualities of the gloves but hey -- it looks
good!
The fingers are shaped in a
tapered box section, which is more costly and time
consuming to manufacture but which normally provides
higher levels of comfort to the wearer. The
problem is that the fingers seem to be tapered a bit too
much towards the tips, and I can feel the seams and
threads catching under my fingernails, which is
annoying.
The Alpinestars Sledge
gloves have everything going for them on paper, but I've
noticed the same problem with them that I've noticed on
several pairs of gloves recently: the gloves just don't seem to
have enough room inside. The knuckle protector
underneath the leather may give the gloves a sleeker
look, but the top of the gloves doesn't flex enough over
the protector to make them comfortable.
These are a men's size
large, which normally fits me, but the gloves seem tight
and although the fingers are the correct length, the
gloves just don't have enough room for my hands to
expand when my weight bears down on the grips and this
makes them less comfortable than any of the other summer
motorcycle gloves in this comparison.
Also, even with all the
perforations, I feel less air flowing through the Sledge
gloves than any of the other three summer gloves.
Conclusion
All of this makes the Sledge gloves the most uncomfortable,
in my opinion. I rate them last out of the four pair for
comfort; in fact, after about 15 minutes of wearing
them, I can't wait to take them off. They haven't
broken in the way I expected -- I think the design may
prevent them from stretching the way they should or
could. This leaves me feeling like I have less
feel for the controls than I do with other gloves.
It's too bad, because if the
Alpinestars Sledge gloves performed
as good as they looked, they'd probably be the winner.




Lycra darts are sewn into the fingers at the flex
points.