Joe Rocket "Cleo" Women's Motorcycle
Gloves
wBW
Owner's Report
by "Smalls" for webBikeWorld.com.
More:
Also: See the wBW
Women's
Motorcycle Clothing Page
Summary
The Joe Rocket Ladies’ Cleo short gloves are made from
mesh and leather for warm-weather riding.
Leather reinforcements and high density padding
provide added protection. Available in four
colors, the Joe Rocket Ladies’ Cleo Gloves will fit any
budget.
The weather in Northwestern Montana is finally hot --
for us that is -- at 90 degrees (32 Celsius) and rising.
In these temperatures, full leather gloves are a bit
too warm at slower speeds or in stop-and-go traffic
(Yes, we actually have traffic in town…but not on the
freeways. Whew!).
Hot weather calls for a cooler glove and there are
several types of warm-weather gloves for women that
might work.
Some are short; some have a longer cuff; some have
hard armor or padding for protection while others have
none; some are made from textile or mesh; others have
perforated leather and some have a combination of the
above.
I wanted a mesh and leather glove (mesh for
ventilation; leather for protection) and chose the Joe
Rocket Ladies’ Cleo Gloves for the short Montana summer.
Sizing and Fit
For tips on fitting gloves, see my review of the
Alpinestars Stella SP-3 gloves. Following my
own advice, and according to Joe Rocket’s sizing chart,
I needed a size medium.
However, I have long fingers, and I was worried that the fingers
in the size medium might
be too short, so I ordered a size large. I figured
that it might be OK to have a
little extra width in the palms of the gloves but it
wouldn't be good if the fingers were too short.
As it turned out, the palms of the size large are
indeed too wide for my hand shape and my fingertips
still touch the ends. It's best to have a little
bit of slack in the fingertips of motorcycle gloves,
because the extra room is necessary when the hands are
wrapped around the grips.
If I had long fingernails or acrylics the size large
would definitely not work for me. I think the
width of the medium gloves would have been perfect, but
then the fingers would have been way too short.
So even though the fingers are shorter than I would
like in the size large Cleo gloves, I don't notice
issues when I ride, which is surprising. I think
this is because of the extra width in the palm
Obviously there is no universal size of glove, jacket, pants
or helmet that will fit every single rider's shape, and I think the Joe Rocket Cleo
gloves would probably be better suited for riders with wider, shorter
hands.
For comparison and reference, my palm is 3-3/8 inches
(8.5 cm) wide from the knuckle of my index finger to the
edge of my hand. The length from my wrist to the
tip of my middle finger is 7-1/4 inches (18.4 cm) long.
Construction
The Joe Rocket Ladies’ Cleo Gloves are made from cowhide
and goatskin leather and nylon mesh. The mesh is
on the wrist, part of the back of the hand, and the top
of the thumb and fingers.
All of the impact areas are leather, and I personally
would not ride with anything less. The leather
between the fingers is perforated for more ventilation.
The mesh panels and the back of the hand feature a
polyester lining. The bottom of the hand, which is
all leather, is unlined.
Leather reinforcements secured with double-stitching
cover the lower palm, upper palm below the first three
fingers, and inside of the thumb. The lower palm
also has a light padding.
Joe Rocket Ladies’ Cleo Gloves have high density
padding on the knuckles, fingers, and thumb for added
protection. Leather reinforcements would have been
a nice addition on the outside of the pinkies.
The cuffs are 1-1/4 inches (3.2 cm) long and are slim
enough to fit under most jackets’ cuffs. A
hook-and-loop closure keeps the gloves secure, but be
sure to tighten them enough that they will not slip off
your hands in a slide.
There are seams inside the glove, so depending on
fit, this could lead to irritation. So far, the
only place I really notice the seams is at the tips of
the fingers.
Joe Rocket’s signature flower adorns the wrist.
Another Joe Rocket flower is on a rubber strip on the
back of the hand -- according to customer service at Joe
Rocket this rubber strip is purely cosmetic and does not
add any element of protection.
Comfort and Function
The Joe Rocket Ladies’ Cleo Gloves breathe more than my
full-leather gloves. I could feel the air flow
through the mesh panels, mostly on the back of the
hands. Adding more mesh to these gloves however
might compromise safety and would probably not be worth
the addition of more ventilation.
In 90 degree (32 Celsius) weather, my hands stay
cool. On the other hand (pardon the pun!), I wore
them on a cooler day when it was only 65-70 degrees
(18-21 Celsius) and was surprised my hands didn’t get
cold.
As I mentioned above, my hands are long and thin,
which means they aren't the best fit for the shape of
the Joe Rocket Ladies’ Cleo Gloves. But the
surprise is that this hasn't caused any issues when
riding, and I think it’s due to the extra width
in the palm.
Let me explain why I think this is the case. Because
the palms don’t fit me snugly, the gloves slide down my
fingers a little ways and give me some slack in the
finger tips. If I pull the gloves on all the way,
the seams press into my fingertips, but because of the
roominess in the palms, the gloves work their way off my
fingers a little bit.
However, the leather has a tendency to bunch up under
my palms when I’m holding the handlebars. This
becomes annoying, and I have to release the grips and
‘slide’ my hands back onto them to smooth the leather
beneath my hands. If the gloves fit my hand shape
snugly, I don’t think this would happen.
One little observation, after riding, the leather
leaves teeny pieces of leather fibers on my palms.
It is a very small amount and brushes off easily.
Conclusion
The Joe Rocket Ladies’ Cleo Gloves are an affordable
choice for warm-weather riding. They have a good
balance between ventilation and protection; safety has
apparently not been sacrificed to make the gloves more
breathable.
These gloves won’t break the bank and with a variety
of colors to choose from, there's no excuse for not
having a pair -- but make sure they fit correctly first!
