A never-ending supply of motorcycle gloves flood the dealers' shelves each year in every style, color and shape imaginable.  So why, in the midst of this bounty, is it so hard to find the "perfect" glove?

Choosing a pair of summer motorcycle gloves is even more difficult due to the the conflicting goals of air flow vs. protection.  A glove that flows a large volume of air to the rider's hands usually means a glove with more or larger perforations or the use of mesh or textile fabrics, which may reduce the glove's protective abilities.

The manufacturers understand this and each summer they deliver evolved designs that try once more to address these compromises. 

So what's new this year?  We picked 4 different summer motorcycle gloves for our "2007 Summer Motorcycle Glove Blowout" to see if any of them beat our current favorites, the REV'IT! Solar mesh summer gloves ($79.99) and the Komodo summer mesh gloves ($54.99).  Is there a clear winner? 

Note the short gauntlets on these gloves; this has apparently become the norm for summer motorcycle gloves.  This means that none of these gloves will fit over the top of a jacket cuff, which isn't necessarily a problem, but just something to be aware of.

What's the bottom line?  We ranked the REV'IT! Monster gloves first, Joe Rocket Atomic 2.0 gloves second, the new for 2007 Alpinestars Sledge gloves third and the Joe Rocket Phoenix 3.0 gloves a distant fourth.

See the photos of each below, in alphabetical order, with links to the individual reviews.