The Teknic Road Iron Gloves
(also known as the Teknic "Iron Road" Gloves, depending on the website you go to!)
are an interesting entry for 2007 in the summer glove market.
While Teknic markets the
gloves in their “Cruiser Highway”
collection for 2007, this glove is sure to be popular
with more than just the bad-ass Big Twin crowd. This is
a short cuff-less style glove meant for warmer riding on
the open road.
The Road Iron gloves feature an
aluminum knuckle protector that is riveted into place
with a very cool (or cute, depending on your point of
view!) skull and crossbones design stamped into it.
The chassis of the glove is
made from Analine 0.8mm cowhide
and it's fully lined with a breathable Nylex material. The
complete upper side of the glove is well perforated as
are the sides of all of the fingers. There are two nicely
placed memory foam pads on each palm for absorption,
which are
sandwiched between a dual layer of leather in those areas. The glove is finished with details of the Teknic iron
cross logo on the back and opposing white sections of
leather with decorative rivets to give a somewhat
skeletal look about it.
Initially you look at this
glove and think Road Warrior Meets Summer, with
variations on the theme already set by the Icon
Ti-Max original glove (See
the wBW review). There are some significant
differences between the two, however.
I am not
sure I would necessarily put as much trust into the
aluminum knuckle plates on the Road Iron gloves as I would into the Titanium
protectors on the Ti-Max gloves. But at least the
Road Iron plates are backed with a double layer of leather
on the underside of the plate overtop of the chassis to
create that “knuckle tunnel” system. This puts a fair
amount of material between your knuckles and whatever
they should possibly meet.
The Road Iron gloves feel surprisingly supple
when brand new, which
makes break-in minimal, if needed at all.
And finally, the air flows through the Road Iron gloves very well
indeed!
The absence of a closure at the wrist was
disconcerting for me at first. I almost always
wear gloves with full gauntlets to ride. The first couple of
times I made a fist, I could feel the knuckle plate
rolling around and molding to the shape of my hand. Well, it is
pliable, so don’t be surprised by this.
The gloves are thin
enough to allow a fair amount of feel and dexterity, yet
they still provide some confidence that there's something
more substantial on my hand than many of the textile gloves
I've worn. The fingers are pre-curved to allow a natural
roll of the hand around the controls without resistance. The tips of the fingers are
constructed so that they do not
leave a seam to dig under my fingernail tips. All
told, the gloves are
very comfortable in the driveway or out on the road.
The only complaint I have
about the Road Iron gloves have to do with the design and execution at the
cuff. The fact that they are without cuffs is convenient to a
point. The opening slit for expansion allows for quick
and easy on-or-off when I'm ready to go or returning
from a ride, or when I have to quickly remove a glove to
fish something out of my pocket or tank bag.
But the cuff-less design allows
for a rather unusual bunching against the cuff of my
jacket, which can tend to roll the slit of the gloves open. There's no
closure to secure the glove around my wrist; just some
elastic sewn in to bring the glove to a natural contour.
Conclusion
The Teknic Road Iron
gloves, though not perfect, seem to provide adequate protection for
many types of riding. Not the best mind you -- but far
better than most textile gloves and certainly better
than no gloves at all. Pricing I think might be on the
higher end of the scale for what you get, but it certainly
isn’t outrageous.
