The folks at Velocity Gear are at it
again, this time with a completely updated glove line
for the 2009-2010 model year.
Velocity Gear is a small company with some unique products and
we've been following the story since 2006. It's always nice to find an
upstart who offers something unique and different, and that's pretty much been
the Velocity Gear story in every product of theirs that we've reviewed.
For example, back in 2006 they released "Velocity Armor"
(review), an
armored shirt that was claimed to be "The Lowest Priced Level 2 Armor In The
World". For all we know, it still is, going on 4 years later! They
quickly followed that up with the
Juggernaut armored shirt (review) in 2007, more of the same good protective
stuff.
Next came the
Velocity Gear SS Metalwear gloves (review). There's armor...and then
there's armor. Why mess around with carbon fiber or plastic when you can have
metal! Big honkin' slabs of the stuff that wouldn't look at all out of
place in tonight's featured event at the Thunderdome.
Now we're on the cusp of 2010 and the company has a completely new
lineup, with the Exhibition Pro "light-heavyweight" (our term) mesh gloves; the
Prodigy and Formula race gloves with kangaroo leather and meeting CE standards; and a revised
version of the original Metalwear gloves.
Now while that may not sound like earth-shattering news, this
is: both the Prodigy and Formula race gloves have been tested and meet the
EN13594:2002 standards for cut resistance, tear resistance, seam burst
resistance and abrasion resistance.
Many webBikeWorlders have been asking about "ECE approved"
gloves, so now you've got 'em. It's difficult to impossible to test and
compare protection in the real world, so an adherence to a recognized standard
is the next best thing, especially when it comes to something like burst
resistance and abrasion resistance.
The Exhibition Pro and Metalwear gloves haven't been tested to
the ECE standards, but Velocity Gear said they've used what they learned in
making the Prodigy and Formula gloves through the entire product line.
They're pretty confident about this, because the Prodigy and
Formula gloves have a lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects and the
entire product line has a "Half Price" replacement guarantee: "If your glove is destroyed for
any reason we'll replace it for half of it's original purchase price, no
questions asked."
"Ya can't beat that with a stick", as they say. So let's
take a look. Here's a quick no-chatter video just to get your juices
flowing, followed by the individual reviews.
Comments are ordered from most recent to oldest.
Not all comments will be published (details). Comments may be edited for
clarity prior to publication.
From "A.G." (10/09): "Thanks for
writing up the 2009 Velocity line of gloves with
integrated Knox SPS.
This review is very important to me as I have
suffered through a scaphoid fracture. It isn't a
joke and it isn't fun - when surgeons talk of fusing all
the bones in your wrist (solid) as a possibility in
treatment, you get a REALLY BIG wake up call.
Although I beat the odds - my scaphoid healed without
surgery - I have had some arthritis ever since and
constantly worry about incurring the same injury in case
of an accident. The Knox SPS system looks to be
the answer to my years of worry and I am already
shopping for a new pair of gloves that feature this
technology.
