100 Percent iTrack Gloves
If I’m racing MX, I’ll take the 100 Percent iTrack glove above everything else. It’s only 35 bucks but even if I was a pro and I got my gear for free … I’d still take the iTrack.
This is really simple: stretchy airprene on the cuff, twill span across the back of the hand and the fingers for airflow and moisture-wicking. I love the logos, they look like something a factory rider would wear, but fair enough that’s just my opinion. This thumb panel – though – is objectively awesome. I always get blisters right here where my hand rubs up against the rubber disk on my grips, but the Clarino panel makes sure that doesn’t happen.
Single layer Clarino across the palm as well. It’s a type of imitation suede and it will wear through eventually. I’m not going to pretend that this is super durable because it isn’t. But the contact feel that I get through the palm is worth it. A perfect level of feedback.
Still on the palm, we have silicone on just the two braking fingers. A lot of companies will give you a handful of silicone but I like that 100 Percent held back. It’s more breathable, movable and lightweight like this and if I’m braking or clutching with more than two fingers, I probably shouldn’t be.
Finally, in between the fingers, this is Trek Dry. It literally pulls moisture out of my hands and flows air in, which is always good.
So that’s the 100 Percent iTrack glove. It’s crazy lightweight, crazy comfortable and crazy dexterous. I actually typed my notes on this glove while wearing it, so that gives you an idea of how unobtrusive it is. The only way I can put a number on it is weight – every other glove on my list clocks in around 60 grams, whereas the iTrack is 23, so that speaks for itself. Of course protection is nonexistent.
Fox Racing Bomber Gloves
Now, if I’m riding enduro, going fist first through a forest of trees, obviously I want some armour. The Fox Racing Bomber Glove is my first choice in that respect.
This costs around 60 bucks, which sounds about right. If I’m buying a protective dirt biking glove, I want to pony up and spend that little bit more. Manufacturers can do armoured gloves for a lot less but – invariably – they’ll just print some TPR detailing across the knuckles and fingers. And in my experience, cheapo TPR trades a lot of comfort for a little bit of protection.
I’m much better off spending the money for this. Full individually-molded knuckle guards, and hard shields across the four fingers as well.
Counting down the materials, we have neoprene at the cuff, then mesh at the wrist and over the thumb, perforated leather on the back of the hand, the palm is Clarino again, but I’m happy to see that it’s double layered on the high-pressure areas and there’s even some shock absorbing foam on the outside of the hand. Finally, on the two lever fingers there’s sticky silicone.
So that's the Fox Racing Bomber Glove. As the name suggests, it’s a bomb shelter for my hands. Still comfortable to wear though. The precurved body means it’s broken in right out of the box and there’s just enough mesh and perforated leather for summer use. I’d probably get the white anyway though, just to give this glove a head start on staying cool.
Klim Mojave Pro Gloves
Now, weather options. If I’m worried about staying cool in the extreme heat, I’ll take that 100 Percent iTrack again. But if I want to stay cool and be protected from impacts, that’s a taller order. And it comes with a taller price tag.
This is the Klim Mojave Pro Glove and it costs 100 bucks. It’s dedicated to hot weather use and with a name borrowed from the Mojave Desert, I probably could have guessed that.
Complete mesh upper, and this armouring is Poron XRD on all four knuckles and across three of the fingers. I love this stuff, I choose to ride in it, if I could buy shares in Poron I would. There’s a super high level of impact absorption but it’s also totally breathable, keeping with the theme of the Mojave.
Flipping it over, the palm is all micro-perforated leather. Same with the outer thumb panel and the outside of the wrist. Super breathable stuff, similar feel to Clarino but it has a much better abrasion resistance and better performance when wet.
This is the only glove on my list with a leather palm, so it’s also the only glove I would take ADV riding. For dual-sport, I’d have the Fox Bomber no problem but if I’m seeing a lot of pavement, I want this leather palm.
The glove is comfortable to wear. Klim used stretch-mesh in the key movement zones so it’s a well-articulated fit. I have one big gripe about the Mojave Pro though, and that’s the cuff. It’s about an inch longer than a typical off-roading glove, which doesn’t make any sense. It’s not long enough to be a useful gauntlet, but it’s just long enough so I feel the fabric bunching and pulling when I move my wrist.
In my opinion, that’s a rare boneheaded move from Klim.
Fox Racing Polarpaw Gloves
And finally, the cold weather option.
This is Fox Racing’s Polarpaw glove and I’ll probably buy a pair this season. In a lot of ways, it’s similar to what we’ve already seen. Clarino palm, doubled up on the high-stress areas, sticky silicone across the fingers – in ice-blue which is rather appropriate for a cold-weather glove – lots of neoprene up top, and this is TPU armouring on the knuckles, which you know I’m not crazy about but for a 50-dollar glove I probably shouldn’t complain.
The thing that makes the Polarpaw special is that: A – it’s not ventilated. And B – it’s lined with this fleece-y material.
I tend to get overexcited for the dirt biking season, meaning that I hit my first ride when there’s still snow on the ground. A glove like this – keeps my digits from freezing up. What amazes me is how slim Fox has kept the design. Next to the bomber glove from earlier, you’d hardly be able to tell that the Polarpaw is insulated.
In a perfect world, this glove would be waterproof. But it’s not. If I want a waterproof dirt biking glove, I pretty much have to borrow from the sport bike world. Alpinestars has a couple Gore-Tex options that come to mind.
So that’s it for my favorite off-roading gloves. Simple and fast, technical and armoured, great for hot weather, and great for cold weather. By the way, my hand is 7 7/8 inches long, 9-inches in palm circumference and I fit a large in all of these gloves.