MC Tested: Racer Women's Grip Motorcycle Gloves

We all have a favorite pair of gloves that we simply cannot let go of. Despite wearing through parts of the palm, or scraping them up in a crash , the beloved favorite pair almost become a part of us. This was the case with my long-loved Racer gloves that I bought nearly 10 years ago. I wore those suckers thin, endured a minor crash (that shaved the carbon knuckles down a bit), and dreamed of replacing them with another pair. Sadly, I could not find them for sale again anywhere.

Fast forward to today, and Racer has re-released, and updated their gloves to offer a full lineup of women's (and men's) gloves. Needless to say, I've been eager to get my hands on (or, rather, in) these new mitts. Racer sent me a pair of the Women's Grip glove, in their summer glove category, and I've spent a few months now testing these gloves out.

The goatskin leather of the Women’s Grip glove feels strong and durable, and the pre-curved shape makes gripping the throttle comfortable, even during long rides. There’s an extra patch of high quality Pittard’s leather on the palm that gives the glove some longevity and grip. Thanks to the perforated leather on either side of the thumb and fingers, as well as back of the wrist and along the gauntlet, air flows well enough to keep my hands a comfortable temperature in all but the hottest of weather (like over 100 degrees).

A few other features found on the fingers of the gloves include extra abrasion resistant protection on the middle knuckles, as well as hard molded protection for the base knuckles. The hard molded piece features a printed pattern reminiscent of racetracks (white printed on black or black printed on white, depending on your color choice.) At the base of each finger, the leather is accordion ribbed, which gives extra dexterity for clutching and braking.

I always prefer to wear gloves with gauntlets, since a crash can pull your jacket sleeve back and expose the wrist to road rash or worse. The Women’s Grip gloves gauntlets are adjustable with hook and loop closure. I’ve adjusted the opening of the gauntlets a few times, depending if I want to wear the gauntlets inside my sleeve (for a more minimal look), or outside my sleeve (for sport riding.) An extra strap right at the wrist lets me cinch the gloves on tight so I know they won’t be pulled off easily.

According to Racer’s sizing chart (which goes from XS to L for ladies), I should wear a size Small in their women’s gloves. Sadly, for whatever reason, Racer does not currently offer their women’s gloves in Small (or Extra Small); only Medium through X-Large are available. (I suspect this is a re-labeling of the men’s sizes.) What does this mean for the gloves I’ve been wearing? The fingers of the gloves are a bit long for my hands, and there’s extra room in the palm, too. I would love to give these gloves a thorough test in the correct size, but it doesn’t seem like Racer will be making smaller sizes any time soon. Which makes me wonder: why even show measurements for sizes Extra Small and Small, if they don’t actually offer the gloves in that size? This is my biggest gripe about these gloves.

Aside from the sizing issue, I think these are fantastic gloves. If you’re a motorcycling lady (or know one) who usually wears size Medium, Large, or Extra Large gloves, I would strongly recommend checking out the Racer Gloves Women’s Grip gloves. They come in black with white accents or white and black, are currently offered in sizes Medium through Extra Large, and ring in at $159.99. See racerglovesusa.com for more info.