How to choose the right motorcycle gloves for your riding
Which Motorcycle Glove Is Right for Me?
Your hands hit the ground first in almost every fall. It's a reflex you can't switch off. Here's how to match the right glove to how you ride, from people who ride.
When you fall, your hands shoot out to catch you. It's automatic. That makes them the most likely part of you to hit the road and the least forgiving place to get it wrong.
The skin on your palms is thin and packed with nerves and tendons. Grind it off on pavement and you're looking at a long recovery, sometimes surgery, and months off the bike. A proper pair of gloves is the cheapest insurance against the most common injury in motorcycling. Fingerless fashion gloves won't save your palms. Real gloves will.
There's no single best glove. The right one depends on what you ride and where. Let's get you into the right pair.
Why Gloves Aren't Optional
Every rider knows the reflex. Lose the front, clip a mirror, get tapped at a light, and your hands go out first without you deciding anything. If they're bare or wrapped in something with no armour, the road wins.
A good glove does three jobs at once: it takes the first impact on the knuckles, it lets your hand slide instead of catch and twist, and it keeps abrasion off the thin skin of your palm. Skip any one of those and you've got a fashion accessory, not protection.
Glove Style by How You Ride
The three big categories break down by riding style, and each one prioritises a different kind of protection. Match the glove to how you actually ride, not how you wish you rode.
Sport & Track: Gauntlet, Maximum Armour
Sport and track gloves are built for the highest speeds and the hardest impacts, so they go all in on protection. Expect a full gauntlet cuff that seals over your jacket sleeve, hard knuckle armour, palm sliders, reinforced fingers, and often a wrist tether so the glove physically can't come off in a slide. They're the least ventilated and least casual of the three, but if you're chasing lap times or riding fast on the street, this is the trade you want.
Look for finger bridging. A connector that ties your pinky and ring finger together is one of the smartest details in a sport glove. In a tumble your smallest finger is the one most likely to snag and get pulled apart. Five build an anti-twist accordion band between the ring and little fingers on the RFX Race, and Alpinestars run their own little-finger bridge on their sport gloves. It's the kind of thing you never think about until it saves your hand.
Street & Commuting: Abrasion and Comfort
Street gloves balance protection against everyday usability. You're not sealing over your cuff for a track session, you're grabbing them off the shelf every morning and working levers, phone screens, and gas pumps. The priority here is abrasion resistance across the whole glove and palm sliders that let your hand slide instead of catch and twist, which is what breaks wrists. Short or mid-cuff is normal, ventilation is better, and a good street glove still carries knuckle protection and a secure wrist closure. This is where kangaroo leather earns its reputation: thinner and more abrasion-resistant than cowhide for its weight.
Dirt & Adventure: Light, With Armour Where It Counts
Off-road flips the priorities. You're moving your hands constantly, working the clutch and controls for hours, and grip fatigue is a real safety issue, so dirt and adventure gloves are deliberately light and thin. Sliding abrasion matters less here because you're usually going down on dirt, not tarmac. What you care about is impact, so a good off-road glove keeps the material minimal but still protects the knuckles and fingers from roost, rocks, and the occasional bar impact. REV'IT's dirt and adventure collection is a great example of this philosophy: lightweight construction with armour placed exactly where the hits land.
Protection Features That Matter
Whatever category you land in, these are the things that separate real protection from a fashion accessory:
- Knuckle protection. A hard or reinforced knuckle guard takes the first impact.
- Palm sliders. Hard or reinforced patches let your hand slide instead of catch and twist.
- Abrasion-resistant material. Leather or quality textile across the whole glove, not just the back. Kangaroo hide gives you the most abrasion resistance for the least bulk.
- Finger bridging. A connector between the pinky and ring finger stops your smallest finger snagging and breaking in a slide.
- A secure wrist closure. A glove that flies off on impact protects nothing. You want a strap that locks it to your wrist, and on sport gloves a full tether.
- A CE rating where available. This tells you the glove passed real abrasion and impact testing rather than just looking the part.
Our Glove Picks
These are the gloves we keep coming back to across the three categories. Honest pros and cons on each so you can match one to how you actually ride.
The Handroid is the most distinctive sport glove on the market and one of the best protected. The exoskeleton finger spines cover the tops of the fingers for impact and abrasion, while the Knox Scaphoid Protection System guards the edge of the hand against the wrist twist that breaks wrists in a slide. The BOA dial closure micro-adjusts to a perfect, secure fit every time and carries a lifetime guarantee.
The palm is ethically sourced 0.8mm kangaroo leather, thinner and stronger than cowhide, so you get high abrasion resistance without losing feel at the levers. Long cuff, touchscreen enabled, CE certified to EN 13594.
The Good
- Exoskeleton spines and scaphoid protection
- 0.8mm kangaroo palm, thin and abrasion-resistant
- BOA dial closure with lifetime guarantee
- Touchscreen enabled, long cuff
Be Aware
- Distinctive look isn't for everyone
- Premium price and a real break-in period
Alpinestars is the benchmark for gauntlet sport gloves, and their little-finger bridge is one of the details that keeps riders loyal. Full-length cuff, hard knuckle, palm sliders, and a wrist closure that genuinely locks the glove on. If you want a proven track-ready glove, this is the safe pick.
The Good
- Pinky-to-ring finger bridging
- Proven track pedigree
- Wide size range and fit options
Be Aware
- Stiffer out of the box
- Warm for hot-weather commuting
The RFX Race is Five's flagship and one of the most protective gloves you can buy. Its triple protective shell is made from Thermoset Carbon Composite, the kind of material used in aerospace and Formula 1, for exceptional abrasion resistance if your hand gets trapped between the road and the bike in a long slide. Full-grain cowhide topside, supple goatskin palm, and an internal Kevlar lining back it up.
The detail that matters most in a crash: an anti-twist accordion band between the ring and little fingers that stops your fingers being pulled apart in a fall. The adjustment strap hides under a protective flap so the glove can't be torn off. This is the glove Five's riders use in MotoGP, SBK, and Endurance racing. CE Level 2 certified.
The Good
- CE Level 2, the highest common rating
- Carbon thermoset shell and Kevlar lining
- Anti-twist band between ring and little finger
- Race-proven in MotoGP and SBK
Be Aware
- Full race glove, premium price
- Stiff until broken in
The Dirt 4 is exactly the off-road philosophy in action: a light, breathable glove that lets your hands work all day without fighting you at the bars. Full goatskin palm gives you real handlebar control and dexterity, while a fully ventilated 3D air mesh keeps things cool on long adventure days.
The protection is placed where dirt hits land: a TPU hard-shell knuckle, a TPU hard-shell palm slider, a hard-shell thumb protector, and Temperfoam padding through the finger and thumb knuckles. Short cuff, hook-and-loop closure, conductive fingertips for your phone. CE Level 1 certified, and at $154.99 it's the value pick of the lineup.
The Good
- Light and fully ventilated, low grip fatigue
- TPU hard-shell knuckle, palm and thumb protection
- Goatskin palm for real control
- Best value in this guide
Be Aware
- Less sliding abrasion resistance than a race glove
- Not for high-speed tarmac use
How to Size Your Gloves
A glove should be snug with no loose fingertip space, because loose material bunches and tears in a slide. You want to make a fist comfortably and feel the controls clearly. If it pinches across the knuckles when you grip the bar, size up or try another cut.
How to Measure
Wrap a soft tape measure around your dominant hand at the widest point, just below the knuckles, not including your thumb. Measure in centimetres and match it to the table below. If you land between two sizes, size up for winter gloves and down for a snug summer or race fit.
| Hand circumference (cm) | Glove size |
|---|---|
| 17 – 18 | XS |
| 19 – 20 | S |
| 21 – 22 | M |
| 23 – 24 | L |
| 25 – 26 | XL |
| 27 – 28 | 2XL |
Fit note: sizing varies between brands and even between models. A race glove runs tighter than a touring glove on purpose. Always work the levers and brakes in a glove before you commit, and if you're ordering online, message us your hand measurement and how you ride and we'll point you to the right size.
The Verdict
Match the glove to how you ride. Here's the quick version:
| Glove | Best For | Why It Wins |
|---|---|---|
| Knox Handroid Mk5 | Sport / Track | Exoskeleton spines, kangaroo palm and BOA dial closure. The statement glove. |
| Alpinestars Gauntlet | Sport / Track | The proven, safe track pick with finger bridging and full gauntlet armour. |
| Five RFX Race | Sport / Track | Top-tier CE Level 2 protection with an anti-twist finger band. Race proven. |
| REV'IT Dirt 4 | Dirt / Adventure | Lightweight, ventilated, hard-shell armour where the hits land. Best value. |
Not Sure Which Glove Is Yours?
Tell us how you ride and we'll match you to the right protection, feel, and fit. Every glove we carry is vetted by riders who actually use it.
Shop All Gloves →