Racer's Mickey is a shorty summer motorcycle glove with a combination of leather, Clarino, mesh and SuperFabric armor. They offer strong levels of protection with hot-day breathability – and by some sorcery, the fingers work on a smartphone screen.
I've never had a pair of shorty motorcycle gloves before; all my riding jackets seem to need a big gauntlet to keep their cuffs under control. But when Lee at Racer Gloves USA was kind enough to hand me a sample pair of Mickey gloves on the way through his warehouse near Santa Cruz, California, I was immediately impressed.
They're a summer glove, and as such they let a fair bit of air through thanks to thin fabric between the fingers and a mesh outlet closer to the wrist. But they offer a bunch of protection thanks to full leather across the palm heel, the little finger and over the top, chunky knuckle guards and a big ol' scaphoid protector on the palm.
The knuckle guards and scaphoid protector are covered in SuperFabric, a honeycomb material that offers massive abrasion resistance. The theory here is that these gloves will slide on the armor pads without catching on the road. I'm not planning to test the theory.
The non-critical inner palm bits and fingers are Clarino synthetic leather, and the fingers get a bunch of small silicone triangles for grip. I'm not sure I notice much difference with the silicone bits, but by some sorcery this combination means I can use my smartphone without taking the gloves off, which is great.
In terms of fit and feel and riding with these things, I only have one bad thing to say: they're a pain in the butt to pull on, especially if you've got a bit of sweaty hand action going on. They're tight and the I'll admit I'm lazy enough that this has made me choose a different glove on a few occasions.
Once they're on, they feel like a second skin, give you lots of ventilation on a hot day, offer excellent feel to the controls of the bike with plenty of thumb flexibility, and the scaphoid protectors give you a bit of extra grab on the bars. Plus they look pretty badass. So consider this a thumbs-up from me! Racer Mickeys retail for US$115 a pair.
More information: Racer Gloves USA.
