First Look - ION bike's Path, Ledge & Wisp Gloves

ION releases a brand new range of bike gloves with two models for men and one for women. all of them feature “digtal_tips” for the digital natives, music nerds and mobile communication victims out there surfing trails. The “Path” (men) and “Wisp” (women) are light XC/AM gloves, while the “ledge” (men) offers more protection for enduro and gravity-oriented riders.

ION didn’t reinvent the glove but put some mind power into improving existing concepts. One aspect is the construction of fingertip panels that enable riders to use their touchscreen device without taking their gloves off. Most existing panel designs or stitchings aren’t really placed where your fingers touch the screen, e.g. when zooming in & out on a navigation app. ION’s digital_tips are located exactly on top of the finger tips, not just on the end of the inner hand leather panel. This massively improves the usability.

Knowing that a lot of riders just don’t give a shit about this technical feature, the German ION engineers kept the big picture in mind and also put some extra love into all the other little details that turn a regular glove into a great one. as a result, all 2013 gloves feature:

• An obligatory pre-fit, which means pre-curved fingers and inner palm
• One panel inside the hand made of very robust and comfortable synthetic leather called “holy_ cow” – for perfect grip and unobstructed bar feel.
• Silicone prints on brake fingers (revolutionary, isn’t it?)
• A “nose_charmer” on the thumbs to easily get rid of your sweat and snot.

The Path and Wisp are constructed almost identically, just ergonomically fine tuned for men and respectively for women. Both have an additional gel-pad on the palm for improved ergonomics without fatigue. The main material is a so-called “breath_mesh” which is extremely elastic and – you guessed right – breathable.

The ledge is a heavy-duty glove that is still very light. By using selected materials, hard core trail shredding ability is guaranteed: The knuckles are protected by a larger neo_panel and small rubber applications. The greatest advantage of neoprene is its flex and robustness that ION surf-wetsuits have always been known for. The main outer fabric is flex_mesh, a more robust version of the mesh fabric used in the XC/AM gloves. last but not least: The single piece inner panel is made of slightly thicker holy_cow leather without any stiches,but with an additional rubber print on the very outside (the palm section closest to the bar ends) for additional grip and slip protection in muddiest conditions. The XC/AM gloves retail for 29,90€: The Path for men in two colorways: Green/Yellow, silver Fade, and the Wisp for women in silver fade/red.

The ledge (eN/Fr model) is available in black/red for 39,90€.

ION bike gear will be available from late March / early april on in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, Spain, Norway, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Israel, South Africa, Japan, Australia, Peru and Brasil.

www.ion-products.com will be re-launched at the end of March (beta version / update in late april).