Review: Royal Racing Signature Gloves

Sometimes you want a glove that almost feels like your not wearing a glove. That’s where Royal Racings Signature glove steps in. It has an incredibly thin palm, mesh backing to keep things cool, no velcro closure or rubber embossed logos to restrict movement. It’s the least amount of glove possible.

First Impressions.

“Wow, there’s absolutely nothing to them!”… I believe these were the first words that left my mouth on receiving the signature gloves. I was amazed out how minimal and how much it felt like I wasn’t wearing a glove it was. Royal claim its like wearing a second skin and honestly, it’s the closest that I’ve seen to a manufacturer producing that.

We are fans of the styling that is carried through from some of the other bits and bobs from the Signature range despite it being pretty subtle it certainly has that “factory” look about it we all strive for these days.

Technically Speaking.

There’s not that much tech that you could cram into a glove even if you tried but the point of the Signature glove is the simplicity. The palm is constructed from Clarino digital leather that is the top choice for comfort and grip. It’s only 0.5mm thick which is insanely thin for a mountain bike glove that admittedly probably lowers the life expectancy of the glove certainly makes up for it in the comfort stakes.

Interestingly I found the palm to be sufficiently thin around the finger tips that I could get the touch screen on my iPhone to work without taking them off. This isn’t something that Royal specify in the words that go along with the gloves and it may not work 100% of the time but it’s great to know!

One of my other pet hates with lightweight gloves is when manufactures feel it necessary to add extra pressure relieving patches on the palms that leave nasty lines of stitching that dig into your hand. Royal have got it spot on with the Signature and kept the working area of the palm absolutely clear from any troublesome stitching that gives vastly improved bar feel and personally I feel, overall comfort.

I hate the feeling of having something tight and restrictive around my wrist area, which is almost certainly why I normally ride without gloves as soon as my hands can bare the freezing temperatures. The Signature gloves don't feature any additional fastening around the top apart from a bit of elastic to keep things in place. This is all very well and good but it does mean you have to make sure you get exactly the right size otherwise you are going to end up with a baggy glove and nobody wants that!

The rear of the glove is made up of a polyester mesh that while riding you can actually feel the wind blowing through. This probably does rule it out of winter use in the UK but as things start to warm up it I can foresee that these will become my gloves of choice when spring sets in.

Conclusion.

I was really impressed with what I saw from Royals Signature gloves despite the relatively short time we’ve had them on test. Consequently I can’t comment on the long term reliability but with my experiences of Royal Racing over the past years they have improved no end. With the palm being so thin I wouldn’t expect the palm to last as long as a regular slightly more hardcore set of gloves but that’s a small price to pay considering the extra bar feel that you will gain.

If your looking for a lightweight set of trail gloves that are breathable minimal and stylish the Royal Signatures could be the ones for you.

Incredibly lightweight, thin and minimal design that provides almost as much feel on the bars as going without gloves entirely. Royals signature gloves will no doubt become our summer trail glove of choice.

RRP. £29.99

Royal Racing are distributed in the UK by Decade Europe.