Veloce Gear USA

I've posted my Veloce Achillia gloves review for all the ladies out there looking for a strong, aggressive street glove that's actually going to protect your hands/wrists, the you've come to the right place: http://www.gearchic.com/achillia.html

With kangaroo palms and a strong reinforced gauntlet, Veloce has submitted a real race glove just for women. These are not men's gloves with women's sizing. They were designed and engineered just for us! Back in August, I was fortunate to sit down with Michael O, the founder of Veloce Gear USA, to find out what his company was offering its female riders in terms of real protective motorcycle gear. I had no doubt that the company had options for men, all I wanted to know was what they had in store for those of us looking for more than just 'pretty' gear.

When we started talking, I immediately realized that he wasn't a typical apparel manufacturer, trying to utilize flashy marketing in order to sell the product. His priority is making a safe, protective gear that will work the way it's intended for the serious rider. Michael knew that spending thousands of dollars on marketing Veloce's products wasn't how he wanted to represent Veloce. Instead, he's going the non traditional route of finding local dealers/retailers who will provide exclusive representation and knowledge of Veloce's products. As an amateur racer in the 90s, Michael realized the need for thoughtful, functional and quality leathers for riders wasn't being met by his standards. Today that need is being met by the work he's doing at Veloce. Trying to serve the rider's need wasn't enough, so he decided to take on one of the most ambitious, difficult design choices. Women.
Designing women's fashions is one thing, but then think of making it protective and functional on a motorcycle! Michael found out very quickly that the shape and form of a woman is entirely different than a man. Everything from how our hands and fingers articulate, to why our hips can be wider than our chests, or vice versa to how to accommodate a woman's chest in a 1 piece leather suit.

The Achillia 1 Piece women's race suit on the left is scheduled to be released sometime in October. Michael gave me a sneak peak of the suit after his female test racer sent it back to him after a high speed crash on the track. Which she subsequently walked away from. Just as the Achillia gloves, this suit was so soft and supple, I didn't believe him when he told me it was only worn once. Aside from some road rash and minor discoloration from sliding, this suit looked like it had simply been worn over and over again. I was particularly intrigued by the back of the suit, in which the way Veloce applied their (proprietary) inverted "V" accordion to the back and hips, where many women need a little more give when bending over.

When it's released, I'll be able to get some more thorough photos, but in the meantime, these will give you an idea of how well the suit is made and how it'll hold up in a crash. I hope to try this suit on when it comes out to get a better idea of how it fits.

Held Sprint Gloves on Sale!

If you've ever had a pair of Held Gloves, you know how amazing they are. They tend to last incredibly long, and loyal Held customers will hold onto their gloves until the bitter end. Generally, Helds are generously cut on the wrist and across the knuckles, and can be good for people with shorter fingers. A small hand like myself would fit a size 7. It looks like 9.5 is already sold out (Large--XLarge).  They even have a detailed size description with pictures and a recommended Held Sizing Chart. Priced at under $140, these would make an excellent pair of day to day gloves if you need (or want) a new pair.

• http://www.newenough.com/closeouts/gloves/held/sprint_motorcycle_gloves.html
• Palm in highly abrasion-resistant sweat-proof and colorfast grey kangaroo leather
• Back in Pittards specially treated WR 100 leather; fully padded with shock-absorbing SUPROTECT and Kevlar® branded fiber
• Additional ceramic/polymer matrix and Kevlar® branded fiber at finger knuckles and ball of the thumb
• Tunnel strap on the cuff with two additional Velcro closures
• Visor wiper

New Review.

Check out my Racer High End Gloves review here!

SideStandUp Aug.4, Gloves

This month's SSU topic was all about Gloves! One can never have enough pairs of gloves, in my opinion. How important are your hands? your wrists? Maybe you're an architect, a software engineer, a construction worker, a lawyer, a teacher, or a fabricator. No matter what you do for a living, I imagine using both of your hands is crucial to the success of your occupation.

So why shouldn't full fingered, leather gloves be important while riding your motorcycle? If you think about how long a good pair of gloves can last (sometimes 5-10 years, if you buy the right pair), they are well worth every penny. It can be hard to justify $100-$200 or even $300 for a pair of gloves. My wonderful friend Brian (you rule!) who works with me at Scuderia, gently reminds customers that if you take the average number of days a year that you ride (say 5 days a week x 52 weeks= 260) and divide it by how much you spend on one pair of gloves (say $100 for a decent pair of gloves with protection), that equals $2.60/day!

And more than likely, a good pair of gloves will last you at least 2-3 years. If you want your gloves to last 5-10 years, then you definitely need to spend at least a couple hundred dollars. So how do you find that perfect pair? Well first, narrow down your options by figuring out what kind of glove you're looking for:

• Summer: Perforated, ventilated
• Winter: Waterproof, insulated
• Year Round: Street, track, touring

In San Francisco and the rest of the Bay Area, these are the kinds of gloves that work here, given the year round fantastic weather that we have (except in San Francisco in July and August, when it's 60 degrees, windy and foggy):

Yes, these are ALL women's gloves! I would highly recommend the basic gloves for those of you riding scooters as well. The Olympias are probably the most popular scooter gloves that are sold at Scuderia.

Basic: (less than $70, all leather, full fingered, 3 season gloves, not waterproof, minimal armor)

Better: (more armor, stronger gauntlet, higher quality leather, $100 and up)

The Phantom goes down to a Size 6, which is pretty small for a race glove. So if you have really small hands and need a fantastic glove, you'll love the Phantoms.

Finally, when you're shopping for gloves, you'll want to assess fit in the following ways:

• Are they snug enough so that when they stretch they will still fit?
• Leather gloves will stretch so try to buy the snuggest size you can.
• How do they feel when working the throttle, clutch and front brake? Do you feel any extra 'bunching' of material along the palms, fingers?
• Remember that you'll never make a closed fist while riding, so assessing fit while opening your hands all the way and making a closed fist doesn't matter. You'll never fully extend your fingers straight out either, so remember that fit around the throttle is most important.
• When your hand is wrapped around the throttle, are your fingertips pushing up against the inside seam? Or do they just touch the inside? If they're just touching, that's normal. You just don't want added pressure onto the seam.
• Can you fit the gauntlet over your jacket? Or will your sleeves go over the gauntlet? Keep in mind that putting your gauntlet over your sleeve will keep you warmer and prevent air from going up the sleeves.

For me, my hands are the second most important part of my body when I gear up. I hope they are for you too!