Alpinestars GP Pro gloves review

Reviewed by: Tony Carter for 10,000+ miles RRP: £1500

I’m on my third pair of these gloves for one simple reason, they work extremely well. The body armour is plentiful and tough. Don’t worry if these gloves look a bit ‘too much’ body armour for you because although they do look like they should be uncomfortable they are actually very easy to get on with.

Well, that is once you’ve got past the breaking-in period. I’ve always found that the fingers in the GP Pro gloves are initially a tad short but stick with them and after the first couple of weeks of riding these beauties will feel like they’ve been custom made.

Venting along the back of the hands is top notch but does mean that the GP Pros are definitely not the handwear you want for anything other than dry days with the merest hint of a very light shower.

The palm is cut short to stop excess material bunching up on the throttle and the huge wrist cuff makes life very easy when getting the gloves on over a leather jacket’s sleeves. There’s a palm strap to make sure everything stays in place in the event of a spill, too.

And talking of spills, I can recommend these gloves in that area also. I’ve crashed twice in GP Pros, once on track and once on the road and both times the gloves sailed through while I suffered no hand injury at all.

And in my book, I can’t give a higher recommendation than that. I’ve scored them nine out of 10 just because at around the £150 mark they are pricey (but how much do you value your fingers?) and they do take a while to bed in, certainly more time than a lot of other makes of glove out there. Also, the finger bridge – a natty piece of leather that spans across the small and next-along finger to reduce the amount of injury the little finger suffers in a fall – will take some time to get used to if you’ve never ridden with it before, but stick with it. It does feel odd, but it’s there for a proven reason.

Don’t let any of those final points put you off the GP Pros. These are about as good a glove as motorcycling has at the moment. You won’t go far wrong.

More info: www.alpinestars.com