I chose these gloves for a summer tour from the UK to France, Germany, Hungary and Romania. I needed a good quality, robust, cool, well-fitting glove that would stand the test of long miles and remain comfortable. Being someone who likes to navigate via smartphone, touchscreen sensitivity was also a must.
Mens gloves just don’t do it for me, because they are always baggy at the wrong points and you play pot luck with sizing. There are more options for women on the market now and I’m so glad we have a choice.
These Rev’it Neutron 3 gloves actually fit my hand properly, right to the fingertips… what bliss! I used the chart on the Sportsbikeshop product page to determine my size and I’m a large. That came as a surprise as usually I’m an XS – but that’s all down to the difference between sizing for women and men, so get the tape measure out before buying.
Before these gloves I thought I couldn’t get comfort, flexibility and knuckle protection in the same glove. I thought a hard, ugly knuckle shell was the price I had to pay. I was wrong, because the Neutron 3 gloves have a ventilated flex knuckle with Temperfoam underneath. This makes them both comfortable and protective.
Rev’it have clearly thought long and hard about these gloves and how they need to be sympathetic to the parts and function of the human hand. They’ve used multiple materials to enable it to be both comfortable and practical – no mean feat.
Photography: Louisa Swaden
There’s goatskin, corduroy, microfibre and plastic-coated fabric and ventilated flex knuckles in addition to finger knuckle protectors and a knitted abrasion-resistant layer at the palms.
There’s a lot of stuff in there and the upshot is a carefully thought-out glove with safety, flexibility and safety in mind. The gloves isolate vulnerable parts of the hand and reinforce the protection with stronger materials. Very impressive.
I really admire these gloves not just for their technical complexity but for how they make me feel: almost like I’m not wearing gloves. Bending and using my fingers to grip, brake and change gear is easy and smooth. There was no compromise on dexterity at all. They’re not long in the wrist either, which suits me as I like to wear my glove under my sleeve.
The touchscreen fingertip works fine, even through a plastic window on my phone holder. I was glad Rev’It applied this to the thumb and index finger of both hands, because I often use these fingers to select things on the phone screen.
The cuff is quite narrow and is closed via a fold-over hook and loop system. Now here lies my only issue: sometimes when putting the glove on and wriggling my hand in the strap would pop out of the buckle/hook.
That meant I’d need to take off my other glove (if it was on) in order to feed that strap through the buckle again. It was a bit fiddly so I found myself being ultra-careful putting the gloves on every time. Not a deal-breaker, but for me just a bit of an oversight. A longer strap would have prevented this from happening.
As these gloves are fully ventilated they’d be no good in the rain of course, but for summer touring they are just fine. I can happily recommend these to anyone, except perhaps if you have extremely wide palms and wrists as it may be hard to get them into the glove without the strap popping out every time.
All in all I’m really happy with these gloves, I wore them all the time it wasn’t raining and they felt comfortable and snug, perfect for someone who likes to feel all the instruments cleanly as well as wanting things that are built to a super high-quality.
Fit & Comfort
The goatskin is so soft and flexible, a real treat to wear. Because of the thought that’s gone into the design of these gloves, they’re very comfortable all round, no baggy fingers or gaps between fingers full of air. Always measure up before ordering though, to get the right size.
Protection
Certified to CE Level 1, these gloves will provide limited protection but they will certainly reduce damage, particularly abrasion from low-speed impacts. You get good focus on the knuckles and palms with the different materials designed to protect these vulnerable areas.
Breathability
My hands always felt cool in these gloves, due to the fully ventilated outer shell. Any perspiration from my hands evaporated before it became a problem.
Build quality
The weaving together of many different materials, including stretch fabric, has been done smoothly and professionally, with thought to the final look and feel. No issues with anything, except I would like a longer closure strap!
Features
These are light gloves so many features from our list of possibles are missing – but for a lightweight summer glove I was impressed with all the features available. There’s attention to detail on every part of the hand, from the wrist to the fingertips, providing safety, flexibility and functional excellence.
You can read more from our reviewer Louisa Swaden at her blog site, The Existential Biker.