Helimot H-20 Leather Riding Gloves ~ Review

[Purspeed]

I don’t have a lot of money, but I’ve spent the better part of 15 years finding the absolute finest in safety gear that money can buy. My reasoning is since you cannot buy a new limb, I figure that it’s best to prevent the injury in the first place.

After trying and examining the top brand designs, it leaves me feeling a bit confused. Most of the gloves are barely fit for mowing the lawn, much less protecting the hand from a crash. This statement may seem extreme, but go out to your local motorcycle gear shop and check for your self (note: pictures in catalogs, however attractive, simply cannot reveal the true quality of a glove).

After reading about the Helimot H20 glove on the Internet, I decided to do a bit of research. Here are the highlights on what I found:

The kangaroo-leather (stronger, thinner and more dexterous than cowhide) fingers contain no external seams, so it resists splitting open on impact. The H20 uses a proprietary dense foam (soft) armor that reduces impact forces to the hand (hard armor like carbon fiber knuckles will transmit energy forces to the hand). The dense foam is incorporated throughout the glove and in thicknesses that dissipate impact forces and help prevent broken bones. The engineered construction, fit and finish are a reflection of its German roots.

After buying two sets of these gloves and wearing them for about half a year, here are my observations:
The H20 glove is simply a design that makes sense. If you put on a pair of these gloves and punch the 90-degree edge of a concrete wall, you’ll feel nothing. If you put on a pair of standard or even so-called “high end” motorcycle gloves, instinctively you won’t even try this test. Why? Because you’ll know…it’s gonna to hurt!

So, the question I ask myself is this: if a pair of motorcycle safety gloves cannot protect the hand for a modest punch to a wall, how will they protect me in the event of a real motorcycle crash?

The H20 glove seems so logical you would think that companies would settle on this elemental design, add their own colors and twists and set up production. Sadly, this is not the case. It’s like a pair of Frey-Daytona Security boots, a beautifully simple design that incorporates unique safety system of a hard-shell inner boot and soft, elegant outer boot. Why companies don’t follow suit is beyond me. But, I suppose it may have something to do with the idea that just because a product appears simple and intuitive, doesn’t mean it is.

Think Apple iPhone.

Back to the H20’s, the reality is that if Helimot devoted its modest resources to marketing, then I do not believe that the product would be as such. Marketing costs a lot of money and time. What you have is a product that is well respected and used by some of the biggest names in motorcycle racing. And its popularity is probably due to the most powerful form of advertising: word of mouth from owners who know what good gear is.

If you are interested in proper safety gear that will truly protect your hands, incorporate comfort and quality, know this: The Helimot H20 motorcycle gloves is the world’s top designed, best executed motorcycle glove on the market.


http://shop.helimot.com/shopexd.asp?id=64

[Alex]

Helmut's shop is right down the street from me, he (and his employees) make all his stuff right there. ("Helimot" is a contraction of his name, his wife's name Linda, and "mot" ). I've gone through 5 sets of his gloves at this point, and I'm mostly happy with them. They do provide good protection, and they are reasonably comfortable. But they are quite expensive, and they don't last that long if you wear them often. No, they won't have big seam failure because of the great design, but there's always a thread coming out here or there, or a small seam that needs some repair, or another issue over time. Helmut is a great guy and takes care of his customers, so whenever I've gone in with an issue he does get things straightened out and is always fair. One time he even sold me some pre-production H20's, made out of much thinner, but supposedly stronger, material for the palm surface. Felt great! Was just like your own skin on the controls. But it turned out to be weaker than expected over time, so he took 'em back after a few months and sold me another set of H2O's for $50 or so.

For track use I've got a 1-piece custom Helimot suit, one of his back protectors, as well as the gloves.

[Purspeed]

I didn't mention this in the review, but one of my pairs of gloves is actually a custom fit glove. Helmut was very kind and decided to custom cut the glove to my hand. He will do so if you use your Jedi Mind Trick (but use it sparingly).

[devinjc]

How well do these breathe? I've some how lost a glove (took both off and put them on the table in the garage... now there is only 1 there) and appear to be in the market.

At $200 they will be an all the time glove...

Oh, nevermind for $220 I can get "the greatest warm weather motorcycle glove around."

http://shop.helimot.com/shopexd.asp?id=63

Soon what I wear while riding will have cost as much as what I ride. Ok, not really.

[kkim]

Originally Posted by devinjc

Soon what I wear while riding will have cost as much as what I ride. Ok, not really.

lol... same here... but, you can't really put a price on safety. My motto has always been, buy the very best safety gear you can afford.

[Alex]

They work well for me as an all year glove; I use them for everything from trackdays to touring, in all the temps that we have here in northern california. Which means I'm not taking them into the arctic chill, but other than that they work well for me in a pretty wide temp range.

[randomwalk101]

I have never use helimot glove but I do have their back protector. For glove, I use dainese full metal racer. If it's good enough for Rossi, it's good enough for me )
Posted via Mobile Device

[Purspeed]

Originally Posted by devinjc

How well do these breathe? I've some how lost a glove (took both off and put them on the table in the garage... now there is only 1 there) and appear to be in the market.

At $200 they will be an all the time glove...

Oh, nevermind for $220 I can get "the greatest warm weather motorcycle glove around."

http://shop.helimot.com/shopexd.asp?id=63

Soon what I wear while riding will have cost as much as what I ride. Ok, not really.

Helimot offers a full summer glove (a new product made with tough textiles) that is the same design as the H-20's.

I think that they also offer a hybrid (part leather, part textile) version of the H-20's. I personally have two sets of leather H-20's and the SoCal summer heat doesn't really bother me.

My next set will be a full textile H-20.

Btw, it's my motto that if the gear doesn't cost about 1/3 or so of the bike cost+, then something ain't right.