Knox Handroid Glove Review - Believe the Hype
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When the Knox Handroid glove came to the market it was anticipated as being the greatest sports glove we've ever seen. Now that we have had a little over a year to see how it fairs it is clear to see that the Knox Handroid glove is indeed one of, if not the best sports motorcycle glove on sale today and at a price that is very competitive. Let's look then at what this snazzy glove is all about.
The main construction of the glove is Japanese race quality drum dyed Aniline leather, with some kangaroo leather on the palm section for added feel, and the thread that keeps all this hide together is Japanese polyester high tenacity thread.
The Exoskeleton
I suppose the most obvious thing people want to know about is the radical exoskeleton knuckle and finger protection on the back of the Knox Handroid glove. The plastic constructed exoskeleton on the glove runs from the middle knuckles back across the hand into the main knuckle and rear hand protection, which I might add covers pretty much the entire back of you hand, unlike most gloves that merely cover the main knuckles. This exoskeleton and rear hand armour does two things, the first being an impact resistant area that cover almost the entirety of the back of your hand meaning not only do you have a well protected area, but also any impact will be spread across a greater surface so it won't be compounded to any one particular area. The second is it acts as an amazingly abrasion resistant and again large surface. In the event of an off the tarmac is going to have to wear through the rather thick exoskeleton before it even gets to the leather which in itself is very abrasion resistant. Most motorcycle gloves now days come with knuckle and finger protection, but none to this sort of level. The above coupled with the cool biomechanical looks of the exoskeleton means the Knox Handroid glove simply flies off the shelves, and for good reason.
Further Innovation
The Knox Handroid glove continues to offer protection in other areas too where most gloves don't, most noticeably on the palm area. The Handroid's SPS (scaphoid protection system) is a group of small plastic sliders integrated into the palm of the hand. Quite naturally when we fall we put our hands out to stop us, and even a fool would know falling off a motorcycle at high speed and putting their hands out is going to cause damage, which I have to say I found out to my detriment at Paddock Hill Bend at Brands, which ended up breaking my scaphoid and inconveniencing me for a while. The SPS allows your hands to slide across the tarmac if we happen to put our palms down, which help stop the energy of the fall travelling straight into the wrist and up the arm. Also leather grabs very hard at the tarmac which can cause the hand to be pulled in all sorts of funny angles, where as plastic is going to do nothing but slide across the top of it, further reducing the chance of injury. On the inside of the wrist you have a small slider that is built into the under strap of the glove, and on each side of the wrist you have large armour sliders to protect against knocks and to further help the glove slide across the tarmac as opposed to grabbing.
Another innovative feature of the Knox Handroid glove is the "Dialled in" Boa lacing system. It's a fastening system that is commonly used on ski wear, but now it has made it into motorcycle clothing. Turning the cog on the top of the glove pulls the wires connected to it inward, which in turn pulls the elastic strap on the under side of the glove tight in around the bottom of your arm and wrist area and I've heard people comment that once fastened it feels like it's an extension of your leathers. Another couple of benefits are that the system will greatly reduce the chances of the cuff riding back up over you hand that you might get with a small Velcro strap, but also the system allows you to easily fasten each glove with both gloves on and it never feels fussy or finicky.
Does it work?
I've been able to hear some first hand views on the Knox Handroid glove and the general consensus is that they are comfortable, functional, give excellent feel and look amazing. I've also had a chance to see an 80mph crash damaged pair and although there is all the scuffing you would expect, the main construction and armour in the glove stood up to it amazingly and definitely wouldn't need replacing. What was important about seeing the crashed gloves though is that I could see that both the exoskeleton and SPS took the brunt of nearly all the damage and the leather on both side of the hand was nearly pristine. Although there have been some issues with stitching coming loose, this is only in a few cases and it's surprisingly common across a lot of high end gloves. It doesn't make it right, but it's not specific to Knox.
Conclusion
The Knox Handroid glove was hyped to the hilt when it first arrived a little over a year ago, and for good reason. It's combination of looks, comfort, usability, first class protection and very reasonable price tag make it easily one of the best sports motorcycle gloves on the market today and the Knox Handroid glove would be able to cut it with any of the current top brand gloves available today. What's best of all though about all this motorcycle clothing brilliance? It's British.