- Rev’it Contrast GTX Gloves review - August 18, 2025
- Merlin Solitude Laminated Jacket & Condor Laminated Pants - August 10, 2025
- DJI Osmo Action 5 - August 3, 2025
For my Arctic circle ride I outfitted myself with some new rider gear focused on dealing with wet weather. That included the Merlin Solitude Laminated jacket, Merlin Condor Laminated pants and these gloves which are also laminated.
Without repeating myself too much about what laminated gear is I have found that regular gear with Gore-Tex liners rely on the outer layer having a Durable Water Resist Coating (DWC) and when the DWC has washed away the outer layer can become waterlogged or ‘wets out’ as some people say, then water can transfer to inside the outer layer against the Gore-Tex not allowing it to breath and with gloves this can lead to them becoming clammy inside.
I was already planning to visit the flagship store of Held Gloves prior to my Norway ride while riding Germany to look for new Spring/Autumn gloves but having owned two pairs of Held Gore-Tex gloves I know from experience riding all day in rain they are only good for about 3-4 hours before the leather becomes waterlogged and the inside clammy (I even had this confirmed by the staff at Held on my visit).
I picked up these laminated gloves for Norway as I was expecting some days of wet riding possibly up to 7 hours and while I could manage that by using two pairs of Gore-Tex gloves as I used to do riding Japan the problem is getting those gloves dry for the next day. In Japan every hotel is well equipped with laundry and dryer and in room there are hair dryers but my info on Norwegian hotels was they had little in facilities (which was true most had nothing) so then I’d have a problem. Laminated gloves are said to drip dry quickly and the inside won’t need drying out.
Laminated items are said to be more stiff than non laminated but with gloves there is already a certain amount of resistance due to the knuckle armor and additional layers in impact zones and they do not feel any more stiff than other gloves. In fact since they are not winter gloves and only have a thin liner I’d say they feel more flexible than other pairs of gloves I own with thick liners. Also having the Gore-Tex liner bonded means one less loose liner inside so these gloves felt remarkably thin and provided great feedback.
Despite expecting cool weather I specifically did not want another pair of winter gloves. I have a couple of pairs already and very rarely get to use them after leaving Japan as they work in a narrow temperature range which I try to avoid. The Held gloves I purchased in Germany and will review soon are a Spring/Autumn type glove and these Rev’it Contrast gloves sit below those warmth wise so should suit Australian conditions more with our milder seasons.
The gloves are very comfortable and they are exactly right for the temperatures I imagined using them. They worked well for coolish starts then continued to be comfortable all morning as the temps rise and remained fine up into the mid twenties and even could cope with little higher as they breathed well. Very versatile and I was feeling pleased with them – until they fell apart.
After just 10 days of use the inner liner came apart (not the Gore-Tex liner, the cloth liner). I felt the liners at the fingers both gloves coming apart a couple of days prior so became very careful to hold the tips of the fingers when removing my hand but then the entire inner separated and came out from one glove.
This is very disappointing for such a expensive glove from a fairly well known brand name. I tried to get the liner back in but it was not really possible while on tour and even if I had then what – it will just come out next time I stop to take a photo and remove the glove. I reached out to Rev’it but no response and have been advised by other riders they simply fob people off.
I went back to using my worn out Rough & Road Gore-Tex gloves which I had hoped to retire on this ride but included as a backup should either of my new gloves be unsuitable.
I cannot say if the Rev’it gloves work in rain as I had very rare fine weather during my time in Norway but that is of no importance as you would not buy them if they are going to fall apart even if they were the best rain gloves in the world.
Buyer beware.
