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Alpinestars SMX-2 A C Glove

Posted by Kenn Stamp
Friday, 27 July 2007
Words and Pictures by Kenn Stamp Along with the boots they sent me, Alpinestars also sent me their SMX-2 A C glove. Now I've had enough gloves in my life (quite a few of them were Alpinestars) that I can tell pretty quickly whether a glove is going to "fit" me or not and I don't mean in size. I am one of these people that has definite likes and dislikes in gloves, I know what works for me and what doesn't work for me. So when Alpinestars offered a pair of the gloves you see here I was pretty excited about getting them. My last gloves are/were Alpinestars and until the palm blew out (from getting wet and then drying and then wet again......) I liked them a lot. I took the gloves out and gave them the ol' once over to see how they were put together. First impression? They seem like a decent pair of gloves. Couple of minor things that I wasn't crazy about. First, and Alpinestars is not the only company to do this, I like gloves that come OVER the jacket and these don't. Is that bad? Not if you are like most riders who probably don't care. So I'll say no problem with the gloves and move on to the next point. Point two has to do with the small velcro fastener around the wrist. I have never liked the small fastener idea. Alpinestars is again not the only company to do this as it seems to be an industry standard. It just really bothers me. Go ahead and call me Don and point out the nearest windmill, I'll understand. Looking at the top of the gloves we see that the knuckles are covered in carbon fiber. The armor is placed in a floating leather sheath that allows some movement to limit or eliminate binding or pinching in the knuckle area. The knuckle protection fit my knuckles perfectly the first time I put the glove on; something that my old Alpinestars did not do. You will also notice that the gloves have a finger joint protector in rubber on each finger. Moving onward towards the palm of the glove we find a Clarino synthetic leather palm with full grain leather reinforcements. As you can see the leather is pretty plentiful on the palm of the hand. A nice touch is in the padded leather reinforcement which sits at the heal of your hand and does provide some cushioning when your hand is on the grips. Also, the gloves have silicon printing on the fingertips (first two on each hand) to ensure a better grip. It works very well to keep your fingers on the lever and is a nice touch. My only question about the design of the silicone printing is; why does it look like a rocket? Interesting isn't it. This brings us to the picture below and one of the two things that I find fault with these gloves. The thumb is almost entirely covered in breathable fabric. While this does allow the air to move freely, greatly cooling the hand within, it does little to nothing for protection in a fall. It is hard to see in the picture but the leather from the palm ends mid-point up the side of your thumb. This allows the entire top half of your thumb to be exposed. This is probably the biggest fault I have with these gloves. The only other thing (which should lessen over time) is that the seams are on the inside of the glove and will leave nice indentations on your hands. One thing these gloves do really well is flow some serious air around your hands. If you live in the sub-tropical wasteland known as Florida (or God's waiting room as it is sometimes called) a lot of airflow is greatly desired. These gloves deliver that airflow and more. Overall, a stylish glove that just isn't quite up to the level of design that I have seen in other Alpinestars products. If Alpinestars would protect the thumb a little better and either trim the seams a little or place them outside the glove, these would go from good gloves for the price to great gloves for the price. Discuss this article Here. View more info about these glove go Here

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