The Teknic Road Iron Gloves (also known as the Teknic “Iron Road” Gloves) are an interesting entry for 2007 in the summer glove market. While Teknic markets the gloves in their “Cruiser Highway” collection for 2007, this glove is sure to be popular with more than just the bad-ass Big Twin crowd. This is a short cuff-less style glove meant for warmer riding on the open road.
The Road Iron gloves feature an aluminum knuckle protector that is riveted into place with a very cool (or cute, depending on your point of view!) skull and crossbones design stamped into it. The chassis of the glove is made from Analine 0.8mm cowhide and it’s fully lined with a breathable Nylex material. The complete upper side of the glove is well perforated as are the sides of all of the fingers.
There are two nicely placed memory foam pads on each palm for absorption, which are sandwiched between a dual layer of leather in those areas. The glove is finished with details of the Teknic iron cross logo on the back and opposing white sections of leather with decorative rivets to give a somewhat skeletal look about it. Initially you look at this glove and think Road Warrior Meets Summer, with variations on the theme already set by the Icon Ti-Max original glove (See the wBW review). There are some significant differences between the two, however.
I am not sure I would necessarily put as much trust into the aluminum knuckle plates on the Road Iron gloves as I would into the Titanium protectors on the Ti-Max gloves.
But at least the Road Iron plates are backed with a double layer of leather on the underside of the plate overtop of the chassis to create that “knuckle tunnel” system.
This puts a fair amount of material between your knuckles and whatever they should possibly meet.
The Road Iron gloves feel surprisingly supple when brand new, which makes break-in minimal, if needed at all. And finally, the air flows through the Road Iron gloves very well indeed!
The absence of a closure at the wrist was disconcerting for me at first. I almost always wear gloves with full gauntlets to ride.
The first couple of times I made a fist, I could feel the knuckle plate rolling around and molding to the shape of my hand. Well, it is pliable, so don’t be surprised by this.
The gloves are thin enough to allow a fair amount of feel and dexterity, yet they still provide some confidence that there’s something more substantial on my hand than many of the textile gloves I’ve worn.
The fingers are pre-curved to allow a natural roll of the hand around the controls without resistance. The tips of the fingers are constructed so that they do not leave a seam to dig under my fingernail tips.
All told, the gloves are very comfortable in the driveway or out on the road.
The only complaint I have about the Road Iron gloves have to do with the design and execution at the cuff. The fact that they are without cuffs is convenient to a point.
The opening slit for expansion allows for quick and easy on-or-off when I’m ready to go or returning from a ride, or when I have to quickly remove a glove to fish something out of my pocket or tank bag.
But the cuff-less design allows for a rather unusual bunching against the cuff of my jacket, which can tend to roll the slit of the gloves open.
There’s no closure to secure the glove around my wrist; just some elastic sewn in to bring the glove to a natural contour.
Conclusion
The Teknic Road Iron gloves, though not perfect, seem to provide adequate protection for many types of riding.
Not the best mind you — but far better than most textile gloves and certainly better than no gloves at all.
Pricing might be on the higher end of the scale for what you get, but it certainly isn’t outrageous.
Owner Comments and Feedback
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From “C.S.” (12/08: “You guys have the BEST motorcycle review website on the entire net. I can spend hours looking over article on your website. I just wanted to contribute a little something to the review of the Teknic Road Iron Gloves.
I have owned these gloves for more than a year now, I use these gloves on every ride I take and they have served me well.
The only complained I have against these gloves is the one of the decorative rivets on the end of my little finger has a tendency to “push” down on the top of my finger.
It only happens to my left hand so it may just be the was I grip the handle bar with that hand.
This hasn’t bothered me too much at this point I only notice this when I have been on a long ride, probably longer than 1.5 hours.
For the time that I have owned these gloves they have held up very well, no seams falling apart no rips or holes. I was able to get these glove at a fraction of the list price so the minor flaw with my little finger isn’t such a terrible thing.”