Motorcycle gloves are one of the most important piece of equipment (apart from the helmet) that protect you in case of a fall. It is natural human tendency to stretch your hands out to brace against the impact of a crash, and that leaves body’s relatively weak areas like palms, wrists and fingers open to face the brunt of the asphalt.
I’ve used many different riding gloves since I was made aware of their presence, but the Rynox Inferno motorcycle gloves are the first full gauntlet ones. The Probiker gloves I used in the beginning are just plain useless, the KTM ones are nice for city riding, but do not provide wrist protection, the DSG Acqua is purely meant for rain/cold.
The Inferno are general purpose leather gloves, useful in most weather conditions, but not specifically meant for any. Here’s my Rynox Inferno motorcycle gloves review, after over 7000 kms of usage.
Rynox Inferno motorcycle gloves review: Protection (7/10)
The first thing you notice when wearing these gloves is how well built they are. They feel good, feel heavy, feel beefy enough to protect you against a catastrophe. The gloves are made of leather, which is considered the best for impact and abrasion resistance. Carbon fiber knuckle protector is preset at the top, with rubber molded air vents on fingers.
The palm area consists of Kevlar lining with EVA foam padding. The EVA foam also makes way to the sides of the wrists, which is an area generally exposed during slides. Limited padding is also provided on the thumb, and below the pinky area. Overall, Rynox Inferno is a well made glove that should provide sufficient protection in case of a low to medium speed spill.
Rynox Inferno motorcycle gloves review: Comfort (7/10)
The Rynox Inferno gloves come with pre-curved finger construction, which means that your hand naturally shapes into a throttle holding position as soon as it slides inside the glove. Since the glove is rather inflexible, I find it hard to completely grab the throttle, instead my hand rests in a semi open position. This is not a problem for touring and city riding, but I think for track use it might not be suitable.
Even though there are air vents provided between the fingers, on the palm and on the knuckle and finger protectors, it’s not the most airy glove for use in summer conditions. Your hands start feeling hot rather quickly, and because of low ventilation things don’t improve much once you are on the move. I ride a KTM Duke 390, which comes with hand guards that stop some airflow around the gloves, due to which I frequently need to lift my hands up and let some air pass through!
The gloves are not waterproof, and become wet very quickly. The leather material takes long time to dry, and paints your hand in a wide variety of colors in the process. The leather is of good quality, and does not become stiff or lose the shine after getting drenched.
Rynox Inferno gloves provide little protection against winter. The leather becomes cold rather quickly, and your hands are fully exposed to the outside temperature after a while. This is a common problem with leather gloves, and totally expected.
Overall, Rynox Inferno gloves are comfortable for most weather conditions, but don’t excel in any. I don’t mind the fact that the gloves are inflexible, or become hot in summer, because that is a direct result of the hefty protection that it provides. Since it is neither a winter, nor a rain glove, I don’t really expect it to work in either! I am actually surprised how well it recovered after being completely soaked in rain for about 5 hours.
Rynox Inferno motorcycle gloves review: Durability (9.5/10)
If there is one department where these gloves simply rock, that would be durability. They don’t mind being soaked, crumpled, or abused in any way. I’ve actually used the Inferno to keep my hands from getting dirty while cleaning and lubing my chain! They still look pretty alright, even after getting a grease bath.
On many occasions, I need to rotate the rear wheel of my bike while keeping it balanced on a piece of wood, since that’s the only way you can lube the chain on a bike that doesn’t come with a center stand and has a side-stand sensor. I’ve always worn the Inferno during this operation, and it does the job without any tantrums!
No open stitches, no tears, surprisingly less discoloration. The Rynox Inferno is an awesome product as far as durability goes.
Rynox Inferno motorcycle gloves review: Looks (8/10)
Rynox has some photos of the glove on their official website, and they look like shit! Don’t ask me why, but the gloves look much much better in real life than on the company website. Rynox people really need to invest with good product photographers! I went with the red and black color, and it looks totally badass. The black one looks rather unremarkable, but better than most other full-gauntlet gloves in this price range.
They are probably the longest gloves that are available in the 3000 rupee bracket, slightly edging past DSG Primal and Carbon. They neatly go over your riding jacket, and look especially good if the color matches! Overall, Rynox Inferno is a nice looking glove, that does the job well too.
Rynox Inferno motorcycle gloves review: Positives
- Good protection for your hand + wrist
- Usable in most weather conditions
- Extremely durable
- Good looks
Rynox Inferno motorcycle gloves review: Negatives
- Not particularly comfortable in any weather except pleasantly cold
- Completely unusable to operate your phone or double D helmet chin straps
- The big gauntlet strap velcro is of low quality, opens with even a strong windblast
- Size runs 1-2 unit smaller, always test it before you buy it
Rynox Inferno motorcycle gloves review: Verdict (8/10)
The Inferno is a great glove for tourers like me, usable in all weather conditions, and provides very good level of protection for the cost. Rynox Inferno is priced at 3300 bucks, which is slightly more than what DSG asks for the Primal and the Carbon. The DSG gloves are also legends in the durability department, but the latest units have lost some of the original quality, and I’ve heard numerous complaints of stitches coming off with very little use.
Cramster TRG2 is also a competitor in this field, but I’ve heard of very few people using it, especially since Cramster’s quality and after-sales support was heavily criticized on Xbhp. Another advantage of the Inferno over all the other three competitors is that the big gauntlet strap, below the wrist one, contains only 1 section, whereas the others have 2 overlapping velcro straps. This makes the Inferno easier to wear and take off.
In my opinion, the Rynox Inferno is a great value for money product, and highly recommended from my side for anyone looking for top quality construction, durability, and good protection.
What should I get? Confused between the Rynox Infernio and Aspida Ares.
TBG Sport glove is the best right now in terms of protection, however it’s a bit beyond the budget of these 2 gloves. http://thebreedgear.com/tbg-sport-gloves-black
Out of these 2, I would prefer the Rynox ones, but I haven’t used the Aspida so can’t tell you much about it.
What do you think of the new Rynox Inferno Pro gloves?
https://www.outdoortravelgear.com/product-detail/rynox-inferno-pro-gloves/black?gclid=CNbSoIXetcwCFdiIaAodY90JzA
Looks the same to me, apart from the Pro badge.
How are your TBG gloves holding up? any complaints since the review?
I am confused between these and the TBG sport, TBG obviously provides better protection but i think it might be an overkill for what i ride(RC200)
They are holding up brilliantly. There’s no such thing as too much protection 🙂
Thanks. I’ll go with TBG then 🙂
Hey brother. The Inferno gloves are no longer available on the rynox website and none of those available there are full gauntlet ones. Please suggest a good alternative to these. Thank you.
Go with TBG Sport gloves. Contact Let’s Gear Up, Bangalore.
TBG Sport gloves are a bit pricey but they look like good protection. So I think they’ll be worth it. Thank you 🙂
Found AGV Sport Bravo gloves(http://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/agv-sport-bravo-gloves) More pics here (http://www.motorcyclegear.com/browse/view_product_images/8160). A relative can get it for me from USA. How about these compared to the TBG Sport gloves which are of the same cost.
TBGs are far better:
1. They have Knox SPS system on the palm rather than foam pads.
2. They have metal protectors on the wrist rather than just foam pads.
3. If you crash, TBG people will give you new gloves at half the price.