Warm and Dry on a Budget
Written: Oct 06 '09
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great price! Truely waterproof, exceptional insulation, good grip
Cons: Lack of serious crash protection, poorly thougth out "credit card pocket"
The Bottom Line: Great rain protection and price, BUT I temper any recommendation due to a poor impact protection. The affordable price can be an attractive gamble.
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Olympia has come up with a great waterproof glove for those year-round riders who are tied to a strict budget. Combining a nylon shell with a Rubbertech palm, reasonably precurved fingers, Thinsulate insulation, a waterproof insert, and a very reasonable price, this could be the poverty rider in us all.
What You Get For $25
The Olympia Cold Zip glove is similar to what motorcyclists used to call snowmobile gloves, and resort to when serious waterproof motorcycle glove were out of reach of their pocketbooks. Having a flexible nylon shell and gripy rubber palm / fingers, their lack of extra padding or armor tips you off that weather protection is a higher priority than crash protection. But as temperatures fall during the autumn and winter, protection from frostbite can become even more important. So the waterproof insert and drawstring cinched gauntlet increase in value. There is even a zippered pocket on the left glove for easy access to either a credit card or identification card (your personal priorities will dictate that choice). And then the soft lining adds yet another check mark for the comfort seekers in the market place.
Cold And Wet
Stopping by my local dealer as I was preparing for a fall ride across a number of states their Parts Manager was rattling on and on about the new gloves he had worn in to work that day. The words, "dry, warm, and cheap" kept sticking in my mind. Knowing that the Weather Channel had already warned me to expect unseasonal cold and damp conditions, I added the Olympia Cold Zip gloves to my planned purchases. Fear of discomfort is also a strong motivator.
Season Change Is Not Always Your Friend
Heading out the next morning I was greeting with lower than normal temperatures and just a very light mist in the air. Sitting behind the full fairing of my 2003 R1150RT BMW, I did not feel the need for waterproof gloves but the idea of warm had a strong appeal. Cold fingers do not always work well on motorcycle controls, and not being fully in control of a motorcycle at Interstate highway speeds is never a good strategy for survival - out came the "new" rain gloves.
First Priority - Warm
My initial impression was that these were some of the most comfortable gloves I have ever worn. The soft Bemberg lining had a very luxurious feel, the precurved nylon shell and rubber palms and finger facing formed easily to the grips, and the Thinsulate insulation immediately halted the cold sinking into my fingers. As an experiment I turned my heated grips on to the "high" setting and found that the heat transfer was equal to that of any other gloves in my garage and tank bag. Gee, warm is good!
And Then It Rains!
Since good luck follows the pure of heart, I was able to skirt the rain for the next couple of days riding, but on the final day the temperatures dropped and 500 miles of rain spread out in front of me (see, it will find the hidden dark portions of that heart). Out came the new gloves again, but this time in earnest. As the northwest wind spun the cold rain around my fairing, the combination of the heated grips and Olympia Cold Zip gloves kept my hands warm and dry. In fact, it did not take too many miles for me to first turn down the grips a notch and just a few more for me to turn them off completely! Throughout the remainder of my battle with the liquid sunshine my hands stayed comfortably warm and dry. The rubber facing worked well when operating all the controls and switches. Additionally, the bit of arthritis in my fingers never popped up, and that "prune look" of clamminess stayed well in check.
Style and Price
These are not gloves that will win you a whole lot of style points. They look like black nylon work gloves with rubber palms and finger faces. I would say that the operative style word would be "clunky!" But when it is cold outside style should be way down toward the bottom of your priority list. That zippered credit card pocket is almost a good selling point. Since there are a lot of times when a rider would want either their credit card or identification card handy (like at the gas pump or the security gate at work), the zipper feels like it is on the wrong side of the pocket. Being on the outside edge of the left hand, you do have to reach across your hand to use it. If it ran down the middle of the back of the left hand it would be much more useful - or maybe it is there for stylistic impact. Either way, it looks like a good idea with less than well thought out execution. And then, the $24.95 price will make these gloves even more attractive to budget minded riders.
Sizing
Olympia Cold Zip gloves come in sizes S-M-L-XL-XXL, and appear to run very true. While I sometimes have to go up two glove sizes because of my longer fingers and thumbs, I found that going up a single size gave me ample room for comfort and did not restrict blood flow (tight gloves will be less warm for this reason).
The Rest Of The Story on Protection
Protection from the elements is only part of the protection picture for motorcycle gloves. The other is the part than your friends and coworkers love to bring up: what if you have an accident. In this case I would estimate that the Olympia Cold Zip glove would provide a pretty good level of abrasion protection during the "slide" portion of the accident you do not want to happen, at least as well as most of the "work gloves" worn by many riders. But it is easy to see that without the added protection of additional layers of material and actual armor, impacts to your thinly padded knuckles could cause some serious damage. Once again I will leave that decision up to you, but I do try to remember to dress for the kind of accident I might have - so most times I will likely rely on my better protected AXO rain gloves.
Recommendation
Motorcyclists should always make gear purchases with their eyes wide open, and that is an important issue in my recommendation. While I have serious reservations about any strong recommendation because of the lack of impact protection in these gloves, the climatic protection is equal to just about anything else on the market. And with such an affordable price tag they can be an attractive gamble. Just remember that I did warn you.
Recommended:
Yes
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