Founded in 1972, Dainese is a recognized and respected brand for safety and quality in motorcycle and other sports markets. Recently, they were purchased by Investcorp, a leading global provider and manager of alternative investment products. What that means for the future is uncertain, but what we know for now is they continue to make excellent quality and technically innovative products.
Features - Dainese Garda
The Dainese Garda gloves are built with an elasticated fabric reinforced with goatskin leather throughout the glove. Combined with their D-Dry Membrane, an elastic wrist closure and Thermolite thermal lining the Garda gloves are warm, comfortable, and waterproof.
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Comfort
Soft interior, combined with very pliable materials means that they are super comfortable to wear. The winter glove construction is a lot like standard shovel-the-snow gloves, making them overly large for motorcycles. They are more suited size-wise to snowmobiles or other vehicles where the dexterity needed to operate controls is less.
They are also stitched with a pre-curved fit that makes them very easy to wear and grip the throttle, brake, and clutch. If they had better protection they would have been so much better.
We rate the comfort “Above Average” for its soft interior and soft shell.
Protection
For an all-around glove the Garda would be great. For riding a motorcycle they fall well short of offering any real protection. The Gardas have a goatskin reinforced palm and well...nothing else for protection. No knuckle protection, no scaphoid protection, no additional armor anywhere.
We rate the protection "Poor”.
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Temperature Range and Waterproofing
Billed as a winter glove, I feel they fall a bit short on this promise. They do keep your hands warmer than plain leather gloves, but not below 35 degrees. They let in a lot more wind than desired without hand guards and that contributes to their lack of warmth in the colder temperatures. The elasticated material isn't thick enough and lacks tight enough fiber density to block the wind. With heated grips and hand guards they perform a lot better. You could use these into a lot colder temperatures if you ride a bike with weather protection built in.
For a waterproof and insulated gloves the Garda rates “Excellent” for waterproof capabilities. They rate "Below Average" for temperature when compared to other winter or insulated gloves.
Conclusion
Price at $79.96 these gloves are reasonably priced. Quality construction, soft materials, and excellent lining, they would make a great regular use - off of the motorcycle, that is - glove. For a motorcycle winter glove the lack of protection and inability to block more wind make them less desirable and there are far better options.
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