Castle Streetwear Sport Mesh Glove Test
Whether you are into street bikes, off-road bikes or snowmobiles, Castle has a range of products for the purpose. In my experience, Castle products tend to last. I still wear a high-visibility Castle CR2 snowmobile jacket on snowmobiles and motorcycles that I’ve had since 2004.
Hand injuries are among the most frequently seen in the aftermath of motorcycle accidents, even those that would seem minor that happen at low speed.
Lacerations, abrasions and fractures are not uncommon types of injuries, so having a glove that provides some protection from shearing and impact forces is a really good idea.
The problem is, finding a glove that is light, and breathes to keep your hands from being hot and uncomfortable might also require trading away critical protective features. The Castle Sport Mesh glove design appears to strike a good balance between strategically placed tough stuff and lighter duty ventilation materials.
The palm of a glove is critical to comfort and protection — I’ve tried gloves with gel padding in the palm where the location of the padding negatively affected comfort and grip on the handlebar. The Castle glove palm is pre-curved and has a light gel pad area, but it is out of the grip area, moved out to where the heel of the hand often impacts in a fall.
The result is improved protection and comfort for most riding situations. The top grain leather palm with Clarino reinforced areas feels thin and tactile, but still tough, including the reinforced wear area at the base of the thumbs.
One of the most troublesome defects in riding gloves is prominent, rough seams inside the palm or fingers, right where the pressure of your grip grinds the seams into your hands. The Sport Mesh gloves have very low profile seam stitching in the palm and fingers and a polyester lining to prevent pressure points—only at the tips of the fingers were seams raised enough to be perceptible.
The back of the glove is also constructed with top-grain drum-dyed goatskin leather reinforced with Clarino over textile mesh. Gel padding overlies knuckle areas with soft mesh material interspersed down each finger for full back ventilation.
There is no rigid or semi-rigid knuckle guard material in the design, but that works well in keeping the gloves light and flexible—making them easier to fold and jam into the pockets of your riding jacket. In use, air flow through the backs of the glove is generous.
Gloves only work when they stay on and a wide, padded wrist band with hook and loop closure is provided to accomplish that.
The sizes available range from extra small to XXL, and excellent snug fit is possible due to the stretch available in the mesh part of the glove. With pricing under $40, the Castle Sport Mesh glove is an economical high performance warm weather riding glove.
For additional information visit castlesales.com.
