Held Sambia KTC 2 gloves in black

When I was first told about Held's KTC version of the Sambia 2 glove, I wasn’t particularly excited. In Held’s world, KTC stands for ‘knitted cuff’, and we assumed that this would be the same glove as the original Sambia but with the added cuff. But actually it’s a very different  glove.

 

But let’s kick off by talking about the knitted cuff. Quite a few gloves have cuffs like these, and the idea is that they can be worn inside the sleeve of a jacket where the opening is not particularly generous. Often this will be a jacket that is not equipped with zips at the ends of the sleeves. And for some people this can be very useful, but it’s normally something you’d find on a winter glove where the cuff can be quite thick. This is the first time we’ve seen such an arrangement on a summer glove. That having been said, the knitted cuff does make the glove feel more secure. If you’ve got thin wrists, meaning that some summer gloves gape at the wrist, you will like the way these wear. The knitted cuff will also leave less skin exposed if you do end up parting company with the bike.

 

Anyway, as I said, we thought the Sambi KTC would be just like the standard Sambia, but it’s not. In fact, it’s very different. To kick off, it’s more meshy. It will flow a lot more air than the original. The palm is kangaroo rather than the goatskin of the ordinary Sambia, so you are going to get more feel through the bars.

 

In most respects, of course, the two gloves are similar. You get the NUDUD system for touchscreen sensitivity. You get a foam-backed, hard, knuckle protector. You get vented, rubber bumpers on the fingers. And extra leather down the outside of the hand. At the base of the palm there’s a SuperFabric slider.

 

Held tell us that the internal seams of the gloves have been shaved for extra comfort.

 

There’s a Velcro, leather strap at the wrist.

 

You also get a visor wiper on the left hand; something you don’t expect, and probably don’t need, on a high-airflow, summer glove!