Richa Street Touring GTX gloves in black

The Richa Street Touring is a summer-waterproof glove. It contains nothing, other than a waterproof membrane, that might serve to keep your hands warm in colder weather.

 

Obviously these things are subjective, and those who don't feel the cold so much might find that with heated grips they could wear the Street Tourings relatively deep into the autumn. But winter gloves these are not. This is the kind of glove you might wear from, say, the beginning of April to early October. From the end of October to the end of March you would probably benefit from a glove with a thermal lining. By the same token, at the height of summer, you would probably find a lighter glove without a membrane less sweaty!

 

What we particularly like about the Street Touring is its understated look.

 

Being black, and made entirely in leather, the Street Touring is about as 'classic' as a technical glove gets. If you ride a real classic, or even a neo-retro bike, or if you just like to ride in leather, then this is a glove that is going to look just right. Yet it gives little away in terms of functionality over those gloves that are far more overt in their technicality.

 

As we have said, the glove is made entirely from leather. You don't even get a textile cuff. The Street Touring is 100% full-grain cowhide. 

 

On the knuckle you get a 'hard' protector. Now some people like hard knuckle protectors. Personally, we think they're popular because people think that they're more protective. But they're not; and actually we'd always go for a D3O knuckle protector if given the chance. If D3O is good enough for your back, knees, hips, elbows and shoulders, then we reckon it's good for knuckles too.

 

The Street Touring's knuckle protector is not D3O, but it is foam backed to better absorb the energy of an impact. Additionally, you get foam protectors for the minor knuckles on the fingers and thumbs. There's another foam pad on the back of the hand behind the knuckle protector.

 

You get a foam-filled, leather pad at the base of the palm. And an additional panel of leather between the forefinger and thumb to reduce the chances of a hyperextended thumb in an accident. There's another strip of leather across the palm where one might normally expect to find digi-leather to improve grip on the bars.

 

The cuff is mid length, as you might expect of a waterproof glove. In the rain, you would want to tighten the cuff down, and wear it inside the sleeve of a jacket. But when it's dry it would probably be easier to wear the glove's cuff over the sleeve of the jacket.

 

There are two fasteners at the wrist/cuff. A Velcro band around the wrist to stop the glove coming off. And a wide flap on the cuff itself to cinch it in.

 

The gloves have touchscreen-sensitive forefingers and thumbs, although it's not the NUDUD system that Richa uses on its very latest models.

 

You get a decent-sized, visor wiper on the left hand.

 

We have already stated that the Street Touring is a waterproof glove, but it's more than that; it's a waterproof glove with a membrane from Gore. And that means a couple of things.

 

It means you get the most waterproof and most breathable membrane on the market. It also means that you get waterproofing guaranteed for life. If the membrane ever fails, Gore will send you a replacement pair of the same glove or, if it's no longer available, they will send you a cheque for the original price.

 

But the membrane on the Street Touring is not a standard, drop-liner one. It is a fully-bonded, laminated one. And what this means, in theory, is that this glove will never wet out. And that's important in an all-leather glove because what cannot be ignored is that a glove with a leather back will always have a higher propensity to absorb the rain than one with a textile one.

 

There's a lot to like about the Street Touring, although you'd probably only go for it if you felt you had to have an all-leather glove. If you were prepared to mix textile with leather, then both Richa and Rukka have Gore-Tex gloves that would be easier to wear.

 

The problem is this. In the beginning, a leather glove with a membrane is always going to be a little stiff. Over time, as the leather breaks in, a leather glove will get nicer to wear. But it's still probably the case that a Gore-Tex glove with a textile back will be more comfortable.

 

But add into the equation a laminated, Gore-Tex membrane and you have a glove that will require a fair amount of wear before it becomes truly comfortable. And that's because bonding a membrane to any material will always make it a little stiffer.

 

And so the Street Touring is what it is.

 

It is an understated, properly waterproof, all-leather glove. And that's exactly what some people are looking for.

 

Accept that in going for leather, you will ride a little colder in the rain because it will absorb more of it, and live with the fact that this is a glove that won't be super-comfy out of the bag, and you won't go far wrong!

 

And priced at £139.99 it offers, as we have suggested, pretty good value. The Rukka R-Viss, the Rukka Bartlett and the Rukka Atlas are all quite a bit more; as indeed is the shorter, Klim Adventure glove.