I had a good ride around the local glove dealers (local, my arse - Oxford, Coleshill [Brum], Hinckley and Kenilworth in that order. Took most of the day).
I saw almost no CE Level 2 items (Alpinestars GP Pro R3 was it, as armstrongracer spotted - well done!) and was stared at blank-faced by 'salesmen' when I asked if they had any CE Level 2 gloves. Clueless, the lot of them - bar one.
The Alpinestars turn out to be bloody tight - too tight for me, even on the max 3XL size. But they are well made. Shame.
One salesman sheeplishly said, and probably quite accurately:
'Actually, everyone just buys on colour and fit.'
Then followed up with 'These are nice, they've got
titanium on the knuckles and stingray leather on the palm. Only £377.'
'Are they CE Level 2?'
'Um, no. But they're really well made, I mean they must be the equivalent of CE Level 2.'
Silence from me whilst digesting 1) WTF does titanium do for you apart from spark as you hit the floor, and 2) that isn't stingray, mate. It's just a description.
[I was wrong on that second bit. Damn.]
The most helpful - Mr Kenilworth - rang his supplier who said the lack of choice was down to 'Not much call for them.'
He also said the CE Level 2 are likely to be less comfy because of the additional protection. Ah! - interesting point.
He's going to try & get some in for me to try.
Anyway, I am down to one brand for the moment - called Five. They're French and only make gloves, which is promising since they should know what they're doing. They do also look just as tarty as the rest - that comes with the territory, but they have a choice three models with CE Level 2, two of which are affordable - the
RFX1 and
RFX2 and come in big boy sizes. That's a start. The third pair,
RFX Race, are eye-watering stingray/titanium prices.
I'll let you know if I ever manage to try a pair on.
