Winter Gloves: Rev'it! Celcius vs. Spidi NK2 vs. Held Hawk lengthy review

[bakerzdosen]

OK, I admit it: I'm a glove slut.

 

And I don't like to pay retail, so I'm in a quandry at times. So, through a mixture wallet prying and lucky "eBaying", I ended up with these three pair of winter gloves (and a third pair of Alpinestars which aren't even in the same league).

 

And, at this point, I'm pretty happy with my glove repertoire.

 

I have a pair of Held Hawks, Rev'it! Celcius, and Spidi NK2 H2OUT's.

 

On my trip over to Phil's last week (700 miles each way), I brought and used all three, so I figure I can now write some sort of semi-authoritative review on them.

 

Also, keep in mind, I'm on an R1200ST, so I don't have the wind protection on the gloves that many of you have. The hands aren't exactly flapping out there in the breeze because of the windscreen, but there is significant airflow at speed.

 

First thing: They don't actually produce the Hawk any more, but you can still get them. (Which is apparently why I got mine so inexpensively). The other two are current products.

 

•All three tout their waterproof-ness. I've only really tested the Celcius in that regard. It rained for about two hours around Donner Pass, and the Celcius seemed more than up to the task there. No water (other than a tad that entered because I really didn't secure the gauntlet/cuff area very well on my right hand, and that's not the glove's fault) got in in that time frame. The Hawk is made with a Gore-tex liner and Spidi uses their H2OUT stuff in the NK2, so I have no reason to believe that the other two would perform any differently in rain. My only complaint was that the visor wipe on the Celcius is a patch of fabric (right and left glove) that just absorbs water. It's fine for the first few wipes, but after an hour or two, it's less effective. The rubber squeegee type of wipe on the left Hawk seems better, but I don't know about long term usage there. The Celcius's wipe did work, but it just wasn't perfect. However, as you probably know, 5 seconds after wiping, it really doesn't matter anyway.

 

•Sizing: The Celcius and NK2 are both size large. The Hawk's are a size 8. I did that purposefully because the first two are "slightly" large on me and the Hawks are slightly tight. I don't like a lot of "extra" space in my gloves but the mediums in the Spidi's and Rev'it!'s were just too tight for my liking. However, the leather in the Rev'it!'s probably would have stretched a tad, whereas the cordura in the Held's isn't gonna stretch (The palms are leather and it has stretched a bit with use).

 

I'm guessing that the large NK2's are close to a 9 in the Hawk's and the large Celcius is just a bit bigger (9.5?)

 

•Insulation: The NK2's use Primaloft as their insulation while the Hawk's and Celcius use PCM. If you don't know, PCM (Phase Change Material) is supposedly excellent for motorcycle glove applications because it can be VERY thin and yet keep a comfortable interior temperature over a wide temperature range externally. I won't get into the specifics of it here, but feel free to read more. I've heard comments about how people make sure to leave their PCM gloves inside because they take longer to "heat up" than conventionally insulated gloves do.

 

I'd read quite a bit about the Rev'it! Fahrenheit's over at advrider. People generally liked them. The Celcius replaced the Fahrenheit in their line-up. And, I've gotta say, this is my favorite of the 3 gloves. It insulates well (which is the most important part of winter gloves IMHO). Yet the PCM allows pretty good feel. It just insulates very well for how thin it is. The Hawks seem to be a bit thinner, and frankly, don't insulate as well. They're close, but they aren't as warm IMHO. And the Spidi's are flat out the warmest glove I've ever used on a bike. However, that warmth comes with a price: bulk. Now, we're not talking ski glove type of bulk here, but it's close.

 

I found myself using the Hawk's when I really wanted a bit more warmth than a summer glove, but wanted to be able to have the best feel possible. Some of that could be the fact that they are TIGHT on me (but not horribly so). They are probably good (without heated grips) down to the mid-30's for short rides and all-day into the 40's. Obviously heated grips would extend that quite a bit.

 

The Celcius are my all-around cold weather glove. They are easy to get on and off, yet they're not bulky. I can still push buttons (albeit, the small ones are tough) on my GPS. I don't have any problems with the controls to the bike. They just work. However, they're not very good for long (think 250mi tank to tank riding) rides without the heated grips if you go below 35°F or so. I didn't even think about my hands last week with the gloves on and the grips on medium when temps got down into the 20's.

 

And the Spidi's are just flat out warm. I went through Tahoe (I think I saw one thermometer say 22°F) and didn't even think to turn on the grips. I turned on the grips to medium just to see what it was like. Honestly, I didn't feel much difference with the grips on medium. I never tried high. I figure I'll travel with these things just in case my grips go out. The only problem with these things is the fact that they're bulky. They say that the insulation is thinner in the grips. They're still pretty thick though. I actually found that the insulation bunched up a bit on one of the gloves at one point. I got it to "unbunch" after a while, but it took a concerted effort.

 

Now, the other side of the coin would be warm weather. Many of you know that Northern Nevada (either on I-80 or Hwy 50) has just a little bit of altitude change while traveling latitudinally. As I rolled into Carson City (from Tahoe), the NK2's were just too warm, so I changed over to the Celcius's at a stop light. That's another advantage of PCM I suppose. Honestly, I think I've been comfy in the Celcius's up to 70°. There is no way I'd go much above 55°-60° in the NK2's. The Hawk's would probably go a bit warmer than the Celcius, but I haven't tried that yet.

 

•Protection: I feel like I'd be protected just fine in a mishap while wearing any of these 3 gloves. Your opinions may vary however. The Hawk's don't seem to have any hard armor in them. They have a bit of padding over the outer 3 knuckles and a leather patch. There is also a bit of padding just above and below the wrist as well as along the fingers. It's not hard armor, but there is protection there. So, if you're a Lee Parks disciple, you probably prefer this, but then you'd probably own Lee Parks gloves[/url ]too...

 

Anyway, the Celcius has more impact padding than the Hawks. In addition to the hard armor over the knuckles (and that includes 6 hard "dots" over several finger joints) and padding on the back of the hand/wrist, there is also padding on the outer palm and underside of the wrist. None of this has ever really caused me to take notice, so it's all well-placed.

 

The NK2's have knuckle armor with padding all over the back and a Keramide palm. There doesn't seem to be any armor above the wrist to speak of. Although these are touted as Cordura gloves, there is a lot of leather there too (which isn't a bad thing at all).

 

The Hawks have a bit of reflective piping. The others do not.

 

The Celcius and NK2's have flex panels on the backs of the fingers and wrists. I do think this contributes a bit to comfort - especially on longer rides.

 

I don't like Held's wrist and cuff velcro system. I just don't. I own two pair of Held gloves and both just don't seem very natural. I like the Rev'it! system (again, two pair of those). They just work they way I use them. The NK2's are the only Spidi's I own and although I prefer the velcro on the inside of the wrist (like the Celcius or Spidi's Fjord model), I do like the pull-cord drawstring cuff. It's very easy to use even though the gloves are bulkier than the others.

 

So, in summary:

 

Held Hawk: Good PCM glove, just don't expect to use it in truly cold conditions (as someone from Canada is thinking "he doesn't know what cold is..."). Less comfy (for me) than the others. They feel thin enough to type with, but they're really not... I tried. Rubber squeegee type wiper. I'll probably use these gloves exclusively in the rain in the future.

 

Spidi NK2: Very warm glove. You pay for that warmth with a bit more bulk, but they're more than usable. If I had to pick one and only one of these gloves for a cold trip, these would be the ones because I feel like it's risky to depend solely on the heated grips. Pretty comfy but bunched up on me once.

 

Rev'it! Celcius: My favorite all around winter glove (of all the ones that I've tried anyway). They're not perfect. The microfiber-like shield wipe isn't perfect, but it does work. The gloves don't seem like they'll handle temps below freezing for more than 30-40 minutes without heated grips (again, on my ST), but I don't do that very often, so...

 

I was going to just throw some stock pictures in there, but they're the same ones you can find on the web. So, if someone wants me to take pics (assuming you haven't fallen asleep by this point in my post) of my now broken in gloves, lemme know and I'll take some and throw them up here later in the thread.

[Dances_With_Wiener_Dogs]

Thanks Matt, this is great info. My Alpinestars winter gloves are getting a little old, might be time for replacement. Hot links to the product sites would be helpful, so I'll post them here. If you intended to put them in your post, I couldn't get them to function...

 

 

Held: Hawk gloves (okay, this link worked)

 

 

Lee Parks: Black & Tan gloves

 

 

Spidi: NK2 gloves

 

 

Rev'it: Celcius gloves

[bakerzdosen]

Thanks Matt, this is great info. My Alpinestars winter gloves are getting a little old, might be time for replacement. Hot links to the product sites would be helpful, so I'll post them here. If you intended to put them in your post, I couldn't get them to function...

Nope, I only had a hotlink to the Hawks (I was just messin' around with colors because all those words together like that were awfully daunting.) The link you gave for the NK2's is correct, but the store's picture is wrong. Kneedraggers has a picture of a Sport Comp H2OUT.

 

So, I'm sittin' here next to my camera and computer but the gloves are ALL the way in the garage... what to do?

 

So, I walk all the way down there and back up because that's just the kinda guy I am, I'm a giver.

 

Here's are a couple of pics of the Celcius and the NK2. The Hawks are at work (I was looking at them while finishing the "review..." shhhhhh )

 

The Celcius's have about 4000 miles on them and the NK2's have about 300, so keep that in mind.

 

You can click on the pics for obscenely large pics.

 

 

 

No comments needed on my choice of background. It was either the Guatemalan bedspread or the floor, and what, with me being lazy, the bed seemed closer.

[grizzly660fan]

Matt,

Thanks for the review, I am seeking winter weight gloves as you submitted this review.

 

I bought a pair of spidi mid weight gloves and really love the fit and comfort. I bought these for 45-70f temps and was drawn to the "h2out" water proof advertising. I wore them three or four times and then got to rain test them. the h20ut failed completely. instead of repelling, they were more like a sponge.

 

here is a link to the ones I refer to:

http://www.spidiusa.com/spidi-jsp/index.jsp?lang=en

 

I hope the h2out works better on the winter ones you have.

 

thanks again!

 

Garry

[bakerzdosen]

I hope the h2out works better on the winter ones you have.

Good point. However, I do have my Spidi Admiral (think "Aerostitch") with the H2Out stuff in it and it has never leaked or gotten me wet. But then again, this is a desert... That trip over Donners was the longest I'd ever ridden in rain, so I can only comment on about two hours worth.

 

And your link doesn't work because the spidi site uses frames. Are these the ones you're talking about?

[grizzly660fan]

sorry about the bad link, I should've tested it. the gloves I have are the XR TEX H2OUT, I really like them for dry weather. my wet test was a ride to Torrey the weekend before the main torrey event and wedding in september. I knew it was going to be wet but thought I was prepared with my spidi gloves.

 

I rode hwy 89 to panguitch, then 12 over to Torrey. about 30 mins north of panguitch it started to rain. we stopped for lunch in panguitch and the gloves had not soaked through yet. after lunch the rain was a steady drizzle so we soldiered on.

 

the rain was not heavy but steady and the wettest part was about ruby's inn near bryce. by escalante it had stopped raining for about an hour, but then as we went over the hogback and onto boulder mountain the rain got serious. my gloves had soaked through within an hour of it starting to rain, and it was a mild rain at that time. so by boulder they were heavy, wet, if I squeeze the grips tight, you can see the water ooze out.

 

I was mostly disappointed as I had counted on these being a rain glove so I was not prepared with an alternate as I knew it was going to rain.

 

anyway, in this case the h2out failed. I still really like the glove as a dry riding glove and will keep them. I still am looking for a mid weight rain glove now.

 

thanks again!

 

Garry

[Effjay]

Matt, maybe you are a "glove slut" but you made me look (and buy) today! I went to my local Beemery to test fit some Gerbings heated stuff. Whoa, they had a sale in play, but nothing in my size. I do have a Widder vest and actually prefer not to have umbilical cables galore, so I headed over to the Rev-it display remembering your glove review results.

 

Aside from cold weather protection and comfort, I also need a flexible glove because I have significant throttle hand wrist arthritis (the primary reason I switched to my current ride). Although Rev-it's Celcius are less flexible than my very flexible Bates roadrace-style deerskin gloves, I'm reasonably confident the new gloves (yes, I bought 'em) will "yield" and provide me a good blend of cold weather protection and comfort. Thank you for sharing your evaluation with us. It just shows that a well written report is worth revisiting!

 

Jeff

[bakerzdosen]

Matt, maybe you are a "glove slut"

Uh, I didn't even include my summer gloves.

 

Glad it helped. Once you've ridden with them a bit, post your impressions if you would.