MO Tested: Troy Lee Designs Apex Pro Glove

Part of our jobs as editors at a motorcycle-focused publication is to model a variety of riding gear for our readers, as it gives visibility to a wider variety of gear than you might have access to at a local motorcycle dealership. So, while displaying a variety of gear options is part of our job, you’ll also discover, if you look closely, that every MO staffer has their favorite items that show up in more photos than others. In my case, for the better part of a year, you would have seen quite a few appearances of the Troy Lee Designs Apex Pro Glove.

The Apex Pro Glove is a vented shorty glove that is perfect for three of the four SoCal seasons, where the bulk of the riding ranges in temperature from hot to excruciatingly hot. For safety-minded riders like myself, this type of glove should provide enough protection in all but the most sport-focused riding environments in the event of a get-off. (However, if you make a habit of riding 90 mph on the interstate, you might be better served with racing gauntlets.) What matters here is a decent amount of abrasion protection and good impact protection. Both things that I think the Apex provides at a reasonable price.

The body of the glove is made of perforated leather, while the palm consists of dual layers of goatskin. The padding at the ball of the hand is relatively thin, providing little more than more abrasion resistance. However, on the back of the hands, the structured composite knuckle armor molds perfectly to my size-large hands. Additionally, the pointer, middle, and ring fingers each receive a tiny composite shield covering the proximal bones of the fingers. The pinky wears a second layer of leather that wraps around it from front-to-back and goes all the way down to the cover the previously padding and the base of the hand.

Ventilation is provided by the perforated leather on the back, while a breathable textile allows airflow between the fingers. The thumb is covered by multiple layers of leather and is connected to the main glove body by a heavy layer of textile. Finally, the glove is secured by a hook-and-loop closure.

The pre-curved gloves were supple when first put on and have become even more so now that they are fully broken in. After frequent use over the course of a year, the only visible wear is one of the red Apex labels is wearing off the back of one glove. While all of my gauntlet gloves offer more protection – particularly in the event of an extended slide – in the realities of everyday street riding, I feel the Apex gloves would offer adequate protection, in the true definition of the word. (As in they would be “as much or as good as necessary for some requirement or purpose.”)

The Troy Lee Designs Apex Pro Glove retails for $80 and is available directly from the TLD website.

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