Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)These are a pretty good set of winter gloves. Being well under $40 I really didn't expect much out of a pair of "bargain" gloves -but I was pleasantly surprised. I'm sort of a glove snob and have a dozen motorcycle-specific gloves laying on the gear shelf not being used, as they don't quite make the cut.
Right now there are 3 pairs of gloves in my arsenal that DO make the cut and this is one of them. I carry all 3 of them with me when I'm riding. To let you know what my standards are the other gloves are the Held Sprint for summer wear, The Held Storm for cooler/wetter weather, and these River Road Cheyenne Cold-Weather gloves for when I am feeling chilly/wet and/or the temperatures dip much below 50 into the 40's or below. This glove is in good company, but might be a bit out of its social league hanging out with a pair of gloves that cost me 3 and 4 times as much respectively (and I got them both on CLOSEOUT!). This $36 is the everyday price of the River Road Cheyenne. I figured for that price I'd give them a try and let them compete against gloves that cost me over $100 and up to $200.
Right out of the box I was impressed with the build/stitch quality of these gloves -although not quite made of the same high-end materials as the Helds with their fancy and supple Pittard leather and ultra-tough kangaroo hides. The bottom half of these gloves feel like fairly good quality ordinary moo cow leather, while the top end is mostly polyester something or other similar to your typical ski glove. It does have a nice retro-reflective strip over the knuckles for visibility to the car drivers who probably wouldn't see you anyhow if you had a lighthouse strapped to your back. But every bit counts I guess.
The inside is impressively lined with high-tech Hipora and Gore-tex (or so the tags and marketing material claim). They can hold their own in the rain for almost an hour before you start to feel the moisture inside. After that it is like wearing two sponges on your hands. I actually carry a pair of Aerostich/Roadcrafter "Triple-Digit" rain-cover gloves just for those times when you know it isn't going to stop raining all day. The Held Storms can hold out for hours but they have a special liner inside that is very well thought out. Of course they are 3 times as expensive and not nearly as warm. But they aren't my winter gloves and instead cover the mid-weather role. I have the Cheyenne for the ultra cold weather.
Once wet, these gloves still retain a good amount of insulative properties. That Hipora liner is still doing its job keeping the wind out. I was too lazy to put my raincovers on a few weeks ago and these gloves got totally drenched, and even though the temps dipped down to 50 and a bit below I was not too cold in my hands. Impressive!
All the parts are sewn together flawlessly. The stitching on my pair is nearly as good as the uber Held gloves are even though the leather itself isn't nearly as nice. I can't fault that one bit -after a couple of seasons of riding they are like new even though they have been drenched a few times. They are tough, if not quite as high-end as the Held gloves. These gloves become my main gloves when winter sets in. I stretch my riding into November and get back on the bike on April 1 every year here in Chicagoland. It's cold. They get a lot of use and are holding up well.
The one issue I have with them is they are a bit bulky for a motorcycle glove. That is to be expected with a glove THIS WARM. What do you expect? Magic? The feel is not the best but nowhere near as bulky as a non-motorcycle glove that is this warm. Still, I find it harder to get my fingers over the levers after a few hours of riding and my fingers are getting stiff. They are a little harder to feel the controls through than what I would like. Get them WET and then all bets are off. Spongebob squaregloves are not good for trying to control a motorcycle -especially as your hands get cold and numb from the wet.
These are not Held Freezers or Warm n Dry top-end winter gloves. They aren't quite as bulky and do as good a job as keeping you warm and a much better job of keeping you dry for longer. Of course those gloves cost $200 even from discount mail-order places. But these are not FAR behind. Certainly not $160-worth behind. For that price savings you can see why I'm still using these. They work and have great value. Maybe I can talk someone into buying me a pair of Freezers or Warm n Drys someday as a gift. I bought the Storms and Sprints because nothing else was doing the job and I HAD to spend the money on gloves that worked or carry 6 pairs of gloves around with me to get the features I get in those two. Now I'm down to 3 pairs total (plus the Aerostich over-liners) and these Cheyennes have actually made that final cut.
That isn't bad for a pair of gloves that are selling for $36! I can't give them 5 stars because they aren't perfect. But for this price you probably won't find much else that comes even close. Or you can spend $160 more and get the 5-star Held Gloves. Is that 5th star really worth $160 more dollars?
I've told you my answer.
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River Road CHEYENNE GLOVE BLACK LG 04G2305
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