Z Custom Deer Tracks

If you're in the habit of buying a new pair of $30 riding gloves on a fairly regular basis, in the search of the holy grail of gloves, let me be the first to suggest you stop. Believe it or not, there is some correlation between the cost of the glove and the quality of it.

I've owned more than my fair share of cheap gloves and always found something to dislike in them. Either the leather felt too thin (fashion quality leather) or the seams rubbed wrong or the heel/palm pad never seemed to end up in the right spot. I then received a pair of Deer Tracks as a Christmas gift and have been happy ever since.

In the big scheme of motorcycle gloves the Deer Tracks probably come across as ancient. There's none of that at-the-moment fashionable kevlar, carbon fiber or any other space age plastic. What is there is good quality deer skin leather, reinforced at the proper places and assembled in the proper manner.

Big selling points in my opinion:

• extra thick leather used throughout
• extremely comfortable even from day one
• all seams are external so there's no chafing of your hand or fingers
• the palm pad actually comes back and covers the heal of my hand - the area most likely to hit the ground in the event of a get-off
• a velcro secured wrist strap as well as a gauntlet make sure the glove stays on
• an extra layer of leather and padding on the knuckle area
• dye bleed thru seems minimal
• can be ordered in several colors including custom

My first pair of Deer Tracks had black palms and white backs and lasted a little over 3 years (about 45-55,000 miles) before the leather on the back of the hand started to disintegrate. At first I was upset but a little research showed that because of body chemistry, some people's gloves fall apart before that or last longer. Since the black palms of the gloves were still in good shape, when it came time to replace them I went with the all black model. The back deterioration could have been exacerbated by the white dying process or the fact that the back side got more UV exposer.

Even if I have to replace them every 3 years I still think these are the best gloves I've ever owned or tried on.

The all black model costs $98 with colored ones running $110 and more for custom designs.