Used Review: Dainese Jerico R winter gloves

DAINESE JERICO-R

Being stuck up a mountain with your bike buried to the pegs in snow is not the best place to be a week before Christmas, especially when its 1200kms from home. Only owning perforated summer gloves is also far from ideal.

This is the situation I found myself in and seeing as everything in Italy costs a million Euros, I wasn’t prepared to spend a fortune on a set of discontinued Oxford heated grips from the local motocross shop.  A very pretty girl called Fanny at Chitrrai Yamaha, near Perugia, showed me the winter glove options. Basically a load of ski gloves and one last pair of Dainese Jerico Rs.  Seeing as Tarmac is generally harder than snow, I opted for the latter.

Gore-Tex to keep my digits dry, Primaloft to keep them warm, DCP distortion control to stop my pinkie from snapping off in a spill and rigid knuckle and finger armour were the features on offer.  The Gore-Tex storm cuff, with two Alcantara pull tabs, provide a barrier to rain, and hopefully lock in the warmth.  A diagonal zip on the outer cuff and a slim velcro wrist strap keep things snug.

Leather with very marginal padding on the palm and fingers, with a faux leather hatched material for added grip.

After 10 minutes discussing the Italian translation of ‘buy cheap buy twice’, I had hoped the Jericos would be worth the £100 investment (and that was the sale price).  How disappointed I was when after only 10 minutes at 3 degrees above freezing my fingers tips went numb, at sub 60mph speeds too.  Prior to this feel wasn’t great, but a compromise if they actually kept me warm.

Needless to say, the ride back to Blighty was utterly miserable as far as my hands were concerned.  Even adding Gore Windstopper liners to the mix did little to dull the excruciating pain, nearly ruining the Route Napoleon through the Alps.  Using your shoulder and elbow for throttle control isn’t something I want to repeat.

Now back in balmy London, the Daineses were put into service again. At around 3-4 degrees Centigrade, 10 minutes is all you get before chill sets in and numbness follows shortly after.

The fact that Dainese is also ski wear brand leaves me somewhat bewildered, and I won’t be buying winter products from them anytime soon.

By Ross Sharp