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Brief The Olympia Gel Reflector Glove is a very reasonably priced, lightweight glove for summer riding. Although the glove is long on comfort it falls short in the area of protection and quality. Overview A lightweight summer glove is a must in my area where summer temperatures often top 110º. There are numerous summer gloves on the market boasting a variety of features. I settled on getting a pair of these Olympia Gel Reflector gloves for a couple of reasons. 1) They are extremely comfortable 2) a very reasonable price tag 3) Olympia has a good name in gloves.  Overall I would say that the glove has performed satisfactorily though they have never been through a crash to be put to the real test. In general, though I would have to say that I worry about how well they would hold up since they seem to be falling apart after very little wear. Details The palm of the glove has a gel insert for comfort and is reinforced with lightweight leather. The fingers have a neoprene fabric which seems to work out ok, but the stretchy fabric between the fingers is an issue. The Velcro wrist closure inevitably catches on this delicate fabric and is tearing it to shreds. The stitching seems to be coming undone on the gloves and there is even a hole now where the stitching is completely unlaced. Please note that these gloves have seen VERY LITTLE use. Additionally, these gloves seem a little light on the protective features that many riders are looking for. These gloves end at the wrist and do not have any wrist protection. The Velcro closure is the only thing keeping these things on and with any stress these gloves could easily come off. The manufacturer boasts carbon fiber protection but this is not hard carbon; we are talking about a dime sized spot of carbon fiber fabric which I highly doubt would provide and serious protection in the event of a crash. Again let me say that these gloves are very comfortable, the fabric is flexible, lightweight and a breeze to wear. They are offered in a variety of colors and sizes to suit virtually any male rider. Compared to some of the novelty gloves on the market or as an alternative to no gloves I would say that these would be a definite improvement. If you are strongly into safety, however, I would have to recommend another choice. Let me specify here that these gloves were not intended for women. When I purchased these gloves there were very few glove products made for women on the market. I placed a special order for an extra small without every trying them on and found they are definitely too large for me. I normally wear a women's small glove and the Olympia Gel glove is not only too large in scale, but also the wide shape is designed to fit a man. I would suggest that female riders look to other summer glove choices rather than trying to retrofit these.
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