Motorcycle
Glove Reviews

Sidi Coibuss Motorcycle Gloves Review

Sidi is a legend in the motorsports gear industry and their boots have won awards from one end of the world to the other. As part of their Sidi Design Series (SDS), they have released a line of rather nifty looking, yet incredibly protective, riding apparel. Among this select set of products is the Sidi Coibuss Glove, and this entry may win even more accolades for the Italian company.

Both goat leather and a textile material are used in the construction of the Coibuss, with the goatskin covering the palms, underside of fingers and most of the back of the hand. It is double-layered and double-stitched in much of this – the main contact areas of the palm, the scaphoid area, top of knuckles and much of the fingers. Of course, the benefit of making these from dead goats is that their skin is superior to cowhide in the areas of abrasion-resistance, strength and weight. Plus, it’s supple and molds to your hand’s shape easily.

Perforated ballistic nylon handles the rest of the coverage for the Coibuss, and this allows for serious airflow into the fingers, thumb and back of the hand.

Over the knuckles is a split, two-piece thermoplastic protector. This imparts safety and flexibility at an incredibly important location in the hand’s many arcs of movement. It’s also a thick material which is presumably meant to wear down should you slide across the road surface. The fingertips and middle knuckles are given some extra goat and a little additional padding.

The slant-cut gauntlet is quite stylish, but can be a bit tough to fit either inside or outside of some jacket cuffs. The Coibuss is very nice to look at, as you might expect form Sidi. Holding the glove onto your hand is a hook-and-loop equipped strap on the underside of the glove. This works in concert with a narrow ‘waist’ right at the wrist which helps to hold the Coibuss on your hands no matter what they encounter.

In an interesting feat of transparency in the name of integrity, Sidi has flat-out stated that the SDS series is differentiated from its other products in an important way. In there own words, the SDS line “…is a collection of products that are designed by Sidi’s engineering/design team but are produced by outside suppliers.” Talk about being open with their customers; this certainly adds to their reputation of being very straightforward.

Coibuss gloves wear like fancy driving mitts, and they can be a bit tough to put on when new. Fortunately, goatskin stretches very well and they will form fit to your hands in very short order. They also give you a full range of motion like only a true summer glove can. In fact, they fit very close to the skin in a way that gives you incredible feedback through them – second skin sensitivity, no less.

On the street the air flows through them nicely, but not as if your hands are uncovered, and your digits stay cool and dry. This really helps the rider handle the controls as the hands are incredibly comfortable in the Coibuss.

The suggested retail for the Coibuss is US$115; that is indeed a bit steep for a set of summer gloves. However, the high quality construction, the incredible functionality – though admittedly limited protection – and its very stylish appearance all make the Sidi Coibuss Glove a good choice for those who have been looking for “the” summer glove.