Recently experienced a lowside on the interstate. Ended up having an unscheduled meeting with the pavement going about 60-65mph. These gloves were in contact with the pavement for nearly the entire duration of the slide/tumble. The scaphoid sliders did there job wonderfully and get the gloves from catching. The TPU segments on the top of the fingers were ground down, and there were a few holes in them, but only through the first layer of leather; the secondary layer was completely untouched.

Regarding fit and finish, I was a little concerned at first as I have rather long fingers for my hands. I wear a large with all other American sized gloves and got a large for these. They felt a bit tight at first but felt rather nice after they were broken in. There were some loose threads in the stitching that had me concerned about durability, but after my crash, they proved me wrong. I am planning on picking up another pair of these as soon as I get the funds.

This is my third pair of the Knox Orsa's. I ride everyday in a very hot climate and the first pair just wore out after 18 months. No hesitation in buying a second pair. They lasted a year and have been replaced after a nasty crash. I walked away but the bike was a complete wreck. I did a low side and hit the asphalt with palms down. Zero issues with my hands although the scaphoids were quite banged up - the desired result. Naturally, another pair was ordered to go with my new bike.

I was looking for a short cuff summer glove with great protection, quality, comfort, and style. These gloves fit the bill and exceed in all categories, except comfort. The only reason for this is the interior stitching can hit a few pressure points on the finger tips. It's a minor gripe considering everything else this glove has to offer.

For sizing, some people say they run short and order a size up.(normally MD) I ordered LG and the fingers were too long. Went back down to normal for me, and while initially the gloves were tight, they were absolutely perfect after breaking them in. Take that into consideration. Otherwise, they are absolutely comfortable for my everyday summer glove.

The fact that these gloves are fully CE certified and have patented schaphoid protection makes them a must have IMO.

I inadvertently tested their scaphoid and overall protection when I crashed between 30-40mph and they did what they're intended to do. My hands were completely unscathed and each of the four palm sliders were ground down a bit. There was a small tear on the outside of the pinky but otherwise held up great. If that doesn't speak volumes for these things, I'm not sure what else will.

Will be picking up a replacement pair for sure and I highly recommend these gloves.

I did a ton of research before buying riding gloves, and I essentially was sold on these because of the SPS (Safoid Protection System). Read up on this feature online and watch the videos from Knox on their own internal testing. In fact, the reading I did really sold me on Knox as a company who puts their money where their mouth is regarding safety features. I believe this is where the gloves justify their cost. I will pay more to know that some of that cost goes to deflating the cost of proper R&D and actual thorough internal testing of the product.

However, I will say I am not a big fan of the BOA system. It’s slow and annoying to operate, uncomfortable on my wrist, sticks out too far and I just imagine it’s unsafe. Yes, you want to keep your gloves on your hand in the event of a crash, but at what cost? I just imagine those wires ripping the skin off my hand somehow. And I’ve just never had a problem with Velcro. For this reason, I have to give the gloves 4 stars.

Additionally, I don’t find these gloves terribly comfortable. At first, finger length seemed imprecise. Too long on some fingers and too short on others. But the leather seems to have stretched and worn into the shape of my hand over time. The TPU on the wrist is pretty clunky and makes fitting the gloves in my jacket pocket difficult when taking them off. Same can be said for the knuckle guard. It is not svelte, although it does move well. I haven’t really given much thought to the flowing of air so far. I guess, not noticing my hands are not hot means it’s keeping them cool.

Most of the reviews so far have been pretty positive, so perhaps this will help you meter those expectations. Basically, I’m still happy with them and I’d recommend these gloves to anyone who values their skin over fashion and comfort.

I purchase this glove for summer time riding after reading all of the reviews about how great ventilation was while still offering premium protection, I had to give a go! So I pulled the trigger hoping I didn’t make a mistake, let me tell the Knox Orsa did not disappoint.

While on the high side for my glove budget I got everything I was looking for in a short cuff glove. The leather has a good amount of thickness to them that shows quality, none of this thin stuff you may find in a stunter style glove such as the icon 49er mesh glove. If I go down I want the confidence in knowing that when I get up all my palm skin will still be intact.

True to size the glove fits amazingly well and brakes in nicely after the first week. I’m a large in most gloves and purchased just that, The glove had some pressure point issues in the finger knuckles but that was gone within the first week of my daily commute. In the finger webbing you can fill some leftover stitching that feels like a fine wire or stiff thread but that wasn’t cut off during manufacturing but again this may be an isolated issue and after 2 weeks I can barely feel now.

The glove has great airflow keeping your hands at a comfortable moderate temperature even at 85 degrees out. The fingering curvature is a perfect and the length of each finger is spot on with some wiggle room, so you don’t feel the tips pressing into your nail like most, the stretch panel in the thumb gives you maximum flexibility while offering even more ventilation. Speaking of ventilation, the knuckle guard ventilation system is now a must have on my list and works really well keeping the top of your hands cool.

The palm sliders are an amazing feature and a must have on my list of any riding glove after seeing a few riders burn through their gloves in this area at freeway speeds (you can imagine what that looked like). The palm sliders by no means are felt during your ride which I was impressed by.

The mechanical ratcheting system is awesome. At first I thought this to be more of a gimmick but once you try it you’re going to wonder why other glove manufactures haven’t copied it, it makes it so simple to get in and out of the glove and I don’t have to ever worry about Velcro becoming old and warn out over time and providing a weak point during a slide. The dial is not as big as it looks on camera and I’m able to get my Know Zypher jacket over it (small cuff opening) for more ventilation within my jacket as well as over the jacket cuff for more warmth. Over the jacket cuff may not be possible with thicker style jackets, just an FYI.

Cons:
Nothing really bad:

1)The cabling for the watching systems (2 thin wires) tends to get in the way when strapping up with a jacket on. Easy to do with one glove on, a little more difficult when getting the second one on, the jacket cuff always fall in-between here.
2)The ulna protector when ratcheting the glove closed at times will lock in an uncomfortable position giving the feeling of a piece of metal pressing against the bone, a quick adjust or repositioning fixes this issue.

All In all this is a great glove, if you’re thinking about, go ahead and pull the trigger, you won’t regret dropping the extra coin.

I would give it a perfect rating but I have some stitching or something on the inside of one finger only that irritates me

Just received these gloves today. Upon putting them on to test size they fit just a bit snug. After breaking in they'll probably fit perfectly. They're comfortable and feel great. Nothing wrong with finger length. I have relatively short/average finger lengths and it fits great.

The only issue I have is the palm slider on my right glove. From what I can see, the palm sliders are stitched to the leather and the small excess of leather on one side of the stitching is glued to the palm sliders with some adhesive. A portion of my right palm slider is not adhered to the leather and I can pull the leather away to see the stitching underneath. There are considerable tears on the material underneath where the stitching goes through. It's concerning because if I go down, the slider might rip off from that weak point exposing my palm.

If not for this issue, I'd give 5 stars. I most likely just got a bad pair and this review shouldn't undermine this glove model.

I love the "gimmick" here and wanted to keep these but the fingers are just way too long. If you have large hands like me but shorter fingers, stay away.

Let me start by saying that I absolutely love these gloves! They flow a really good amount of air through the knuckle, and the air disperses under the honeycomb gel and through the entirety of the liner. They're a lot more comfortable in warm weather than I imagined when I tried them on.

These run a bit on the small side. I wear a large in American cut gloves. River road, Sliders, Z1R, and all my work gloves are large - but these are a bit snug so I'd recommend going up a size. XL fit me fine, and even better after a hundred miles or so.

My gripes, really, are small. Knox have fixed the back panel of the original Orsa with some elastic so the leather doesn't bunch. You get plenty of wrist mobility for the throttle without being crowded by bunched up leather.

I wish they'd done external seams on the fingers. It doesn't bother me, per se, because they've got wrap around fronts on the fingertips (and a smart device compatible material on both left and right index fingers), but for such a high end short glove, I expected a bit more. I'd also loved to have seen an elastic or flex panel at the base of the thumb, as that is a bit tight for me.

The TPUs are great. The BOA system is amazing and everything fits well under every jacket I own, both leather and textile. There were some frayed ends of excess stitching - again, a minor gripe but for $90 I expect to avoid having to trim/melt excess stitching.

The whole of the glove is 91% goat leather, per Knox, the remainder being the very soft polyester lining and the fabric flex panels in the fingers.

The SPS doesn't get in the way when I ride upright or tucked slightly. You may feel it a bit more in a full tuck, but it's easy to get used to. There's great knuckle and ulna protection, too - and I love the double reinforcement in the palm and the high wear areas of the underside of the fingers and thumb.

Overall, I'm very happy with these gloves. I wouldn't hesitate to buy them again and I'm now looking into some of their full gauntlet gloves for fall and winter riding.

For the price this is a great glove. However it did run a bit small for me in the thumb to index finger, after a bit of stretching it has become a bit better.