As far as protective gear goes, I’m always willing to extend my budget if the price justifies the features. When it comes to that, Ixon seems to have an ace up its sleeve, or hand in this case. The Ixon RS Genius Replica is the French company’s answer to those looking for track and fast-road use gloves, without completely destroying the bank, and a quick look at the features tells you why.
The Genius is made of supple goat leather, both on the backhand and palm areas. As far as fit is concerned, the Genius wraps itself around the hand quite snugly, enabled by the pre-curved fingers and the double-strap Velcro cuffs for that added sense of security. More importantly, the gloves only required a couple of hours to break in; that turned out to be crucial as I bought these only a couple of days before hitting an unknown (for me) racetrack in Spain.
But what I really love about the Genius is the all-round protection it offers. The carbon-injected knuckle protector, sliders on the fingers, and TPU slider on the scaphoid area are all protective elements in just the right places. Also, the additional layer of leather on the side wall and the bridged third and fourth fingers are features that I’ve always been particular about while choosing a glove.
I’ve been using these gloves while riding all kinds of bikes, and so far, they’ve proved to be quite comfortable. While the range of motion is adequate, the feel of the bar and the levers is great, allowing one to make the right amount of throttle and brake inputs. The ventilated knuckle and finger sliders are effective and although there are minimal perforations, I’ve never had sweaty palms while riding in Mumbai’s infamous October heat.
However, there are a couple of minor issues that I’ve faced. Firstly, one of the seams in the right glove rubs against my thumb and that gets annoying after a while. Secondly, since India is mostly hot and dusty, the palm area could’ve been dyed in a darker shade instead of white, in the interest of maintenance. Overall, I’m pretty impressed with the quality, fit and feel that these gloves offer, especially after considering the price. Though I ended up spending Rs 5,000 over my initial budget, I think it was money well spent.
Where: Performance Racing Store
Price: Rs 15,000
Dinshaw Magol
Rishaad Mody
Azaman Chothia
