SixSixOne Raji Gloves

SixSixOne is best known for their motocross and mountain bike protective gear. So it’s kind of interesting that they make some of the simplest, most understated yet completely functional cycling gloves on the market. I’m talking about the Raji gloves.

I’ve had my Raji’s for a few years now. While I don’t necessarily wear gloves every time I go riding, these have definitely seen more use than most of my other warm-weather gloves. With their lack of day-glow logos and molded rubber, they’re more in line with street style I’m fond of whereas most of my mountain bike gloves look like they came from the wardrobe of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. And maybe I just prefer the simplicity of the simple elastic cuffs over the industry standard Velcro wrist closure, but the latter just seems so unnecessary.

The Raji gloves feature a thin, ventilated, synthetic fabric on the top, a soft terrycloth thumb and a minimally padded palm. The design has been slightly modified since I got my gloves, but seemingly only for the better. They’ve upgraded the synthetic leather palm material from the ever-popular Clarino to something they’ve licensed from Mechanix called Tactilite. Assuming the quality of the sewing remains the same (very few seams have torn on my gloves) the new and improved Raji’s should last a few seasons for most bike commuters.

The Raji Gloves retail for $30. Visit www.sixsixone.com for more info.