Five TFX1 GTX gloves in sand / brown

The TFX1 is a heck of a glove. Five really has thrown almost everything at it. Now the glove may look like it has been designed for adventure riding, but that’s just the design. The glove is actually a classic, summer-waterproof one. You wouldn’t want to wear it in the very coldest of conditions because it contains no insulating materials. But equally you wouldn’t want to wear it on the very warmest of days because the membrane is not going to allow the air to flow through to the skin.

The glove is a Gore-grip glove, which means that the Gore-Tex membrane is laminated to the inner side of the outer shell. This means that it’s a glove that will never wet out. The construction also gives much better feel on the controls, although the loss of a layer of air means such gloves are not necessarily the warmest.

The glove features a water-repellant stretch material on the back of the hand that is laid over an extra-strong layer of Ripstop fabric. The palm is made from a full-grain goat leather that is supplemented by digi-print leather for a better non-slip purchase, particularly in wet weather.

SuperFabric is made from ceramic balls for the highest levels of abrasion resistance. And on the TFX1, there’s a large area of it on the base of the palm, and down the outside of the hand. SuperFabric also features on a panel that holds the ring and little fingers together, in order to prevent the kind of injury Troy Bayliss incurred in WSB.

On the back of the hand you get what might be termed a semi-hard knuckle protector. The protector is backed with memory foam to better absorb the energy of an impact. The fingers on the glove feature external seams for extra comfort. You also get foam pads on the fingers and on the palm of the glove. As well as rubber bumpers for further protection.

One of the things we really like about the glove is the way the two, elasticated straps can be used to tighten the cuff of the glove around the wrist, so as to ensure that it will fit easily inside the sleeve of any technical jacket. Another protective feature is a large rubber bumper that is positioned to the outside of the wrist.

The index finger and thumb on both hands are touchscreen sensitive. But the TFX1 has a feature we have never seen on any other glove. On the left hand there’s a visor wipe, but it’s not a blade. Instead, it’s a soft panel that is designed to actually absorb the moisture. Sounds interesting; I suppose we will just have to wait and see how well it works.

The spec. on the TFX1 is as comprehensive as any summer-waterproof glove we have ever come across. There’s a lot going on with it, but we like what we see. The Gore-grip construction means that you won’t get wet; a lot of effort seems to have gone into making it protective; you get all the bells and whistles; and we really like the cuff, and the way it fastens around the wrist.

It’s not cheap; in fact quite the opposite; it’s bloody expensive, but if everything works as it should then the price seems less frightening.