Boy have I had a hard time finding a pair of weight lifting gloves! My previous ones were simple leather Saranac gloves, not much padding but they lasted for several years. The leather eventually rotted out forming huge holes. But I can definitely say that the Saranac gloves were awesome.
Now onto the replacement. I tried four different types of gloves.
Harbinger 143
Harbinger 1260
Harbinger 1215 Big Grip II
GoFit Diamond-Trac
The Harbinger 143 gloves were OK. They didn't have too much padding, but fit very snug and were difficult to get off. Also, the fingers were short.
The Harbinger 1260 and 1215 were both unusable due to having too much padding in the palm and knuckle area. The padding is comfortable for pressing exercises (e.g. bench press), but makes it all but impossible to do pulling exercises (e.g. pull ups, curls, deadlifts, rows, etc.). You can try them yourselves, but save some money and take my word for it.
The GoFit Diamond-Trac gloves are the best of the bunch for my needs. They have a little padding in the palm, but not enough to interfere with your grip. They are lightweight, so I'm not sure how long they'll last, but I'll reserve judgment on that. They do make my hands sweat, because the neoprene on the back doesn't seem to breathe well. They run a little larger in size than the other gloves. Also, I like that they have a finger tab to help you pull off the gloves.
Please be kind enough to indicate if reviews are helpful. Harbinger 1215 Big Grip II Non-WristWrap Weight Lifting Gloves (Large)
I know others have made this comment, but the rubber grip pads on the palm of the glove are too thick and they prevent me from getting a tight grip on the dumbbell or barbell. The padding is actually welcome on exercises like bench press because it absorbs some of the weight and lets you focus more on the lift. However, on lifts that involve your palm facing down, such as dumbbell lateral raises, I cannot get a tight enough grip to feel confident that I will not drop the weight. I cannot use them at all for dead lifting because when you are pulling that much weight, you cannot afford to have a bad grip.
In nutshell, the build quality is great. They have real leather and the padding is durable. That said, they are only good for certain lifts and they fatigue your hand muscles since you are essentially, with the extra padding, grabbing onto a bar that is a bit thicker than you are used to. I had some discomfort in my forearm muscles after the first few workouts as a result.
I would prefer a glove that has very minimal padding on the palm area to act almost like a second skin rather than a padded glove. You still need to be able to feel the weights and get a tight grip to feel confident with heavy weights and prevent accidents.
I don't hate them, but personally I would not recommend them either.
These gloves look like they are great, but as many people said on here already... the rubber on the palms are so big and thick, you can barely even make a fist, let alone grab a bar securely enough for a heavy lift. I work at a gym and work out over 5 days a week, so If I cannot use these, I am assuming very few will like them.
My husband used a pair of these gloves for several years while weightlifting three days a week. They finally were in need of replacement. He had saved the packaging from the original set to ensure he would be able to replace them with the exact product. He says they are the best weightlifting gloves he has ever used and states they they give him a very secure grip.
When I got them I could tell they were not well made, not to mention the fact that one of the gloves looked and felt older than the other one. I would not recommend these gloves to anyone. They hurt the palms of my hand during presses. The idea of the rubber grips is nice but for an all around glove its terrible.
I purchased these gloves from another online vendor last week. The wrist support I would rate as moderate. My left wrist has been sore lately, and these definitely helped.
Regarding grip: Took a little getting used to at first, but I can lift fine with these. No concerns. The web of my hand gets a little sore after 45min, but hopefully that subsides once I break them in.'
Detail Products
Detail Reviews
Click here for more information
