Risk Racing Palm Savers Review
COMFORT
OK so these look like they might be uncomfortable under your gloves, but the reality is that you really do not really notice them as the material is thin enough not to alter the fit of your glove.
DURABILITY
For such a reasonably priced item, the Risk Racing Palm Protectors last very well – they are never in direct contact with your grips, so they do last. Maybe they are not something you will be leaving to your kids in your will, but at only a fiver if they do wear, just get another set.
VALUE
No blisters for this little money – total steal. We’d pay ten times the price if we never got another palm like raw meat …
APPEARANCE
OK so the Palm Protectors were never going to be works of art – they are functionally made to do a job and do it well. While not ugly and for most of their life they will be unseen under a glove, when you gloves are off, they do make you look a bit like a hobo. It’s a small price to pay.
The Risk Racing Palm Protectors are incredibly simple. But sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. With most off-road riders having hands that resemble a collection of blisters held together with leathery skin and ingrained dirt – it’s not a good look.
But aside from the aesthetics of less than perfect hands, there are genuine reasons why blisters across your palms are bad news. It makes holding onto the bars increasingly painful, it distracts you from riding and if and when they burst, you risk some nasty infections, particularly in hot climates.
So the guys at Risk Racing set about to come up with a solution, something that would reduce abrasion and prevent the onset of blisters from the start. The resultant piece of low-tech genius is the Palm Protectors – essentially a thin sheet of thin neoprene like material that sits between your conventional off-road or indeed road gloves.
The material is shaped to fit over your wrist – both hands are clearly marked – and then onto your fingers and thumbs. This then gives a cushioning layer across the entire palm and into the gap between forefinger and thumb – an area that the website somewhat unattractively calls the ‘grip flange’…
Risk claim their Palm Protectors can reduce the effects of vibration and even reduce arm-pump, so it’s a coverall that can only be good news. With modern MX and enduro gloves heading down a route of minimal padding and maximum feel, the addition of the Palm Protectors adds in another layer of much wanted protection.
OK so in terms of how they work, the Risk Racing Palm Protectors are unexpectedly effective for such a simple idea. Every time we remember to throw them into the kit bags for a weeks riding on the trails out in Cambodia we instantly remember how good they are and how we really should remember them every time, even on the road. OK so we’re not claiming that using Palm Protectors will make your hands like a jewellery model’s, but it will prevent them from resembling a brisket after a day in the saddle. All this for eight bucks or around a fiver – now that’s a bargain.
RISK RACING PALM PROTECTORS RATING:
Visit the Risk website for more info on their Palm Protectors. Or, if you’d like to find out about the motorcycle expeditions we offer around the world, visit our Ride Calendar to see what’s on and when.