As a Southern California native, I’m not often forced to ride in the wet and cold. If the weather’s bad, I can wait a day or two, and it will be sunny and beautiful. However, part of my job involves involuntary servitude—new model introductions where we ride regardless of the weather. The launch of the Triumph Tiger Sport 800 in the mountains above Faro, Portugal, was conducted in everything from sunshine to cold, torrential rain. The Alpinestars Hyde XT Drystar XF gloves have their work cut out for them, as I’m a big baby when it comes to chilly temperatures, and I was riding through the rain, and the thermometer on the bike was reading in single digits Celsius.
Rather than bulky gauntlet gloves suitable only for the worst weather, the Alpinestars Hyde XT Drystar XF gloves are mid-length and use Alpinestars’ proprietary Drystar membrane lining to keep your hands dry and warm.
The Hyde gloves feel wonderful the first time you put them on, thanks to the plush interior. A tab makes it easy to pull the second glove on, and the hook-and-loop closure is fiddle-free. These are gloves you can don or remove quickly. The index fingers and thumbs are touchscreen compatible, as long as you’re not trying to do anything precise—no way I could text in them.
There’s plenty of flex in the gloves, with stretch panels on the index and middle fingers, allowing for easy use of the hand levers. A chevron-shaped stretch panel across the back of the hand makes use of the throttle easy. I wear Large size gloves, and the Hyde gloves fit as expected.
A bridge between the pinkie and ring finger to reduce the chance of injury in a crash. The flexible viscoelastic knuckle protection is sturdy enough for the Alpinestars Hyde XT Drystar XF gloves to get a CE Level 1 KP rating. The KP means knuckle protection, while the Level 1 tells you the gloves are suitable for all street riding, short of the racetrack. The Hyde gloves also have a thick pad to protection your always-vulnerable scaphoid bone in a fall. These are outstanding gloves for inclement weather, something you’re bound to run into when touring or sport-touring.
With the wind howling and the rain pelting me from all directions, and still riding at triple-digit speeds on the highway, the Hyde gloves kept my hands absolutely dry, surrendering only a slight coolness as the temperature dropped into the mid-40s. For a cold-weather lightweight like me, that’s a miracle.
Testing the gloves into the 70s with no rain, they don’t overheat your hands due to the Drystar membrane’s breathability. Everyone has different reactions to cold, so my ability to comfortably wear the Alpinestars Hyde XT Drystar XF gloves over a 30-degree range may not apply to you. I’m someone who doesn’t like stopping once I get going, so a pair of gloves that work over a broad range of conditions is a big plus for me.
The Alpinestars Hyde XT Drystar XF gloves helped me survive a nasty Atlantic winter storm in coastal Portugal—no small feat. After I got back home, on cooler days, the follow-up testing left me no less impressed. At $125/pair, these are premium, good-looking all-weather sport-touring gloves that simultaneously perform the difficult yet sometimes-conflicting duties of warmth, flexibility, and waterproof performance—and do so successfully.
Action photography by Gareth Harford and Chippy Wood
Alpinestars Hyde XT Drystar XF Gloves Fast Facts
- Sizes: S – 3XL
- Certification: CE Level 1 KP
- Colors: Black/Black; Black/Bright Red; Fire Red/Black
Alpinestars Hyde XT Drystar XF Gloves Price: $125/pair MSRP
