INBIKE Mesh Motorcycle Gloves: An Honest Review

I have a confession to make. For years I rode with the same pair of leather gloves until the stitching gave out, and then I bought another pair that looked almost identical. It never occurred to me that a glove could be the difference between a comfortable 300-mile day and a miserable one. Then a friend at a Saturday breakfast ride mentioned the INBIKE mesh gloves she had just picked up, and I figured for the price of a tank of gas I could find out what the fuss was about. I have now put several thousand miles on them, through a Bakersfield summer and into fall, and I want to tell you the things I wish someone had told me before I bought them.

How I've Used It

I ride a Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail, and I do most of my miles on weekend group rides with a small local club, plus one or two longer multi-day trips a year on California highways. That means my gloves get used in every condition from a chilly 55-degree morning to a 105-degree afternoon on the Grapevine. The INBIKE mesh gloves have been on my hands for most of those miles since June, and I have formed some strong opinions.

I wore the INBIKE gloves on just about every warm-weather ride for a full season: weekend club rides, errands around town, and a couple of longer days out toward the coast. Most of that riding happened between late spring and early fall in Bakersfield, which means afternoons in the nineties and more than a few over a hundred. I kept my old leather gloves in the saddlebag the whole time, so I could switch if the INBIKE gloves let me down. By midsummer I had stopped bothering to pack them, which tells you most of what you need to know about how the season went.

The first thing you notice is the airflow. The back of the hand is almost entirely mesh, and at speed you can feel the air moving across your knuckles. On a 95-degree day, that is not a small thing. It is the difference between arriving at the coffee stop with damp, pruny hands and arriving feeling like a human being. My lower back still complains on long days, but my hands are no longer part of the problem.

On one July ride, we left at seven in the morning and rode until about two in the afternoon, with the temperature climbing past a hundred by the end. In my old leather gloves, that kind of day meant damp, swollen fingers and a grip that felt slippery on the bars by noon. In the INBIKE gloves, my hands were warm, but they stayed dry, and my grip on the throttle and clutch felt the same at two as it did at seven. That consistency matters more than comfort alone. Sweaty hands on the controls are not just unpleasant, they make you work harder to ride smoothly.

The second thing you notice is the touchscreen fingertips. They work. I can tap my phone at a gas stop without taking the glove off, which sounds like a minor convenience until you have done it a hundred times. The third thing, and this is the part nobody tells you, is that the gloves need a short break-in. Out of the box they feel a little stiff across the palm, and the first ride left a mild pressure point on my right index finger. By the third ride, the material had softened and the pressure point was gone. I have not thought about it since.

That has changed my stops more than I expected. Before, every time I wanted to check directions or answer a text from Ray at a gas station, I had to pull a glove off, tuck it under my arm, and hope it did not blow away. With the INBIKE gloves I tap the screen and keep going. The fingertips are not as precise as a bare finger, so typing a long message is clumsy, but swiping a map, answering a call, or tapping a pump screen all work fine. For the way I use my phone on a ride, that is plenty.

What Nobody Tells You About the Fit

The sizing is where most of the online complaints live, and I understand why. The INBIKE gloves run small. I normally wear a medium in most brands, and the medium INBIKE gloves were snug across the palm with just a little extra length in the fingers. I exchanged them for a large, and the large fits the way I expect a glove to fit: snug through the palm, no bunching, and the fingers end right at the tips. If you are between sizes, order up.

Here is what I would do differently if I were ordering again. Measure around your palm, just below the knuckles, with a soft tape measure, and also measure from the base of your palm to the tip of your middle finger. Compare both to the chart, not just one. I fit the chart perfectly on palm width but my fingers run a little short, so the tips of my gloves have a bit of empty space. It does not bother me on the bike, but if you have long fingers or wide palms, pay close attention, because the cut is fairly trim.

The hook-and-loop closure at the wrist is simple and effective. It does not dig in, and I have never had it come loose on a ride. The gloves go on and off easily, which matters more than you think when you are standing in a gas station parking lot in August. The one thing I would change is the lack of a pull tab. On a hot day, with slightly damp hands, getting the gloves off takes a little wiggling. It is a small thing, but it is the kind of detail you notice on ride number fifty.

The INBIKE mesh glove is the first glove I have owned where I actually look forward to putting it on when the temperature climbs past 90.

Protection: The Honest Part

Let me be direct about what these gloves are and are not. They are not a track glove and they are not a substitute for a full gauntlet in cold or wet weather. The hard knuckle armor is real, and it covers the back of the hand where you actually need it. The palm has only light padding and no slider, which is the tradeoff you are making for the price and the airflow. For everyday street riding, for commuting, for a Saturday ride with friends, I am comfortable with that tradeoff. For someone who wants maximum abrasion protection on the palm, there are better options, and they cost more.

I have had one low-speed drop in these gloves, and I can tell you the knuckle armor did its job. The glove took the scrape, my hand did not. The mesh on the back of the hand showed some scuffing, but the structure held. That is the honest report from a real-world test that I hope you never have to repeat.

That drop happened at almost walking speed in a gravel pullout, where my front tire washed out while I was turning around. I put a hand down without thinking, the way everyone does. The hard knuckle guards and the palm material did their job for a slow tip over like that, and I walked away with sore pride and no scrapes. I would not expect the same result at highway speed, and I would never claim these gloves are built for a real slide on pavement. They are summer street gloves, and that is the honest way to think about them.

How It Holds Up Over Time

After several thousand miles, the INBIKE gloves have held up better than I expected. The mesh has not frayed, the stitching is intact, and the touchscreen fingertips still work. The hook-and-loop closure still grabs firmly. The only visible wear is on the palm, where the material has smoothed a little from gripping the bars, and a faint scuff on the right knuckle from my drop. No holes, no loose threads, no blown seams.

The parts that wear first on most gloves are the fingertips, the seams between the fingers, and the hook-and-loop closure, so I watched those closely. The touchscreen tips still work. The seams have a few loose threads at the base of the thumb, which is where my hand rubs the grip all day, but nothing has opened up. The wrist closure still grabs firmly, although I do clean lint out of it every few weeks. Considering how many hours these gloves have spent in heat and sun, I am satisfied with how they look now.

I wash them by hand with mild soap and let them air dry, and they come out looking almost new. I would not put them in a washing machine. The one thing I have learned is to let them dry completely before the next ride, because the mesh holds moisture longer than you expect. That is not a flaw, it is just a fact of mesh material.

Where the INBIKE Gloves Shine

These gloves live for warm weather. From about 65 degrees up to 100, they are the most comfortable gloves I own. The airflow keeps your hands cool, the touchscreen fingertips work, and the fit, once you get the size right, is genuinely good. For a rider in the Central Valley, where summer is a way of life, that is most of the riding season.

They are also a great second pair of gloves. I keep a leather pair for cooler mornings and for trips where I might hit rain, and the INBIKE gloves live in my saddlebag for the rest of the year. That combination has covered every condition I have ridden in for the past six months.

The INBIKE gloves are also a good gift idea for a riding friend, which is how a couple of women in our club ended up with pairs. They are easy to size if you know the person's general hand size, they work on any kind of bike, and nobody turns down a cooler pair of gloves in summer. One friend who rides a smaller cruiser told me they made her stop dreading the afternoon ride home from our monthly breakfast meetup. That is the kind of small, practical difference good riding gear should make.

Where It Falls Short

Below 60 degrees, the mesh lets in more cold air than I want. I have worn them on a 55-degree morning and my fingers were uncomfortable by the time we reached the first stop. They are also not a rain glove. Mesh that flows air in the heat flows water just as easily, and a wet mesh glove is a cold, clammy thing. If you ride in the rain, keep a waterproof pair in your bag.

The other honest limitation is the palm. The padding is light and there is no slider, so on a long day the bar vibration comes through more than it would with a gel-padded glove. My hands have never gone numb, but riders who are sensitive to vibration may want more cushion. And if you are looking for a glove that will protect you in a serious get-off at highway speed, this is not that glove. It is a warm-weather street glove, and it is excellent at that job.

On longer days I notice some buzz from the handlebars through the palm, more than I do with my padded leather gloves. My Heritage Softail is a fairly smooth bike, so it is mild, but after three or four hours I sometimes stretch my fingers at a stop. If your bike vibrates more, or if you already deal with numb hands on long rides, you may want a glove with gel padding in the palm. For rides of a couple of hours, which is most of mine, it is not a problem at all.

Who This Is For

If you ride in warm weather, if you commute or do weekend rides, and if you have been putting up with hot, sweaty hands because you thought that was just part of riding, the INBIKE mesh gloves are for you. They are also for riders who want a dependable second pair for summer without spending a fortune. For the price, I have not found anything that cools better or holds up as well.

Who Should Skip It

If you ride mostly in cold weather, if you ride in the rain, or if you want maximum protection with a palm slider and heavy leather, skip these. They are not an all-season glove and they are not pretending to be one. Buy them for what they are: a breathable, comfortable, honest warm-weather glove that does its one job very well.