Over the past several years, motocross gloves have really made big strides in development. Some of today's gloves are a bit on the overbuilt side, but Shift has nailed it with the Mach Glove. Although the glove has been available for several months, it deserves attention as one of the most functional gloves on the motocross market. Performance, along with longevity and comfort, is what the design crew at Shift accomplished with the new Mach Glove.
Construction of the glove is quite simple. The knuckle area uses a Lycra "flex top" with air mesh underneath. More than 90 percent of the glove uses air mesh material to help keep hands as cool as possible. A dual-layered palm area offers more strength on impact. The thumb area uses a four-way stretch Spandura to maximize thumb mobility.
On the track, the $29.95 glove worked great. It has a really light feel to it and a rather thin palm area. As far as protection goes, the glove does a good job of preventing blisters and has protection in all the right areas. It held together after some of our test riders had a few high-speed get-offs. The Mach Glove doesn't offer a whole lot of roost protection, but we haven't come across any high-performance motocross gloves that will ultimately save the knuckles from high-flying roost. Of the seven pairs of Mach gloves that were put through our test, only one set had problems with stitching in the finger areas.