Held Titan Gloves- as worn by Gary Johnson, 2014 TT

Held Titan Gloves are probably the best gloves you can buy for track (and road!) use. Held gloves have won numerous awards, including 'best gloves' for many years on the trot from Motorrad Magazine, Europe's biggest selling motorcycling magazine. 

This very week Gary Johnson wore Held Titan Gloves when he won the Isle of Man Supersport TT on his Smiths Triumph. Gary was also wearing Held Titan Gloves when he had his crash at Ramsey Hairpin. Gaz is ok, a couple of broken bones. We were delighted to hear from him the next day, and in the Tweet (below) in which he described his Held gloves as 'unreal'. Thanks Gaz!

Held Titan Glove and Gary Johnson's Tweet

The Held Titan gloves are not cheap- RRP £249.99, but they simply are the best protection for your hands! If you do have an 'off', you'd probably want to be in the best gloves...

Here's the spec:

-Highly abrasion resistant Kangaroo leather outer, colour fast and sweat proof
Unlined
-Step seam construction to avoid pressure points and improve the 'feel' of the road
-Pre-formed crumple free palm
-Tunnel strap for a more comfortable wrist adjustment
-Visor wiper
-Carbon/GRP shells to protect side of hands and knuckles
-Knuckle shell with KEVLAR (branded fibre) ceramic polymer matrix coating
-Highly abrasion resistant Sting Ray leather panels backed with shock absorbing gel pads
-SUPROTECT special shock absorbing foam back and thumb
-Back, thumb, little and ring finger fully protected with KEVLAR

Here's some info:

The new Titan motorcycle racing gloves overcome the competition by fitting better, "outstanding" protection, excellent dexterity and a direct feel for the bike and road.

Titanium covered Carbon-fibre knuckle shells: The Carbon-Aramid shells are covered in Titanium for the best protection.

Side of hand reinforcement: Carbon-fibre shells with Sting Ray leather reinforcements keep your sides protected. 

Sting Ray leather innovation: Ball of thumb and knuckles are protected with highly abrasion resistant leather made from Sting Ray skins. These are backed with shock absorbing pads to ensure that a falling rider slides more easily and with less chance of fractured limbs.

Gary Johnson, IOM TT winner, using the visor wipe at 153mph!

 Safe construction: One of the most vulnerable parts of our hands are the little fingers which easily twist in an accident; As a result the Titan protects the little and the ring finger with KEVLAR all round and finger sleeves are slightly joined to reduce the risk of twisting (finger bridge).

Comfort all round: HELD use step seam machines when making the Titan gloves; Step seams mean there is no inner welt to the seam which creates a flatter surface with fewer pressure and abrasion points. And that gives you greater comfort and better control! In Europe, only HELD have the machinery to manufacture gloves with step seams. Real grip, astonishing control, amazing protection.

To see more about Held in the UK, and a list of UK Held retailers, please visit www.held-uk.co.uk

The Held 'Black 8' textile jacket- just £229.99

The Held 'Black 8' ref number 6328- RP just £229.99

What sets this motorbike jacket apart is the fabric it is made of: High denier usually means stiff and uncomfortable; Not so! The 750D denier Tactel fabric is clearly heavy-duty but through the addition of Tactel this is a hugely comfortable sporty touring jacket with trousers to match. What's great are the practical additions of 4 outer pockets and the comfortable soft collar. The reflective print panels are plentiful. The internal removable thermal lining adds protection from wind-chill. SAS-Tec 3D shoulder and elbow Level 1 CE armour come as standard and the back armour pocket can be upgraded with a Level 2 CE protective panel.

Technical information

Components:
• DuPont 750D Tactel fabric
• Windproof, waterproof & breathable with Humax® Z-Liner
• Breathable inner mesh lining
• Removable inner thermal lining

Features:
• 4 outer pockets
• 2 inner pockets and 1 mobile phone pocket (not sized for Smart Phones)
• Airflow zip vents front and back
• Waist & sleeve adjustments
• SAS-Tec 3D Level 1 shoulder & elbow armour (EN1621-1)

• Back armour pocket upgradable with CE Level 2 armour (EN1621-2)

Why not add the trousers that match- the Held 'Gamble' just £189.99

View our online catalogue here

Made to measure gloves from Held

Always fancied a pair of Made to Measure summer / race gloves? Made personally for your hands? With a choice of colours? And your name embroidered on the side?

Well now we can do that for you!

Check out racer Scott Smart's:

Held wearing racer Scott Smart's personalised gloves

Or racer Gary Mason's:

Racer Gary Mason's personalised Held gloves

How much?

The Made to Measures are available in the Held Titan and the Held Phantom Glove. The service is charged at the price of the glove + 30% (max), meaning you could have a pair of Made to Measure Phantom IIs, with your name on the side, and a choice of colours for under £60 extra!!

How do I go about it?

We can liaise with a Held Dealer to sort it out for you, and it's a real simple process to get a Bespoke, one-off pair of gloves:

* Contact us at social@held-uk.co.uk  including your name and phone number,  and we'll help you through the process.

Then it'll be:

* Choose your gloves: Titan (RRP £229.99) or Phantom II (RRP £184.99) 

* Choose your colour scheme (Yellow, green, red, black, blue, grey, white... etc!)  

* Choose your lettering / numbers (Bear in mind the space available on the glove- 10 characters max - so if your name is Sokratis Papastathopoulos you'll have to abbreviate!) 

* Draw neatly round your hand on a sheet of A4 (like you did when you were a nipper) to just below the wrist joint

Re-live a childhood moment- the hand drawing!

Just what we need!

* Photo-copy your palm and the back of your hand (tip: put a tea-towel over your hand so as not to allow the light in as the copier lid won't close properly on your hand!)

Photocopier!

How long does it take?

Around 6 weeks from the day we receive your information and measurements!

So why not treat yourself! Drop us a line at social@held-uk.co.uk

For more information on Held in the UK please visit www.held-uk.co.uk
 

Sean Neary: Ducati 848: Race Report – Round 6 – Donington Park

Here's the race report for Held-wearing Sean Neary's exploits at Donington:

Sean Neary - edging nearer the podium

 Firstly I need to thank all my sponsors for putting in further funding to allow us to complete the season. As ever I am humbled by the support but I now feel in a position where I can get the results to repay them.

After some strong results at Oulton Park myself and the Team were in a positive mood for Donington Park. In addition to that my bike had spent the weeks post Oulton Park at the JHP Ducati Coventry Workshop to resolve the power issues we were experiencing at Oulton Park. My engine was built by Jeff Green at GTEC Performance and there was no doubt that the engine was built to a fantastic standard. However that is only half the job and the bike has to be built correctly to ensure the engine can perform to its potential. Rick Hackett at JHP found a number of issues with the bike including a cracked exhaust manifold, blocked air tubes and a faulty power commander just to mention a few of the issues. With the assistance of JHP we gained another 10BHP which is an unbelievable gain in a one make series like the Ducati 848 Challenge. Massive thanks to Rick at JHP and also Jeff Green for building a bullet proof engine at the start of this season. It’s a little frustrating that we didn’t resolve the other issues earlier in the year as I’ve no doubt the season to date would have been very different had the bike been set up in this way. You live and learn as they say and it's safe to say I will never make a mechanic!

Held wearer Sean Neary- on it!

Practice on Friday at Donington was a complete washout so I went and did a few laps to ensure we had a good wet setup if needed. Qualifying on Saturday was interesting to say the least due to the mixed weather conditions. I opted for full wet tyres which in hindsight was a big error as the track was dry for the last 10 minutes of the session. I held 5th until the last 5 minutes when the teams on the dry tyres pushed me back to 12th which is as to be expected.

The bike was absolutely fantastic and credit to everyone involved as this is now a completely different bike to what I have been riding and I now spend my laps with a beaming smile as I still can’t believe the increase in performance!

Race 1

I would have been better off getting my Mum to perform the start which I did in race 1!!!! Absolute shocker which saw me 20th in turn 1. I fought back to 7th and had a great race long battle with Deane Brown and Daniel Fowler. I missed a gear on the final lap which put paid to my challenge for 6th place. Given the start and the work I had to do I was reasonably happy with the final result and still buzzing about the performance of the bike. I also set the 7th fastest lap of the race meaning a promotion on the grid for race 2.

Race 2

A much better start saw me 6th on lap one. I managed to get back past Ben Field on lap 2 and began to close in on the leading group. As I remember thinking we were in the hunt for some serious podium action I lost the front at the final turn on lap 2. Absolutely gutted does not do justice to the way I feel after that. These boys are the quickest in the country so I have to ride on the limit to be in with a chance. I don’t think my front tyre was quite up to temperature as they held us on the grid for a while but that said this was down to rider error, so I hold my hands up. I must say the Held Clothing kept me in great condition and I didn’t end up with a scratch. The Held Evo suit has had contact with the tarmac on more than 5 occasions over the last couple of years and they are still in 100% condition to protect me.

I was disappointed for the Team as for the first time this year that bike is capable of winning and I really can’t fault the effort of all involved. That’s racing as they say so we move on!

Assen is 2 weeks away and I can safely say I have never been so excited for a race in all my life! The bike is an absolute joy to ride and I am confident we can be challenging up front. Get me on that ferry now!

Thanks all

Sean #10

For more on Sean please visit his website

For more on Held, please visit ours!

Race Report: Held wearer Sean Neary, Ducati 848 challenge

Race Report – Round 3 – Snetterton 300

Race 1: 14th
Race 2: 10th 

Sean Neary, Ducati 848 challenge racer and Held wearer

It’s been a very eventful two weeks that’s for sure. We competed in the W 100 Powerbike Championship the weekend prior to Snetterton and it looked as if we would skip the Snetterton round while searching for a further sponsor to assist the team. 

A big crash at Anglesey on 30th July meant the bike sustained some damage but thanks to my Held suit I escaped with cuts and bruising but no breaks thankfully. On the Monday night I received a call from Charlie at Arclid Power who said he would make it possible for us to get to Snetterton, if I wanted to ride. 

Now if anybody asks me do I want to ride you know what the answer is! Charlie ordered the parts we needed from JHP Ducati Coventry and Cheadle Autobodies repaired the panels for us. I took a week off training as I didn’t have much movement in my neck and also heavy bruising on the hips. Thanks to the whole team we managed to get the bike repaired and off to Norfolk we went.

Sean's Held Phantom II gloves clearly visible

Many of my competitors had been testing the previous week at Snetterton so we knew we would be up against it. We tried yet another spring in the rear shock so practice was used to try and tweak this and remember which way the circuit goes. 

Qualifying turned out to be interesting to say the least. We changed gearing on Friday night and unfortunately the lads didn’t tighten the rear wheel. We left pit lane and 200 yards later the rear wheel locked against the swinging arm meaning we didn’t even get a lap in during qualifying. After some pleading with the organisers to let me in the race they agreed to let me start at the back although I hadn’t even completed a lap. The mechanics were distraught at their error but these things happen and I am 110% sure it won’t happen again!

Race 1
Starting from the back of the grid and needing some serious track time was never going to help. I battled through to 14th from the back of the grid. The positives are that I made up a good number of places but I will never enjoy finishing 14th! Enough said.

Race 2
I started race 2, 15th on the grid and after a good battle for 10th I managed to finish in 10th. After the disaster of qualifying if somebody had offered me a top 10 I would have taken it. We also tried a new rear spring again this weekend which was much more positive. A few more tweaks and we will be back challenging for the top 5 and hopefully higher for the Oulton Park round. In addition with assistance from Motul we now have the front braking issue solved and the team know exactly what to do to ensure they stay strong throughout the race.

To summarise it was certainly a tough weekend but the way my team worked after the qualifying session gave me great faith for the remainder of the season. My sponsors once again pulled together to get us there and as always I am truly grateful. With Arclid Power now on board for the remainder of the season in addition to our existing sponsors it should give the team more stability. I am now in training for my Calais to Amsterdam cycle at the end of the month so I will be in fighting fit shape for Brands! Let’s av it!

Thank you all
Sean #10



To find out more about the gear Sean wears please visit www.held-uk.co.uk

Held gloves - how they are made

Held gloves. Many awards, huge amounts of great feedback. Here's how we make 'em. Here's why they're good!

Grading

Every single piece of cowhide, kangaroo pelt and stingray skin is checked by hand – often by Erhard Held or his son Christian Held personally. Hides are very rarely perfect, but any faults such as marks from barbed wire, thorns or ticks are identified and the piece rejected. The leather is then soaked so that it can be stretched for punching, to ensure that the finished items will not lose its shape with use.

Punching


All Held gloves are punch cut. This is far more precise and provides a cleaner edge than cutting with scissors. A costly, sharpened metal die must be fabricated for each leather section. And when you consider that a pair of Held Phantom gloves has 156 individual sections, this means we need a lot of cutters! It then takes 18 minutes to punch out each pair.

Moulding

We only use carbon fibre of the highest grade, which we punch-cut and pressure mould ourselves to ensure a perfect fit. Once cut, each piece is heated to 450˚C and then subjected to 40 tons of pressure and shaped over our custom moulds. These custom protectors are often underlain with shock absorbing gel and sometimes even overlaid with Titanium.

Stitching

Each pair of gloves take a highly skilled machinist 90 minutes of sewing time.

Finishing

Finally every single Held glove is carefully formed on hot irons to create the perfect ergonomic fit. Once this is achieved, the material and workmanship of each one is carefully inspected. If even the slightest irregularity is detected, the glove will be rejected.

There! Hope you found that interesting. We'll be blogging lots more from now on - so please be sure to check back. Meanwhile, if you'd like to know more about Held, our range, our stockists etc please visit www.held-uk.co.uk 

Pics: c Held GmbH; schöffel design

c Held GmbH; schöffel design