Held Gear Care Tips Number 4 - Gloves

Gloves care

It's instinct to put your hand down should you have an 'off'. Your gloved hands grip the bars in all weathers and need the best protection from the elements for throttle control, braking and clutch control. So, looking after your gloves is important and we've put together some tips. (Must admit, I used to be guilty of not air-drying my gloves!)

Washing instructions for leather gloves

All unlined gloves are exposed to sweat, especially on the ball of the thumb and the fingertips. This sweat hardens the leather until it breaks. HELD gloves are as sweat-resistant as we can make them, but you can extend their durability with the right care:

• Clean your gloves in tepid water by using mild soap or special leather cleanser
• Do not use fabric softener or bleach
• Wash in clean water aferwards to remove chemical residue
• Put the glove on when still wet and clench your fist to mould them back into shape
• Wrap the gloves in a dry cloth and squeeze it (no mangling!)
• Air-dry the gloves(no heating, direct sunlight or hairdryer)
• Put on the dry gloves and knead to make them soft
• Treat the gloves with a leather care product

Washing instructions for textile gloves and gloves with membrane

• Wash the gloves by hand with mild soap
• Do not use fabric softener or bleach
• Do not dry-clean
• Wash the gloves with clean water afterwards to remove chemical residues
• Don’t squeeze or mangle the wet gloves
• Air-dry the gloves (no heating, direct sunlight or hairdryer)

TIP: If only the inner lining of a climate membrane glove needs to be cleaned, you can use water with a little mild detergent on the inside of the glove without having to clean the (leather or textile) outer shell.

Impregnation:

Properly impregnated gloves are dirt- and waterrepellent. A soaked outer shell causes a loss of heat from inside as the water chills or evaporates. Effective impregnation also increases thermal insulation and protects against windchill. The outer shell comes ready-impregnated, however over time this will wear off. So, If the impregnation loses its effect (i.e. if water doesn’t roll off anymore) you should re-treat the gloves as recommended.

For best results, we recommend following products:

1. Plain Leather Detergent	Held Product ref: Art. 9073
2. Leather Balm	Held Product ref: Art. 9011
3. Leather Impregnator	Held Product ref: Art. 9078
4. Active Polish	Held Product ref: Art. 9022

Oulton BSB: Smart mugs Richards for debut Evo win

Moto Rapido Ducati’s Scott Smart took his first win in the British Superbike Evo class at a soaking Oulton Park yesterday, passing championship rival Glen Richards on the last lap and also beating many full Superbikes in the process.

The Maidstone-based rider (and his favourite HELD gloves) showed good pace in both wet and dry conditions over Friday and Saturday, with no sign of the engine problems that plagued the team at Snetterton returning, and qualified in 20th place overall and third in class after a dry session.

Scott Smart- image from Bonnie Lane

Come Sunday, however, the paddock awoke to heavy rain and Smart went out in the late morning warm-up to get a feel for the conditions. As the lights went out for race one, Smart got a lightning start and stayed out of trouble into the first corner where fellow Evo rider Patric Muff dived out of contention but was unhurt.

The race settled down with Smart slowly making his way towards the front, picking off bike after bike until the safety car was brought out for oil on the track at Lodge, the final corner. As it peeled back into the pits, Smart only had Richards to beat but managed to not only pass the Australian but also three-time BSB Champion Ryuichi Kiyonari and James Ellison to finish tenth overall.

“I’d had a pretty good ride through the field and I could see Glen in the distance. I was edging closer to him but it wasn’t enough so when the safety car came out it was a bit of a blessing. I had to pass another couple of Superbikes and managed to catch him at the Shell Hairpin,” said Smart.

“I thought to myself I had to have a go, so I went past at the next corner but my legs and hands slipped off as I had a bit of a moment. I had no drive but he had to roll off too. I was helped by the last corner being slippery so it was pretty-much one line through there. I’m over the moon to give the team their first win, they’ve worked so hard to get us here.”

Scott Smart - from Maidstone. Scott's gloves - from www.held-uk.co.uk. This story - from www.bikesportnews.com

Held Gear Care Tips: Number 3- Helmets

Helmet outer shell

Clean the helmet shell regularly with lukewarm clean soapy water or a micro-fibre cloth. Let the helmet dry, keeping it away from excessive heat, then polish the helmet with a soft cloth. Please avoid contact with solvents, such as paints, glue or fuel.

Visor

Clean your visor regularly with lukewarm soapy water and a soft cloth.  Washing-up liquid is helpful to shift really sticky bugs.Use a cloth or a clean towel to dry your helmet.  Never use a hair dryer. Do not use polish, window cleaner or solvents. These products could damage the coating of the visor and weaken its surface.

Detachable inner lining and cheek pads

Detach the cheek pads and the inner lining and wash them with mild detergent (baby shampoo is ideal) in hand-hot water. Rinse thoroughly, squeeze out the water, and let them dry slowly. Do not use a washing machine or spin dryer!

 Non-detachable inner lining and cheek pads

Use lukewarm soapy water and apply with a sponge.  After that, use clean water and dry slowly.

Held Helmets are comfy, stylish, quality and EC approved. For more information and to find your nearest stockist please visit www.held-uk.co.uk

Held Gear Care Tips: Number 2- Textiles

Welcome to our second gear care blog - looking after your textiles.

Textile care

•     Held textile can be washed in your washing machine (however, please use mild detergents only, no fabric softener)

•     fill your washing machine no more than half-full

•     IMPORTANT: Body armour (such as shoulder/elbow or special foam CE back protectors) must always be removed before starting the washing process

•     avoid intensive rinsing or spin-drying

You should re-impregnate waterproof textile garments after each wash.  If this is done, water will continue to pearl off the surface of the outer fabric as it does on a new garment.


Textile care products:
1. Textile Detergent       Held Product Reference Art. 9076
2. Textile Impregnator    
a) spray                         Held Product Reference Art. 9065
b) liquid                        Held Product Reference Art. 9066

Hints to help extend life of mechanical parts

•     metal zippers should be lubricated with candle wax, pencil lead or oil

•     plastic zippers are maintenance-free

•     GORE-TEX© LOCKOUT© closures should be regularly lubed with a silicone oil pen

 To have a look at our full range of textile motorcycle clothing, leather motorcycle clothing, helmets, accessories etc. or to find your nearest Held stockist please visit www.held-uk.co.uk

Held Gear Care Tips: Number 1- Leather

Your biking gear is a good investment - it keeps you safe, helps moderate your body temperature, can protect you from rain / wind and ensures you look the part whilst enjoying your bike. It's important to care for your gear to ensure it not only continues to look good but always performs as it should.

Over the next couple of weeks we'll be blogging some good tips for looking after your gear and start today with what bikers are known for: Leather! 

General hints for professional care and cleaning:

•     Each time you use it, air the clothing well and remove dirt with a soft brush and clean water

•     Do not store products in air-tight plastic bags

•     Never treat leather with solvents or chemical products

•     Do not use washing machine or spin-dryer for leather. We recommend only hand washing with tepid water (40°C) with leather detergent.

•     Dry all leather products at room temperature (avoid direct sunlight, artificial heating or hairdryers

Leather care


To slow the natural aging process of leather (formation of tears, crazing, reduction in strength or waterproofing etc.) and products with leather features , we recommend you use the following care products, which all retail at less than £10 each.



1. Plain Leather Detergent     Held ref. number Art. 9073
2. Leather Balm                    Held ref. number Art. 9011
3. Leather Impregnator          Held ref. number Art. 9078
4. Active Polish                    Held ref. numberArt. 9022

 

Remember that some treatments can change the original appearance of leather. You should not be concerned by this, since in use, the material and its characteristics will be improved by such treatment.

So remember, show your leather some love! 








Next care topic: Textiles. Be sure to check back!

Did you know- Held also do Motorcycle covers? Ben Wilkins, Editor Of Classic Motorcycle Mechanics does - he's had his for years and loves it... To view the full range of Held gear and accessories please visit www.held-uk.co.uk

WELCOME TO OUR BLOG!

A warm welcome to the new blog from Held (UK division) - one of the most respected manufacturers in the motorcycle clothing and accessories sector, The Held company remains a family business made up of passionate bikers, still with its headquarters in the same picturesque Alpine town of Burgberg. 

Are our products good? Of course we'll say yes - but let us show you...

Take our gloves for example:

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