What keeps some motorcyclists riding even as the snow starts falling? Riding a snowmobile! Once you put your 2-wheeled baby away for the winter, a snowmobile can deliver some of the same thrills in a beautiful new landscape.  But along with the joys of snowmobiling, comes the age-old question: How do you stay warm and dry? Here are some tips for safer and warmer snowmobile riding this winter Snowmobile Riding Tips: Before You Ride Make sure your snowmobile is tuned up!  The last thing you want to do is spend time walking around in the snow to repair your snowmobile....

So, you’ve put your bike away for the winter … what now? Still feel the “need for speed”? Snowmobile riding, in a beautiful winter landscape, is a great outdoor activity that many motorcyclists enjoy. But along with the joys of snowmobiling comes the age-old question: What’s the best way to keep your hands warm and dry? Here are 14 snowmobile glove suggestions, for sunny winter days on the sled. NOTE: – Check out our updated 2015-16 Buyer’s Guide:  16 Snowmobile Riding Gloves to Keep Hands Warm.  (An updated guide to 16 glove styles for snowmobile riders). more What’s The Best Way to Keep...

Winter Motorcycle Gloves: Product Review Marilyn Elmore Bragg is a motorcycle rider, photographer, and writer who occasionally writes for Olympia Gloves. She was given a pair of Ladies Olympia Aventador gloves (Style 4295) to road test this winter. After wearing them for about 300 miles, here’s her review Review: Olympia Ladies Aventador Gloves (Style 4295)  by Marilyn Elmore Bragg I live in the foothills of North East Tennessee. We don’t see many days when our daytime temps fall into the teens or single digits.  It happens, but not for weeks on end. For the most part we are able to enjoy our...

Buyers ask us this question all the time:  How do you choose the best glove leather? Glove leathers vary widely, in terms of cost, finish, color fastness, abrasion resistance, suppleness, and many other performance factors. Let’s look the most common types of glove leather, their qualities, and best uses. What’s the Best Leather for Gloves? Sheepskin from hair sheep: Sheepskin is regarded among the best glove leathers, especially skins from Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Africa. The main attributes are a very smooth and soft/supple grain combined with light weight and extreme tensile strength.   Note:  Wool sheep leathers are commonly used...

Leather is a classic material for gloves. What other material is strong and durable, feels great on your skin, and looks better the longer you wear it? Many factors go into making leather gloves that fit and feel comfortable, and function well … … but it all starts with choosing the right glove leather.  From there, many other factors come into play. We’ve written this multi-part series on leather glove manufacturing, to answer the most frequent questions that glove buyers ask us.  This is the first article in a 5-part series, covering these basic topics: What is Glove Leather? (see below)  ...

Last month, I spent a week working at our glove factory in China, and meeting with vendors, suppliers and customers. I thought I’d share a “boots on the ground” report, on what I’m seeing and hearing, pertaining to the 2014 outlook for Asia manufacturing and supply chain impacts. 2014 Asia Sourcing Outlook from a Glove Maker:  more When you run a global sourcing business, there are lots of sources of information. But my favorite information source is what I like to call the “Tsingtao Report”. That refers to what I hear over dinner and a beer in Shanghai, as I meet with my raw materials...

Our recent post about Dan Zinn’s 14K ride sparked a conversation with pro long distance rider “Jeff the Fence Guy”  Jeffrey E. Kohn.  From talking to Jeff, we learned what it takes to ride competitively for over 8600 miles in 8 days, and finish in the top three. Jeff patiently explained the answers to our most basic long distance riding questions … how you refuel, eat, stretch your legs, and sleep … all while racing the clock, fighting fatigue, and battling the elements. Planning a long distance ride?  For some great tips, read on.   From Florida to Alaska, and everywhere in between Jeff...

Suppose your son or daughter is deciding on which college to attend. They’ve seen the brochures, talked to friends, read the online rating. Should they choose the school where they will be spending the next 4 years, without a visit? Similarly, it can very instructive for buyers and product managers to spend time visiting prospective and current manufacturing facilities. My hope is that once you read this, you will know what to look for when you do. How To Visit a Glove Factory I love to give prospective buyers a tour of our manufacturing facility in China, and introduce the...

We visited several motorcycle glove dealerships recently. I have to be candid: the workmanship on some of the gloves I observed at retail was not good — mainly at the lower price points, but not exclusively. If you are responsible for a glove line, you might want to think about what steps you can take to engineer quality into the finished glove. After all, quality has a huge impact on customer satisfaction with your brand. The best time to insure that you get the quality you need? Before production starts! Build Quality Into the Glove Manufacturing Process Ensuring quality is an overlooked,...

Every Thanksgiving, we go out of our way to cook something special for my niece Ashlee, who is vegan. Whether or not Tofurky makes the menu, we always take her needs into account with lots of delicious choices. Similarly, there’s a growing group of vegan motorcyclists who avoid animal products. And while some motorcycle gear may be hard for vegan riders to attain, we’re happy to report that motorcycle gloves don’t have to be one of them. A Good Pair of Vegan Gloves Just Got Easier to Find There are a growing number of great man-made textiles that offer the strength, comfort and protection...

We’re excited to introduce Dan Zinn today. Dan is our first #Olympiarides rider! Dan is pending Guinness World Record approval for his motorcycle trip last year, a 14,000 mile, 58 day epic ride on a 2004 Harley through 38 states. Read about his ride on Dan’s trip blog.  Dan will be road testing some of our gloves, and posting pictures and video, along with the hashtag #Olympiarides, if you want to follow along on Twitter. Read the story below, meet Dan and find out how he first became a rider.  (Spoiler alert: the girl’s long gone, Dan still rides!) ****** The Day I Became a Rider by Dan Zinn Just as the snow began hitting...

I wanted to take a moment to share some thoughts of the season with friends and customers. At Olympia Gloves, here are a few things we are grateful for.  There is so much to appreciate this season:  more Health, home, family, nature’s gifts and the bounty we will share around the Thanksgiving table. It’s easy to lose focus in the holiday hustle and bustle, and forget these most basic blessings.  This great country that gave my dad the opportunity to start his business, after fleeing pre-WWII Europe.  Our co-workers – we’re a small group, working together for a long time. We make a...