Product Review: Macna Talon Gloves

It’s always interesting to try out a new brand of motorcycle gear, with Macna making an appearance in Australia thanks to Link International, with the brand having been available since 1991 in Europe, where it apparently does quite well. 

It is winter at the moment here in Australia, with Sydney NSW weather being relatively mild compared to further south like Tasmania or Victoria, or even just further from the coast, so while warm gear is still essential at highway speeds, it’s often the waterproofing that really pays off in winter.

Testing the Macna Talon gloves on the 2017 MV Agusta Brutale 800 – Image: David Hodgson

These Macna Talon gloves are apparently a summer waterproof glove, which suits me as I generally dislike most winter gloves, due to the thickness and lessened feeling/control that entails, especially when many often only slow your fingers getting cold, but don’t seem to prevent it.

The Macna Talon gloves are a textile and leather construction, with the tag saying 41% goat leather, which is much of the palm, fingertips and the area under the knuckle armour, while the gloves themselves are made in China.

The Macna Talon gloves feature a goat leather palm and reinforced heel palm, with good overall comfort. The drainage outlet is also visible under the wrist.

There’s a Velcro strap and cuff for tightening the glove, and gives a good variety of adjustability at the wrist, and a reasonable amount at the cuff. I have relatively thin wrists and wouldn’t want any less adjustability at the cuff, although on the outside of a jacket the extra bulk works to the glove’s advantage. The wrist adjuster does ensure the glove won’t be going anywhere though.

Not so well designed are the adjusters themselves, which need a raised edge to make it easier to adjust the gloves, while wearing gloves. Without the gloves on it is relatively easy, but pulling the straps up is annoying as the thin edge is very hard to get a purchase on.

Waterproofing is thanks to a ‘Raintex breathable, waterproof’ membrane and there’s a small drainage point under your wrist. So far the waterproofing has proven good, but keeping in mind this is the middle of winter, I end up sweating in the glove on even a moderately warm day, and the inside ends up quite damp. That’s not all that unusual though in my experience, with well breathing waterproof gloves seeming very rare, and the glove does seem to dry quickly on these occasions.

Velcro straps offer good adjustability on the Macna Talon, with TPR knuckle protection, reinforced fingertips, and a waterproof membrane.

The drainage eyelet also gives you a look into the inside/membrane material of the glove, which just looks like a rubber/plastic waterproof material, which would explain the lack of breathability.

The overall fit seems good, there’s no bunching under the palm and the reinforced area at the heel of the palm is well situated. The finger length is a bit off on the little finger and thumb for me, and that’s particularly noticeable for the thumb since it makes closing my visor hard, with the end of the thumb getting stuck under it. I’m also wearing an XL, and I’m normally a Large, but occasionally an XL depending on the glove design.

Touch Tip finger allows mobile phone use with the glove on. It’s a bit of a gimmick to me, but might be good for those with a GPS on the bike

There’s also a visor clearing blade on the left and right fingers which is infinitely worse than just using the leather edge of the finger for the same job. The ‘Touch Tip’ seems to be intended to allow touch screen device use with the gloves on and normally works but is inaccurate enough that I’d just pull the glove off. It’s not like you’re using your phone on the move, but I can see it being useful for touch screen GPS devices attached to your handlebars.

Build quality itself seems good, although I’d want a full season of riding to see how they hold up, especially getting thoroughly soaked and drying out all the time.

The Velcro straps have good quality Velcro but can be hard to undo when removing the gloves, as the edges of the Velcro straps are hard to get a grip on

Overall they seem like a solid set of summer gloves with waterproof features, and it is obvious that Macna put a fair bit of effort into providing features that motorcyclists need and want. Long term testing will be needed though, as for $139.95 RRP these are closer to the premium end of the market, and while that is fair enough, they need to last significantly longer than the competition in the $80 region to justify that price in my mind.

The Macna Talon glove offers good comfort and is a lightweight glove, ideal for moderate weather and those who prefer lighter gloves with good feel

So far they are living up to my expectations however, and we’ll provide an update towards the end of winter to show how they have fared under heavy duty use.

For more information on the Macna range in Australia see Link International, or visit your local Macna stockist.

Special thanks: Link International