Stats
Manufacturer: Ringside Ultimate Classic
Price: 69.99 from ringside.com (think I got them for 89.99)
Weight: 16oz
Type: Super Bag glove
Color: only comes in black on brown and brown on black
Composition: Leather, CoolMax interior, ClosedCell foam fill, velcro enclosure
My Experience
I have bought 2 pairs of these gloves, so keep that in mind. The first pair I bought was either a Large or an XL (probably an XL) and it fit pretty loose; but I used the gloves pretty religiously for almost 2 years. The second pair I got was smaller, probably a medium.
When these gloves first came out, they were hot because they were a throw back. They still look pretty sweet. The construction's pretty high quality leather. There's a difference in feel between black leather and the brown; and also between the bag gloves and the ultimate classic training gloves. The black ultimate bag gloves have a rough feeling to the leather- maybe not quite as rough as TufWear however. The brown ones are a little bit smoother. The ultimate classic training gloves have an even smoother leather altogether.
The fit of these gloves is pretty nice. I like snug gloves, so that's why I went small on my second pair. My first pair would squeak when I hit the bag- the sweat collecting in the CoolMax, combined with the extra friction caused by more space in the pocket. I really like these gloves though, before finding Grant & IMF; they were my favorite bag gloves.
The velcro enclosure on these gloves is decent, providing a respectable amount of wrist support, though not as much as their training glove counterparts or other gloves I've tried.
The CoolMax liner has an added benefit of drying out quick. This is an advantage over maybe an IMF type glove with more of a cotton type interior, that tends to absorb sweat a little more and not dry out as quickly. I use glove dogs with all my problems and have only occasionally noticed wetness persisting into the second day. They also tend to breath a little better than the IMF gloves. However, I have managed sweat in these gloves to the point of the leather itself becoming soaked.
The fill on these gloves is dense. They are definitely a bag glove. They do a good job of protecting the knuckles; with a lot of padding. After a while they almost feel like a cotton or horsehair fill (without the bunching). They haven't seemed to soften up as much as say, some of the gloves from Grant; but with that much padding, a little softening doesn't make much difference.
Pros:
Durable leather
Solid construction
Good fit (some room for customization)
Attractive Appearance
Good Wrist support
Cons:
Slightly bulky
The fill may not be for everyone
could maybe use some more wrist support
Score:
Quality 9/10
Value 9/10
Performance 9/10
Comfort 9/10
Definitely a workhorse glove.
Even with the cool throwback look, I would hardly say they're flashy.
They seem to be designed with the values of the original gloves that the look was based on.