Ion debuted at Eurobike 2012 with a refreshing, surf-inspired take on mountain bike clothing. Their website just got real, and their gloves are the first full release shipping to IBD’s now.
Two versions are on offer, the more aggressive Ledge (red, right) and the XC-ish Path (left, also available as a women’s version called Wisp). Both provide several great features often overlooked in gloves, two standouts being the Digital Tip touchscreen friendly fingertip design and the shaped synthetic leather palms.
Flick past the break for details and their upcoming body armor that protects your olfactory senses as well as your joints…
The gloves are made with the curved hand shape typically found when you’re on your bike, which should prevent bunching in the palm. The material is called Holy Cow and is a single piece, eliminating seams from the palm and finger surface, too. The Path/Wisp get a small gel pad on the outside pressure point and the top is a highly breathable mesh.
The Ledge foregoes the palm pad but gets neoprene padding on the tops of the knuckles and hand for better impact protection. Both get silicone grip strips on the braking fingers and microfiber nose wipe sections on the outside of the thumbs.
Their Digital Tip puts a broader conductive section on the ends of the fingers, not just where your fingerprints are taken, giving you more natural touch points to operate your smartphone or GPS device.
Their K_Pact knee pads will be available soon and use SAS-TEC padding, which rebounds quickly to take multiple hits, and an inner sleeve for a slim, flexible fit. Elsewhere, there’s lightweight EVA closed cell foam padding, and it’s all covered with Aramid fibers so it won’t shred on your first bail.
Like the gloves, they’re 3D shaped to fit your body better in the riding position. Padding is placed asymmetrically for better left/right protection against outboard (trail) and inboard (top tube) hits. The K_Pact is aimed at trail riders and park bombers more than downhill racers. For them, there’s E_Pact:
The E_Pact pads have heavier duty padding and, for the elbows, almost a full 90º bend, which they say mimics the shape of the arms during DH runs. It actually gets slightly density lighter foams to provide better arm mobility, which should hopefully will keep you flowing better through the trail and not wreck in the first place.
Between the two come the Crash Shorts Clash, which use four side stamped memory foam shaped padding throughout to provide full coverage and full range of motion.
All three items use Sanitized® anti-microbial treatment to kill bacteria and keep your gear from stinking when you inevitably leave it in your duffel. In the trunk. In the heat. Here’s the deal:
