The Held Steve glove has long been regarded as the best glove available for general purpose street and touring riders. The “Classic” is at least the third version of the series over the last five years or so. The changes with the Classic aren’t drastic by any means. The major change comes in the material used to protect the heel of the hand. Older versions used a combination of leather, brass studs and an underlayment of ballistic materials. The Classic gets away from all the hardware and uses a highly abrasion-resistant synthetic SuperFabric material. This material reminds me of stingray which has been used on other Held gloves, but of course the synthetic material is less hazardous to stingrays. I’ve been asked by people just what is it that makes a more simple style like this so popular. Well, when you own the gloves and break them in, you’ll be very pleased with the overall quality feel and fit. The material used and the construction look and feel better than lesser quality gloves. It is sort of like comparing an ordinary car to an expensive car… they both get you there of course, but one just feels and looks a whole lot better than the other. Anyway, enough of the esoteric talk. The features that make this glove stand out (besides the SuperFabric) is the use of Kangaroo hide for the palm, and the Suprotect material used to protect your hand against impact. The kangaroo hide is widely regarded as one of the best materials for the palm of a glove. The leather is highly abrasion resistant, but also thin. And it resists rot from sweat too. The Suprotect material is a spongy foam type armor that is flexible and easily compressible when squeezed slowly, but it stiffens instantly when impacted which has the effect of dispersing sharp impacts. These properties make it perfect for motorcycle armor because comfort is important! This material is used on the back of the hand, the outside of thumb and the heel of the palm (under the SuperFabric). Take the “View Larger Images” link above to see some good close-up photos of these gloves.