- Joined
- Jan 24, 2011
- Messages
- 4,269
- Reaction score
- 9
Greeting Sherdoggers, its been far too long since I did a review. It is the 1st of many im sure as the new year brings new gear!
As always I love to give a little bit of background on purchases before I roll into the review. So I was browsing the site as always and I noticed Deathstriker posted a thread on gold Reyes. I was like what the heck!?
So I pulled it open and to my hearts delight, it was indeed true. Anyhow, so I rush off contact Lockwoods like DS said and Mike the Lockwoods rep was awesome! Guy was super nice, and me being in central time I contacted him before his store opened. So he said no biggie he would email the guys and get back to me right when the store opened. So I was thinking like oh brother here we go. But nope! He did call me RIGHT at 10am his time! This guy is amazing I thought, so he quickly set aside the 14oz Limited Reyes and boom it was done! I couldn't believe how nice this guy was and how fast! I mentioned that no one really mentions lockwoods too much on Sherdog and that I would do my best to include lockwoods customer service in my next review!
So yeah, and because I was military he gave me some free hand wraps and a Cleto Reyes Coffee mug! Now it may not seem like much but trust me, if you go the extra mile for a customer, the word will spread quickly. Anyhow, my package only took 3 days to arrive after I placed the order. Anyhow, it was an awesome experience, and I recommend anyone that would like Reyes brand stuff that is in the US, should shop there since Juan aka Technoir can not distribute to us US folks.
So without wasting time lets roll into it.
[YT]6W81NJJmidw[/YT]
The look:
I am a Reyes fanboi no doubt but the gold on this is TRULY the best ive seen, it is easily the most true gold Ive seen. To be honest the only gold that comes close to real gold is this Reyes glove and RSKs shiny light gold. I have a variety of gold and all of them are beautiful in their own rights its just this one is far more true to real gold. Reyes is known for its craftsmanship and these gloves are definitely exceptional. Some people may think gold is gaudy or what not, but my theme has always been black and gold so I fell inlove with them from the 1st sight.
The stitching is perfect, no loose ends, no frays. As always Reyes double stitches everything to perfection. All the logos are intact, no stray marks, the embroidered logo is still my favorite logo of all time and with the black and gold gloves, the black and gold embroidered logo really matches up well with these gloves!
Velcro has been tried and true and this Velcro is really tacky and it does NOT give out, so these glove will be the same.
The embossed logo on the inner wrist is just another small feature that I adore, another testament to the detail that Reyes keeps in mind when making gloves.
The leather is immaculate. Only Winning leather comes close to Reyes in the battle of the top 2, but in this specific case gold for gold, leather for leather, Reyes wins
The Feel:
I love the feel of Mexican style gloves, many do NOT. They are a punchers glove. And, a common misconception is that hard padding = punchers glove. No, it is the soft padding that Reyes is known for that bottoms out that causes the knuckles to rise to the surface dealing maximum damage while providing moderate protection to the punchers hand that makes this a punchers glove.
The Gloves are snug on my hand, I have a small hand and these gloves are NOT meant to suit everyone. I however love a good Mexican glove. The thumb is something people either need to get used to, or they just have too long of a thumb for Reyes or many other gloves.
The thumb is awkward at 1st, but not nearly as awkward as Thai glove but that's my opinion I would rather have my thumb slightly bent than holding it straight out.
You know, I still don't see how people say Reyes is stiff out of the box, I mean Ive used hundreds of gloves at this point and this is my 5th set of Reyes maybe even 6th and each one of them is soft and easy to make of a fist. Ive seen different Reyes that look different than mine, but all mine have been 100% genuine from Mexico.
The hand makes a pretty ideal fist for me, sure the hand does take some effort to open but that's normal for a new glove. I haven't had a new Reyes trainer in awhile and these gloves really pop. Lately, ive gone back to my roots and using my Mexican style gloves exclusively like Reyes and Classics.
I simply like the feel and the ability to land 100% solidly on the knuckles. The feedback is also another thing Ive come to re-fall in love with as well.
The gloves are compact, I hate gloves that go all the way down to the mid forearm, it looks and feels retarded.
The liner does work really well again.
The padded inner cuff does wonders for parrying shots and coming across the top with a shot of your own.
The Wrist, it isn't bad it is no Hayabusa Tokushu or Windy Proline but for a Velcro glove these do trump a lot of other wrist supports. Its like a solid 8.0-8.5 for a normal Velcro closure while a Hayabusa Tokushu is a perfect 10 in wrist support IMO.
The Padding:
The padding is a love/hate thing, there is no middle ground with peoples opinions regarding Reyes. For me its a love thing, I think there are times and places for Reyes. Someone with brittle hands needs to invest into something else IMO. But I think everyone should wrap up properly as that will be most of your issue barring you suffering previous injuries of course.
To me while the padding isn't overly protective its protective just enough that you KNOW when you will land a solid shot. Gloves that utilize too much padding make the boxer complacent and allow them to land on the fingers, slapping shots, or start to shoulder fire because they are USED to all that padding and often get injured when using fight gloves. Im a firm believe in practice how you play. Now im not saying that if your hands are bothering you to continue to use Reyes. Be smart.
That being said Ive never hurt my hands ever in my 5-6 years of boxing using Reyes but I have done so using Fairtex gloves in the 1-2 weeks that Ive owned them. I just think people have a misconception of padding.
The Weight:
As Ive always stressed, Reyes regarding "TRAINERS" always come in 2 oz heavy, these are no exception as they came in at a perfect 16oz despite them being 14oz gloves. But that's Okay, I knew that coming in.
The Smell:
You know I never cover smell on any other one of my gloves but man when you get new Reyes its almost Euphoric, the rich smell of leather just fills the entire room, sometimes the house at times with this nice aroma. I love it!
The Price:
These were a little more costly than normal Reyes but that's okay, I had to get the limited edition. They came in at $188.00 so while a bit steep, I would just opt for normal Reyes for the Average joe but I just HAD to have these. Some people are just like that, Im one of those guys!
Lockwoods:
Man I cant praise these guys enough, if you had ANY doubt about them, I hope I cleared all that up for you guys. Guys are super nice, super fast, and I would highly recommend them. Since these gold Limiteds were a complete hit as I believe they are 100% sold out at this point, I hope they do another special run of Reyes. These guys also make sure your experience is excellent, infact they email you the invoice and follow up with you to ensure you have had the best experience possible. These guys are superb!
Overall:
I love Reyes, I love the feel. I love the look, I love the company. Is this review biased. Yes, yes it is. But I'm telling you that because by now for anyone that has read my past reviews, I love Cleto Reyes, and I love the craftsmanship. But there were new stones unturned like my lockwoods experience and for those wanting to get Reyes in the US. Go through them you wont be disappointed.
Score: A+ (But you knew that already)
For those that do not like to read (
As always I love to give a little bit of background on purchases before I roll into the review. So I was browsing the site as always and I noticed Deathstriker posted a thread on gold Reyes. I was like what the heck!?
So I pulled it open and to my hearts delight, it was indeed true. Anyhow, so I rush off contact Lockwoods like DS said and Mike the Lockwoods rep was awesome! Guy was super nice, and me being in central time I contacted him before his store opened. So he said no biggie he would email the guys and get back to me right when the store opened. So I was thinking like oh brother here we go. But nope! He did call me RIGHT at 10am his time! This guy is amazing I thought, so he quickly set aside the 14oz Limited Reyes and boom it was done! I couldn't believe how nice this guy was and how fast! I mentioned that no one really mentions lockwoods too much on Sherdog and that I would do my best to include lockwoods customer service in my next review!
So yeah, and because I was military he gave me some free hand wraps and a Cleto Reyes Coffee mug! Now it may not seem like much but trust me, if you go the extra mile for a customer, the word will spread quickly. Anyhow, my package only took 3 days to arrive after I placed the order. Anyhow, it was an awesome experience, and I recommend anyone that would like Reyes brand stuff that is in the US, should shop there since Juan aka Technoir can not distribute to us US folks.
So without wasting time lets roll into it.
[YT]6W81NJJmidw[/YT]
The look:
I am a Reyes fanboi no doubt but the gold on this is TRULY the best ive seen, it is easily the most true gold Ive seen. To be honest the only gold that comes close to real gold is this Reyes glove and RSKs shiny light gold. I have a variety of gold and all of them are beautiful in their own rights its just this one is far more true to real gold. Reyes is known for its craftsmanship and these gloves are definitely exceptional. Some people may think gold is gaudy or what not, but my theme has always been black and gold so I fell inlove with them from the 1st sight.
The stitching is perfect, no loose ends, no frays. As always Reyes double stitches everything to perfection. All the logos are intact, no stray marks, the embroidered logo is still my favorite logo of all time and with the black and gold gloves, the black and gold embroidered logo really matches up well with these gloves!
Velcro has been tried and true and this Velcro is really tacky and it does NOT give out, so these glove will be the same.
The embossed logo on the inner wrist is just another small feature that I adore, another testament to the detail that Reyes keeps in mind when making gloves.
The leather is immaculate. Only Winning leather comes close to Reyes in the battle of the top 2, but in this specific case gold for gold, leather for leather, Reyes wins
The Feel:
I love the feel of Mexican style gloves, many do NOT. They are a punchers glove. And, a common misconception is that hard padding = punchers glove. No, it is the soft padding that Reyes is known for that bottoms out that causes the knuckles to rise to the surface dealing maximum damage while providing moderate protection to the punchers hand that makes this a punchers glove.
The Gloves are snug on my hand, I have a small hand and these gloves are NOT meant to suit everyone. I however love a good Mexican glove. The thumb is something people either need to get used to, or they just have too long of a thumb for Reyes or many other gloves.
The thumb is awkward at 1st, but not nearly as awkward as Thai glove but that's my opinion I would rather have my thumb slightly bent than holding it straight out.
You know, I still don't see how people say Reyes is stiff out of the box, I mean Ive used hundreds of gloves at this point and this is my 5th set of Reyes maybe even 6th and each one of them is soft and easy to make of a fist. Ive seen different Reyes that look different than mine, but all mine have been 100% genuine from Mexico.
The hand makes a pretty ideal fist for me, sure the hand does take some effort to open but that's normal for a new glove. I haven't had a new Reyes trainer in awhile and these gloves really pop. Lately, ive gone back to my roots and using my Mexican style gloves exclusively like Reyes and Classics.
I simply like the feel and the ability to land 100% solidly on the knuckles. The feedback is also another thing Ive come to re-fall in love with as well.
The gloves are compact, I hate gloves that go all the way down to the mid forearm, it looks and feels retarded.
The liner does work really well again.
The padded inner cuff does wonders for parrying shots and coming across the top with a shot of your own.
The Wrist, it isn't bad it is no Hayabusa Tokushu or Windy Proline but for a Velcro glove these do trump a lot of other wrist supports. Its like a solid 8.0-8.5 for a normal Velcro closure while a Hayabusa Tokushu is a perfect 10 in wrist support IMO.
The Padding:
The padding is a love/hate thing, there is no middle ground with peoples opinions regarding Reyes. For me its a love thing, I think there are times and places for Reyes. Someone with brittle hands needs to invest into something else IMO. But I think everyone should wrap up properly as that will be most of your issue barring you suffering previous injuries of course.
To me while the padding isn't overly protective its protective just enough that you KNOW when you will land a solid shot. Gloves that utilize too much padding make the boxer complacent and allow them to land on the fingers, slapping shots, or start to shoulder fire because they are USED to all that padding and often get injured when using fight gloves. Im a firm believe in practice how you play. Now im not saying that if your hands are bothering you to continue to use Reyes. Be smart.
That being said Ive never hurt my hands ever in my 5-6 years of boxing using Reyes but I have done so using Fairtex gloves in the 1-2 weeks that Ive owned them. I just think people have a misconception of padding.
The Weight:
As Ive always stressed, Reyes regarding "TRAINERS" always come in 2 oz heavy, these are no exception as they came in at a perfect 16oz despite them being 14oz gloves. But that's Okay, I knew that coming in.
The Smell:
You know I never cover smell on any other one of my gloves but man when you get new Reyes its almost Euphoric, the rich smell of leather just fills the entire room, sometimes the house at times with this nice aroma. I love it!
The Price:
These were a little more costly than normal Reyes but that's okay, I had to get the limited edition. They came in at $188.00 so while a bit steep, I would just opt for normal Reyes for the Average joe but I just HAD to have these. Some people are just like that, Im one of those guys!
Lockwoods:
Man I cant praise these guys enough, if you had ANY doubt about them, I hope I cleared all that up for you guys. Guys are super nice, super fast, and I would highly recommend them. Since these gold Limiteds were a complete hit as I believe they are 100% sold out at this point, I hope they do another special run of Reyes. These guys also make sure your experience is excellent, infact they email you the invoice and follow up with you to ensure you have had the best experience possible. These guys are superb!
Overall:
I love Reyes, I love the feel. I love the look, I love the company. Is this review biased. Yes, yes it is. But I'm telling you that because by now for anyone that has read my past reviews, I love Cleto Reyes, and I love the craftsmanship. But there were new stones unturned like my lockwoods experience and for those wanting to get Reyes in the US. Go through them you wont be disappointed.
Score: A+ (But you knew that already)
For those that do not like to read (
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