GKUnion Adhesion Red Glove Review
One of the most important pieces of equipment for any goalkeeper is their goalkeeper gloves and today Keeper Portal is going to be reviewing the GKUnion Adhesion Red Goalkeeper Glove courtesy of our friends over at www.GKHero.com
First Thoughts
So let’s get down to the basics to begin with! The Adhesion Red Gloves are based around a 4mm German Giga Grip latex foam in a rollfinger cut (Check out our guide in glove cuts here if you are unsure of the differences!) with a half-wrapped thumb. The backhand is a striking red and white with anatomically positioned mesh inserts to give a nice breathable feel and to provide flexibility.
Other key features are the full latex wrist closure strap – which is topped off with a rubber tab as is becoming common now to prevent damaging your gloves when strapping them on and off – and the embossed latex back hand which provides a solid platform for punching clear under pressure!
The gloves arrived in a snap pack style glove wallet which keeps the gloves separate, they are also individually wrapped in a clear plastic bag and have a piece of packaging paper between the thumb and palm, all of which serves to stop any of the latex sticking together.
It’s nice to see a company put some effort into this area and instantly makes me feel like they understand goalkeepers!
As I had never worn any GKUnion Goalkeeper Gloves before I was keen to try these on the second they arrived and must admit at first they did feel like the sizing ran a little big on them but I have worn them an awful lot since and they feel fantastically comfortable in my usual size now, it just took a short while to get used to the feel of them compared to the snugger fitting makes such as Sells, if you were after a really snug fit though you could drop down a size!
Straight out of the packet they looked great, but did feel rather powdery so it was straight to the sink to get them pre-washed! You can see from the pictures below there was quite a bit of chemicals that came out of the gloves during the pre-washing but this is normal these days with any new gloves hence why everyone here at Keeper Portal suggests always pre-washing your gloves!
Once dried out they were wrapped back up and packed into the bag ready for the first pre-season session of the year!
Before I get on to talking about the performance of the gloves during pre-season I would like to make a small side comment that the first thing the other Goalkeeper I train with had to say to me was “What gloves are they? They look smart!” So aside from me believing these look like a great pair of gloves I think they really do stand out as something a bit different on the training ground and pitch!
Performance and Durability
Anyway, back to what everyone cares about, performance! After around an hour of running round and round and round and round in squares and up and down hills we were finally given the green light to go and do some specific goalkeeper training and I was genuinely excited to see how the new gloves performed.
We started off with a few basic handling drills and I was instantly impressed with just how tacky the latex palms felt and how solid the glove felt as a whole. (If you have only ever used 3mm palms and cheap lower end models of Nike / Adidas gloves then you are really missing out on a good solid 4mm palm – trust me you won’t go back!) As the drills got a bit harder and faster the gloves continued to impress although it was clear (as with most latexes) they performed at their best when a little damp. I could spend paragraphs upon paragraphs talking about just how well these gloves held on to the ball but it’s easier for me to say that after an hour solid of drills I don’t recall one moment where I attempted to catch a ball and it didn’t stick. The next training session took on much of the same form with the gloves continuing to impress throughout another lengthy intense session and I felt 100% confident that the GKUnion Adhesion Red were ready for their first shot at match day.
The match wasn’t the busiest of games but there were a few crosses that stuck nicely when under pressure and no issues at all with the gloves which just enhanced my confidence in them even more.
I have continued to wear the gloves for every session of pre-season – including training and all of the matches – and can hand on heart say they have performed as good as any gloves I have used in my career. The majority of the time they have been used in very warm conditions as you would expect with pre-season but I have worn them during the wet a couple of times and was very impressed with their grip even when extremely wet.
Durability wise they have held up extremely well, I have used these gloves 3 times a week for the past 5-6 weeks now – a lot of the time for intensive goalkeeper training of 60-90 minutes a session – and until very recently there wasn’t a mark on them. As can be seen below there is a small wear to the index finger on the right hand and a small bit of wear to the palm as well but this isn’t affecting grip at all.
Price?
I have deliberately not mentioned the price of these gloves as yet as I don’t want to focus on value for money, I want to focus on quality and whether a glove is good enough to make your preferred choice, which I believe these are! The fact they can be bought online for only £19.99 at www.GKHero.com simply amazes me!
Round up
So to wrap up, if you haven’t realised yet I am a big fan of the GKUnion Adheshion Red. They have performed fantastically over the last 6 weeks and continue to do so, they look and feel great and at £19.99 from www.GKHero.com you really can’t go wrong!
GKUnion Adhesion Red
Comfort - 80%
Appearance - 82%
Grip - 80%
Durability - 80%
Value for Money - 90%
82%
Amazing Value for Money!
Excellent glove for those on a budget, but very hard to find now!
The gloves look good and if they perform as you have said they are a must buy.
Gkhero are one of the best glove suppliers in the UK always competitive , the best customer service and always offer advice if requested
Really would hand on heart recommend them to anyone looking for a new pair of gloves for this season and totally agree with your comments about GKHero, nothing but good experiences with them! Now I just need to convince myself to review another brand!
Wow! I’m really impressed by the low cost of these gloves. Nowadays, it seems like finding value in low-to-medium priced items is difficult — if not downright impossible. It’s nice to know that quality items still exist at this price point.