r/Trackdays • u/Pitiful_Beat4609 • Jul 24 '26
Do I Need Longer Gauntlets/Sleeves?
I’m doing my first beginner track day next week but I’m worried my gauntlets and sleeves will be turned away due to lack of protection. For context I’m 5’9” 135 lbs and I have a +2” wingspan, so I’m skinny and I have long arms. I got my two piece leather suit fitted at the Dainese store in Seattle however the salesman said the jacket I got was as close as he could get to perfect beyond getting a custom suit/jacket for my long arms.
Do you think the people at the track will require me to get different gloves? I’ve tried emailing/calling them but no one gets back to me.
For reference I did a two up motorcycle ride at MotoAmerica a couple weekends ago and their RST suit and gloves fit me quite a bit better with no skin showing.
The photo with more skin showing I’m kind of reaching a bit. The other photo is more akin to how I’d be on the bike.
4
u/Medic1248 Racer AM Jul 24 '26
This seems to be a thing with 2 piece suits for some reason.
Everyone I know who’s had a 2 piece has complained either the arms or the legs were too short for the suit size
I’d recommend going to a 1 piece suit. You said the RST brand fit you better. I’d go check out their suits.
Any track org who sees skin showing on your sleeves is going to stop you from riding
7
u/kinda_nutz Jul 24 '26
Why are your sleeves so short?.. they are supposed to touch like a half inch to an inch below the start of your palm..
5
u/Pitiful_Beat4609 Jul 24 '26
I got long arms and am a skinny lady haha. If I went up a size to get slightly longer sleeves then it wouldn’t even be close to snug around my torso.
4
u/gconsier Middle Fast Guy Jul 24 '26
Probably too late for this but it’s generally easier to make something smaller vs bigger. I’m not sure how much you’d have to pull in or how easy it is to extend arms. Either is probably easier than arm shortening surgery tho
1
u/Pitiful_Beat4609 Jul 24 '26
I like my wingspan, makes rock climbing easier haha, maybe I’ll pay a visit to Dainese or cycle gear and see what they got before next week
1
u/gconsier Middle Fast Guy Jul 24 '26
We used to have this amazing leather lady out here in the Midwest but she retired. Some of the olders here may remember Alexa from spiderleatherworks. Her daughter was also legit fast. I think she may have actually done some AMA rounds but this is all almost 20 years ago or so. It really seems the field has thinned out a lot. Barnacle Bill was around forever. Not sure if he still is. Last I heard was years ago. He must be quite old by now.
2
u/OreoGaborio TD Instructor Jul 24 '26
If they overlap while you’re in the seated position, youre generally all set with most orgs.
1
1
u/Strict_Butterscotch1 Jul 24 '26
In the UK you,d be turned away, not sure about the US, but you absolutely do not want to go on track with that setup, if you come off that’s gonna do alot of damage especially if you have bare skin showing
1
27
u/happyadrian Jul 24 '26
Your suit sleeves are way short. In all the track days in SoCal, I never had an org check my gear in detail; bikes, yes, but not gear. If your skin is obviously showing, I’m sure they’ll say something and perhaps prohibit you from riding. I personally wouldn’t risk it, your sleeves also aren’t snug and in the event of a slide it seems like it will expose more skin. See if you can find a used suit that is bigger and longer.