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Zeus Deportes 16oz. Custom Lace-up Grant Style Training Gloves
[UPDATE: 11/21/2017: DO NOT PURCHASE GLOVES FROM DORIAN BASHAW/SCARPHE/ZEUS GLOVES. HE HAS TAKEN MONEY, CLOSED HIS PAYPAL ACCOUNT, AND DISAPPEARED.]
This is a review for Scarphe’s Zeus Deportes custom boxing gloves.
Time table for order:
Initial inquiry about the gloves: 11/5/2016
Decided what I wanted and paid via PayPal 11/8/2016.
The gloves were finished and shipped on 12/7/2016.
Arrived on 12/21. I chose the slowest shipping option, which was about $15—it was supposed to take 30 days, but it took about two weeks.
In terms of payment, Scarphe gave me a 50-50 option, where I pay half initially and the other half prior to shipment. I opted to pay all at once since I basically trust Scarphe and I didn’t want to pay transfer fees twice.
Details of my custom order:
Colors: Black, red, and white (typical Grant stock colors).
Cotton on bottom cuff.
Polyester satin liner (instead of grey canvas(?) liner)
Padding: I asked for responsive padding (pop), specifically to be used on the heavy bag.
Weight: I requested 16oz. gloves. Scarphe told me that they would weigh a bit more with the denser padding. Each glove weighs slightly more than 19oz. If I could re-do this, I would probably order the 14oz. and expect something close to 16oz. with the same dense padding option. I have been told that the regular Grant-style padding would cause the gloves to be true to weight.
Stitching/Craftsmanship: along with the high quality leather, the Craftmanship is top notch. I have so far found no flaws in the stitching anywhere on the glove. The welted seams look really great. I would feel confident putting these up against Grants in terms of leather quality and craftsmanship any day. The leather of the gloves, as evident in the photos, are very high quality. They definitely have a strong leather smell and give the impression of being thick and durable. The leather is probably higher quality compared to a lot of other gloves I’ve had. I’d compare them to the Sabas Triple Cuffs.
Logo: I hate ugly logos with tacky brand names. I also think a lot of gloves over do it with their logos (e.g., snakes on gloves). I am a huge fan of simplicity. “Zeus”—four letters, an ancient Greek god. That’s pretty simple. And it’s bad ass. So A+ to Scarphe for a great brand name and logo.
Padding: The padding is dense and responsive. Out of the gloves I’ve tried so far, I would compare it to the Sabas TCs, but with the significant difference that these have a much less broken in feel and seem to be much more durable. I have yet to experience punching through the padding (and I don’t get the impression that I ever will). The padding on these gloves are really, really durable, and I imagine that I will be able to use these gloves on the heavy bag for a few years.
Break-in process: It’s been two weeks, well over a hundred rounds on the heavy bag. I have blasted the bag real hard with these and the padding shows no signs of wear—not even indentations. The thumb seam was initially tight, and a real pain in the ass, but that’s basically resolved now. The gloves feel good and it is very easy to make a fist. The seam where the finger tips are has a piece of foam that covers the ridges of the leather where they’re sewn to the palm side (if that makes sense); I am not a fan of that piece of foam. It was really annoying at the beginning, now I’m used to it, but I do feel like it will tear soon. I already feel some ridges forming in the foam that indicate a tear is imminent. When I order another pair from Scarphe, I will ask that this part be made of a different material. Apparently, this foam is distinctive to the Grant-style gloves and not Scarphe's other gloves. Incidentally, I have heard that Grant gloves have something similar at the end of the fingertips.
Hand-compartment: for the 16oz. gloves, I’d say it’s more spacious than an average 16oz. glove. Comparable, probably, to traditional Cleto Reyes training gloves in terms of the amount of space there is. There is less of a sense, however, of my hand moving around in the compartment than with some Cleto Reyes that I have tried. Also, I have longer fingers, and that has not been an issue with these gloves (whereas they have been in some other brands). The thumb placement is not awkward like the Reyes, even if the thumb seam is tight as hell for the first few days.
Liner: The Satin lining is definitely not like Sabas. It is not a silky soft kind of liner. Unlike some other gloves that have loose lining, the lining on these gloves are pretty tightly sewn to the glove. So there’s no issue of the lining bunching up inside the glove. I like that. I wouldn’t mind a softer liner, but I’ve had soft lining rip on me, and I’d rather this liner than that. It doesn’t bother me at all. There was a point earlier when I was breaking the gloves in that the liner was rubbing against a knuckle on the join of my index finger and causing some abrasions, but that has not happened since then.
Performance on the bag: I specifically ordered these gloves for the heavy bag. They feel great on the bag. Once broken in, a tight fist position feels very natural. The gloves are somewhat open when they’re left to themselves (typically, gloves tend to be in a semi-closed position when there’s no hand in them). You would think that this would mean that it would slightly more difficult to make a fist in these, but that is not the case at all. Also, it feels good to land punches on your top two knuckles rather than on the flush part of your fingers. They pop when you land well on the bag. They are very responsive (in part, I think, to the fact that you can make a pretty good fist in them).
Durability: I have complained about the durability of a lot of gloves on this forum. I have had very nice , high quality gloves last me for a few months before the padding bottoming out or (another pair) literally forming a hole where my two knuckles are. I have experienced this in a matter of weeks of using a brand new pair of gloves. This issue is responsible for me requesting the extra durable padding on these gloves. I do not foresee having any issues with durability on these gloves. Even when I punch real hard, my knuckles do not go through the padding. It’s not necessarily because the padding is stiff, but because it seems like a denser material. Feels great, actually.
Protection: I have not had any bruising or knuckle issues with these gloves. The padding is firmer and denser, and I think because of that super protective. Obviously, these are not like Winnings or even like Cleto Reyes.
Wrist support: I don’t have wrist issues, so I don’t pay attention to wrist support. That said, I would say that the wrist protection on the lace-ups is really good. Even when they’re not tied that tight, your wrist feels pretty secure.
Who will like these gloves?
- people who want to get a legit Grant-experience (high quality hand made gloves from Mexico) without spending an arm and a leg will really enjoy these.
- If you like Sabas Triple Cuffs, you will like these. They require some breaking in, unlike the TCs, but they will certainly last a lot longer.
- If you generally like Mexican-style gloves, you will like these.
- If you are looking for a durable glove in which you can make a good fist and get great response on the bag.
- If you have longer fingers and have had trouble with Reyes on this account.
I plan on ordering a second pair from Scarphe. Here’s what I will do differently:
- order a Grant-style glove without the denser padding so that I can use them for sparring.
- request different material at the end of the finger tips than the foam that is used (something more durable).
- For the heavy bag, if I were to do it again I would order a 14oz. with the dense padding as I have now and expect something closer to 16oz.
- I would be more insistent on the weight of the gloves.
TL;DR:
Leather: 10
Stitching: 10
Padding: 10
Response/Performance: 10
Fist Formation: 10 (before it’s broken in, I’d give it a 7, but who cares about that)
Hand compartment: 8 (I wish it were slightly less roomy)
Weight: 7 (my own fault for getting the denser padding, but now I know for the future)
Would you recommend this product to a friend? Yes.
Will you be doing business again? F'sho. [EDIT (11/21/2017): No, never again.]
[UPDATE: 11/21/2017: DO NOT PURCHASE GLOVES FROM DORIAN BASHAW/SCARPHE/ZEUS GLOVES. HE HAS TAKEN MONEY, CLOSED HIS PAYPAL ACCOUNT, AND DISAPPEARED.]
This is a review for Scarphe’s Zeus Deportes custom boxing gloves.
Time table for order:
Initial inquiry about the gloves: 11/5/2016
Decided what I wanted and paid via PayPal 11/8/2016.
The gloves were finished and shipped on 12/7/2016.
Arrived on 12/21. I chose the slowest shipping option, which was about $15—it was supposed to take 30 days, but it took about two weeks.
In terms of payment, Scarphe gave me a 50-50 option, where I pay half initially and the other half prior to shipment. I opted to pay all at once since I basically trust Scarphe and I didn’t want to pay transfer fees twice.
Details of my custom order:
Colors: Black, red, and white (typical Grant stock colors).
Cotton on bottom cuff.
Polyester satin liner (instead of grey canvas(?) liner)
Padding: I asked for responsive padding (pop), specifically to be used on the heavy bag.
Weight: I requested 16oz. gloves. Scarphe told me that they would weigh a bit more with the denser padding. Each glove weighs slightly more than 19oz. If I could re-do this, I would probably order the 14oz. and expect something close to 16oz. with the same dense padding option. I have been told that the regular Grant-style padding would cause the gloves to be true to weight.
Stitching/Craftsmanship: along with the high quality leather, the Craftmanship is top notch. I have so far found no flaws in the stitching anywhere on the glove. The welted seams look really great. I would feel confident putting these up against Grants in terms of leather quality and craftsmanship any day. The leather of the gloves, as evident in the photos, are very high quality. They definitely have a strong leather smell and give the impression of being thick and durable. The leather is probably higher quality compared to a lot of other gloves I’ve had. I’d compare them to the Sabas Triple Cuffs.
Logo: I hate ugly logos with tacky brand names. I also think a lot of gloves over do it with their logos (e.g., snakes on gloves). I am a huge fan of simplicity. “Zeus”—four letters, an ancient Greek god. That’s pretty simple. And it’s bad ass. So A+ to Scarphe for a great brand name and logo.
Padding: The padding is dense and responsive. Out of the gloves I’ve tried so far, I would compare it to the Sabas TCs, but with the significant difference that these have a much less broken in feel and seem to be much more durable. I have yet to experience punching through the padding (and I don’t get the impression that I ever will). The padding on these gloves are really, really durable, and I imagine that I will be able to use these gloves on the heavy bag for a few years.
Break-in process: It’s been two weeks, well over a hundred rounds on the heavy bag. I have blasted the bag real hard with these and the padding shows no signs of wear—not even indentations. The thumb seam was initially tight, and a real pain in the ass, but that’s basically resolved now. The gloves feel good and it is very easy to make a fist. The seam where the finger tips are has a piece of foam that covers the ridges of the leather where they’re sewn to the palm side (if that makes sense); I am not a fan of that piece of foam. It was really annoying at the beginning, now I’m used to it, but I do feel like it will tear soon. I already feel some ridges forming in the foam that indicate a tear is imminent. When I order another pair from Scarphe, I will ask that this part be made of a different material. Apparently, this foam is distinctive to the Grant-style gloves and not Scarphe's other gloves. Incidentally, I have heard that Grant gloves have something similar at the end of the fingertips.
Hand-compartment: for the 16oz. gloves, I’d say it’s more spacious than an average 16oz. glove. Comparable, probably, to traditional Cleto Reyes training gloves in terms of the amount of space there is. There is less of a sense, however, of my hand moving around in the compartment than with some Cleto Reyes that I have tried. Also, I have longer fingers, and that has not been an issue with these gloves (whereas they have been in some other brands). The thumb placement is not awkward like the Reyes, even if the thumb seam is tight as hell for the first few days.
Liner: The Satin lining is definitely not like Sabas. It is not a silky soft kind of liner. Unlike some other gloves that have loose lining, the lining on these gloves are pretty tightly sewn to the glove. So there’s no issue of the lining bunching up inside the glove. I like that. I wouldn’t mind a softer liner, but I’ve had soft lining rip on me, and I’d rather this liner than that. It doesn’t bother me at all. There was a point earlier when I was breaking the gloves in that the liner was rubbing against a knuckle on the join of my index finger and causing some abrasions, but that has not happened since then.
Performance on the bag: I specifically ordered these gloves for the heavy bag. They feel great on the bag. Once broken in, a tight fist position feels very natural. The gloves are somewhat open when they’re left to themselves (typically, gloves tend to be in a semi-closed position when there’s no hand in them). You would think that this would mean that it would slightly more difficult to make a fist in these, but that is not the case at all. Also, it feels good to land punches on your top two knuckles rather than on the flush part of your fingers. They pop when you land well on the bag. They are very responsive (in part, I think, to the fact that you can make a pretty good fist in them).
Durability: I have complained about the durability of a lot of gloves on this forum. I have had very nice , high quality gloves last me for a few months before the padding bottoming out or (another pair) literally forming a hole where my two knuckles are. I have experienced this in a matter of weeks of using a brand new pair of gloves. This issue is responsible for me requesting the extra durable padding on these gloves. I do not foresee having any issues with durability on these gloves. Even when I punch real hard, my knuckles do not go through the padding. It’s not necessarily because the padding is stiff, but because it seems like a denser material. Feels great, actually.
Protection: I have not had any bruising or knuckle issues with these gloves. The padding is firmer and denser, and I think because of that super protective. Obviously, these are not like Winnings or even like Cleto Reyes.
Wrist support: I don’t have wrist issues, so I don’t pay attention to wrist support. That said, I would say that the wrist protection on the lace-ups is really good. Even when they’re not tied that tight, your wrist feels pretty secure.
Who will like these gloves?
- people who want to get a legit Grant-experience (high quality hand made gloves from Mexico) without spending an arm and a leg will really enjoy these.
- If you like Sabas Triple Cuffs, you will like these. They require some breaking in, unlike the TCs, but they will certainly last a lot longer.
- If you generally like Mexican-style gloves, you will like these.
- If you are looking for a durable glove in which you can make a good fist and get great response on the bag.
- If you have longer fingers and have had trouble with Reyes on this account.
I plan on ordering a second pair from Scarphe. Here’s what I will do differently:
- order a Grant-style glove without the denser padding so that I can use them for sparring.
- request different material at the end of the finger tips than the foam that is used (something more durable).
- For the heavy bag, if I were to do it again I would order a 14oz. with the dense padding as I have now and expect something closer to 16oz.
- I would be more insistent on the weight of the gloves.
TL;DR:
Leather: 10
Stitching: 10
Padding: 10
Response/Performance: 10
Fist Formation: 10 (before it’s broken in, I’d give it a 7, but who cares about that)
Hand compartment: 8 (I wish it were slightly less roomy)
Weight: 7 (my own fault for getting the denser padding, but now I know for the future)
Would you recommend this product to a friend? Yes.
Will you be doing business again? F'sho. [EDIT (11/21/2017): No, never again.]
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