Ordered a pair of Reyes hybrids in L (listed as 16 to 18oz, actual weight: 19.4 and 19.5oz). Finally got to open them last night. WAY more snug than my old 16oz velcros. Hard to believe, but they're actually pretty sleek, just built very solid & heavy.
Took some time to do some comparisons with other gloves in the arsenal:
Defining terms (unless otherwise qualified):
width/wider = overall glove width
length/longer = overall glove length
stoutness/stout = length of striking surface covering big knuckles (at base of finger) to smaller (mid-finger) knuckles
vs Boon 16 oz velcro (old logo): the Boons are wider, the length are almost exact. The gloves are shaped different so the striking surface is hard to compare. The Boons are more round while the Reyes are more flat. The Reyes are more stout and may be more wide at the point of impact. The Boons look like the bulkier glove imho. In the pocket with no wraps, the Boons are wider and fit more loose over the palm. The Boons are also longer, with a little extra space at the fingertips. Over the knuckles, the Boons are medium snug over all the knuckles, while the Reyes are slightly less snug over the index knuckle.
vs Winning 16 oz laceup (received Jan 2019): the Winnings are a bit wider, the Reyes are a bit longer. The shapes of the gloves are different but Reyes might have the larger striking surface as they are a bit more stout. In the pocket with no wraps, the Winnings feel a little bit wider, especially at the base of the palm. Reyes has the longer pocket: the fingertip of my middle finger is poking through the leather on the Winning, while not as pronounced on the Reyes. Over the knuckles, the Winnings are medium snug over all the knuckles, while the Reyes are slightly less snug over the index knuckle. The Winning grip bar sits a little low for my tastes; below the callouses, and kind of hard to grip while the Reyes grip bar feels the most substantial of all the models in this comparison. The way the padding sits when I make a fist in the Winnings doesn't encourage landing on the big knuckles so I have only used them on the bags once (pretty much exclusively just sparring). The Reyes are pretty much the opposite; the reason for the more stout striking surface is (imho) to encourage landing on the big knuckles.
vs Sabas Pro series 16 oz velcro (from 2018): the Reyes are wider, the Sabas are longer. The striking surfaces are very comparable due to similar shapes, with Reyes being wider by maybe 1/2 inch. With no wraps, very comparable pockets around the palm area. Sabas is snug around all the knuckles (particularly the index), while the Reyes is a tiny bit loser around the index knuckle. Reyes has the longer pocket, as the tip of my middle finger is stretching out the Sabas.
vs Sabas Prime series 16 oz 360 velcro (from 2018): similar to the other Sabas comparison, with more of a pronounced difference in striking surface width. Reyes has the longer pocket, again my middle fingertip is stretching out the Prime. With no wraps, there's space over the index knuckle in the Prime (this glove is essentially a narrower, velcro version of my old Grants) - this is nowhere near as pronounced in the Reyes.
All the pocket fits are somewhat inexact as the other gloves are broken in already. I know it's a bit iffy to compare hybrids (with laces) to velcros, but I tried to pick similar-sized gloves that other people might have experience with.
These hybrids are so nice, I'm seriously considering (re)trying out some of the rest of the Reyes product line. They are going to take a while to break in, but I really love Reyes' leather & padding once they are broken in. Those 2 Sabas pairs in particular had very long & miserable break-in periods - I don't see these going that bad. My M-size Reyes hybrids were great from the beginning and only got better. I'm a little worried that there will be some stretch-out as these gloves break in. I feel like that's what happened with the 16oz reyes velcros, but in that case it was the elastic band securing the hand-pocket that might've stretched out too much, making them too lose with normal wraps.
re smell: While strong out of the box, I like the Reyes leather smell once it's weakened a bit. One thing I love about Cleto Reyes is that the liners inside don't start to stink very quickly, even with daily use - not like other gloves I've owned.