Poor quality Alpinestars kit [Archive] - SV650.org

Dave20046

31-08-09, 07:32 PM

Just wondering what you guys think to these gloves?
Been wearing them since about mid february this year - never crashed in them yet from general wear in tear they are absolutely shagged (would hate to crash in them!). Thinking of complaining to alpinestars - any ideas on what I can say in my argument?

Palm falling off
5137

Between finger bust
5138

Velcro coming apart
5139

& general loose threads

Retail at £120 dollars!

yorkie_chris

31-08-09, 07:37 PM

speedplay

31-08-09, 07:37 PM

The sole has come away from my A* smx5 boot.
I took it back to the shop where I got them from and was told that they had to be sent back to A*
I have done about 5k in them so they should have loads of life in them yet.
I've heard nothing for 6 weeks so called the shop.
I was informed that they were with A*....

....in italy.

I really cant believe it but its their policy to look at every warranty claim and asses if its a repair job or just to replace it.

My boots will have donr more miles traveling this year than they have done on the bike!!

Dave20046

31-08-09, 07:41 PM

Annoying thing was I only found out about alpinestars etc. moving off to china once I'd already bought them so have a fair idea what to buy next time. Just wondering if I'll get any moneys back? (and no I haven't kept the receipt :( )

Dave20046

31-08-09, 07:44 PM

It's alpinestars...

If you want gloves, go held or halvarssons.

My next set, halvarssons dino I am near certain. If the quality is anywhere near my current halvarssons then they are cheap at the price of £62
Infact was actually looking at these (http://www.cissburyleathers.co.uk/dane-flyn-goretex-mid-season-glove-i2119.html) for me next winter glove, anyone ever used em? look quality

31-08-09, 07:47 PM

Thats is pretty shocking to be fair.

Did you buy them from an actual shop? There not these £30 you get off ebay are they :albino:

I have A* boots and A* gloves which have seen some abuse this summer and seem to be holding up okay so far.

maviczap

31-08-09, 07:52 PM

These were Ride magazines best rated winter glove

http://www.motobrio.com/ShowProductDetails.cfm?Product=375

Sid Squid

31-08-09, 08:21 PM

Poor quality Alpinestars kit.
Yes.

Lozzo

31-08-09, 08:34 PM

It's alpinestars...

If you want gloves, go held or halvarssons.

My next set, halvarssons dino I am near certain. If the quality is anywhere near my current halvarssons then they are cheap at the price of £62

I'll back everything Chris says here. Pretty much all Alpinestars off-the-peg kit is absolute garbage nowadays.

I have 4 pairs of Held gloves, all of which are perfect for the use I put them to and they've all done huge mileages on my hands. I also have a Held Gizmo summer jacket that I've done a fair few miles in over the past year and a half and that's stood up well. When I was looking for new winter textile gear a few weeks ago I chose Held stuff over the Gericke kit I tried on, mainly because the quality of manufacture is far far better for the cost. I'll be collecting the jacket and trousers from the dealer next weekend and will be doing silly mileage in them before they get outed.

maviczap

31-08-09, 08:54 PM

These were Ride magazines best rated winter glove

http://www.motobrio.com/ShowProductDetails.cfm?Product=375

Like Lozzo says, which backs up the Ride magazine review, I didn't say they were Held gloves on the linky I posted

I got a pair of Hein Gerike summer gloves on the strength of a Ride review and they're great. Some magazine reviews are pants, but the Ride ones seem to be pretty spot on. Can save you a lot of money sometimes.

Don't pay for just the name

Fizzy Fish

01-09-09, 04:53 AM

+1 on the Ride reviews, I've used them a lot over the years and never been disappointed

As for Alpinestars...my experiences have actually been reasonably good, with only minor issues which i've generally been able to work around (e.g. velcro on boots that hasn't lasted that long, zip pull broken). My kit does tend to take quite a beating though (weather/mileage) so it's not often that I find something I'm really impressed with and that lasts for ages.

But that said I haven't had anything disintegrate like the gloves/boots mentioned! Will def think twice about them in future...

Bluefish

01-09-09, 06:57 AM

those gloves are terrible, mine wich i got him to chuck in for free when buying my £120 leather two piece suit have done about 4000 miles since april are nowhere near as bad as that, even had one off and no rips etc, well chuffed.

Dave20046

01-09-09, 07:23 AM

Mine have probably done somewhere near double that mileage- but it's still pretty bad.
The main thing for me is the palm coming off - they've never been crash ...imagine if they were :neutral:

fizzwheel

01-09-09, 01:36 PM

zsv650

01-09-09, 04:16 PM

I bought a pair of GP Pro's for £120 in 2006, They've done 20,000 miles, through all sorts of weather and whilst they look grubby, they are still intact and show no signs of falling apart, split stitching seams etc...
i have them and they seem tough too me too mind you i prefer my £40 spada race glove's.

yorkie_chris

01-09-09, 04:27 PM

http://munhiekkis.fi/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/halvarssons_dino.jpg

Just ordered.

Review to follow in 10k miles or so.

kwak zzr

01-09-09, 04:28 PM

I bought a pair of GP Pro's for £120 in 2006, They've done 20,000 miles, through all sorts of weather and whilst they look grubby, they are still intact and show no signs of falling apart, split stitching seams etc...

i have GP pro's too and love em to bits like fizz says they get abit grubby due to the white leather lol but great quality, no problems here.

Dave20046

01-09-09, 05:58 PM

http://munhiekkis.fi/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/halvarssons_dino.jpg

Just ordered.

Review to follow in 10k miles or so.
They waterproof?
Might follow suit.

Need to email alpinesharts tonight :compcrash:

yorkie_chris

01-09-09, 10:36 PM

Dunno. They are sport type gloves and I use them with handguards, so maybe not. Last lot were these
http://www.formulaonefeeds.com/images/products/HAL028_1.jpg

Halvarssons dry-level. These have been waterproof for 2 years of use and have stood 2 fairly respectable crashes and still are in very good condition.

They do get soaked though after lot of heavy weather, but only after being left to sit for a while. While they are in use they do not leak.
I would recommend these to anybody for price.

While we are here. What does knuckle protection actually do? Except protect knuckles when you are batting car wing mirrors for 6. Always in crash, you put your palms downwards.

Loser

01-09-09, 10:44 PM

Gotta agree with some of the posts above on the quality of some of the A* gloves. I have GP Plus one's from 06 i think and they are still in really good shape including a relatively low speed off. So much so that i bought a pair of the goretex 365's recently and they are excellent, great fit and very practical for our supposed summer. i can see why they got such good reviews. Should be good until it gets properly cold. Been out in some serious rain recently and its nice to have dry hands without having to resort to winter gloves.

vardypeeps

02-09-09, 12:27 PM

I have a pair of SMX4 boots and had them since I started on the big bikes. Had them almost 2 years with alot of mileage. The soles haven't worn through yet with quite a bit of walking when I get places and all the zips and velcro still works fine.
4 pairs of toesliders and a crash later there fine.

I did buy a pair of GPX gloves below around a year ago and they are still going strong.
The rubber has worn off the fingers but that's just through use.
http://www.powersport.co.uk/images/products/A356-708/10S/small/0.jpg (http://www.powersport.co.uk/showimages.php?partno=A356-708/10%20S&no=0)

The only bad thing I have bought yet from A* is my leather pants.
On the crotch a small piece of stitching has come undone leading to a bit of leather coming off but that's an easy fix at a shop and still I just think it's through wear and tear because I crashed in those too?

Sid Squid

02-09-09, 07:21 PM

http://munhiekkis.fi/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/halvarssons_dino.jpg

Just ordered.

Review to follow in 10k miles or so.
Already got, done about 8/10,000 or so, quality good, comfort excellent with one small detraction; the wrists are very narrow making them fiddly to get on and off, of course this does mean they're extremely secure when on, but there's no doubt they are a slight faff to get on and off.

davepreston

02-09-09, 08:00 PM

big thumbs up for my gp pros 3 years and still bang on as for winter gloves under £50 gets ya some spada enforcers toasty warm and held up really well and still useable after two major offs

Girth

02-09-09, 08:05 PM

I had Alpinestars 365 Goretex gloves at the beginning of the year, cost £140.

Ended up having them replaced 3 times in the space of around 3 months, i rejected the 3rd replacement and got my money back. Each time the Goretex liner kept lifting away from inside the gloves.

Really put me off Alpinestars now. Gone back to my trusty Richa Racing Waterproofs which are now just about waterproof but have stood up to 2 and half years riding with 2 winters and only cost £40.

Dave20046

14-09-09, 09:24 AM

Complained to A*s, a problems cropped up, got an email back asking me to take them back to the dealer with the receipt - well I don't have the receipt anymore and the nearest hein gericke is a 30mile round trip. crap. No chance there's any consumer law that means I can get them replaced without a receipt?

Gazza77

14-09-09, 10:26 AM

Already got, done about 8/10,000 or so, quality good, comfort excellent with one small detraction; the wrists are very narrow making them fiddly to get on and off, of course this does mean they're extremely secure when on, but there's no doubt they are a slight faff to get on and off.

http://munhiekkis.fi/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/halvarssons_dino.jpg

Just ordered.

Review to follow in 10k miles or so.

Bet you to it Chris. Have to agree with Mr Squid's comment about getting them on and off though, and I have quite slender wrists!!!

http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=133483

454697819

14-09-09, 11:24 AM

I crashed in my £12 gloves from Lidl, I broke my thumb but that was it..

Bloody brilliant..

Dave20046

06-10-09, 06:34 PM

result. A*s are sending me a brand new pair
Now to weigh up whether to wear/keep them or flog 'em on ebay and by something else?

Has anyone actually owned a pair of the vega drystars that haven't been chinese ****e?

speedplay

06-10-09, 07:00 PM

Ive just got a refund on the A* boots I had.

It took 12 weeks for them to "inspect" them after they said they had to go back to italy for a waranty claim.

12 weeks later I still didnt have the boots .
Really poor service from A* and can honestly say, I wont be buying their kit again.
roughly 5 thousand miles and the sole ejects itself from the boot and they have to inspect it?!

TazDaz

06-10-09, 07:07 PM

Yep. A* gloves are pants. I took a pair back after about 100miles of wear.
A patch of material on the parm (light grey in the pic below) had completely come lose and flapping about.

On the other hand, my leathers seem to be fairing a lot better. Done about 3k in them and no noticeable problems.

http://www.alpinestars.com/store/ProductImages/details/355828_black_white_b.jpg

Dave20046

06-10-09, 07:08 PM

The wear you see on the gloves is circa 6k ,no crashes. had to **** about with italian service centre too but they reckon they'll be with me by the 20th , meaning like a months wait.
Speedplay guess they may have had a high volume of work in the summer thanks to the a* sporting weekend warriors :)

speedplay

06-10-09, 07:11 PM

Speedplay guess they may have had a high volume of work in the summer thanks to the a* sporting weekend warriors :)

They were sent off before the summer ;) lol

God knows when the summer claims will be sorted.

I cant believe that a company will mess about with sending stuff backwards and forwards across europe before they replace anything.
If I hadn't bought new boots, I would have missed the whole summer.

Dave20046

06-10-09, 07:14 PM

Because it's cheaper than sending it back to where it's made.......far east ;)

speedplay

06-10-09, 07:17 PM

would still be cheaper to keep it in the UK ;)
I was told that they would look at it to decide to either replace it, refund it or repair it.
REPAIR IT?! lmao

repair and send them back to the UK?! muppets.