Is motorcycling gear up to standard?

[Dave20046]

Originally Posted by AndyBrad

thats my point. We seem to be getting sub standard gear for a lot of cash!

aye, I agree. Alpine stars, dainese and FT/lewis have been known for being a bit crappy recently since they moved factories. Can't think of any brand that you can just say 'yeah all they're gear is good quality' it's a case of checking out the item and not necesarily thinking the more I spend the better it will be.
Althoguh that said I'm yet to find a cheap pair of textiles that are waterproof! I'm only impressed with the vega drystars as so far they are my only pair of gloves that have infact been waterproof.

[SoulKiss]

In Men At Arms by Terry Pratchett, his character Sam Vimes put forth the following Socio-Economic Observance

Originally Posted by Samuel Vimes

"The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.

But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.

This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness."

Sums it up really.

[Spiderman]

I always pay a little more for Gortex gear, its got a 5yr waterproof guarantee you see so i didvide the price by 5 and its not so bad, lol.

Gloves...only recently discovered that most gloves on the market are not sold as protective equipment and so have to pass very few test. Only one or 2 makers try to get their gloves to pass the standards required.

[JediGoat]

Originally Posted by Spiderman

Gloves...only recently discovered that most gloves on the market are not sold as protective equipment and so have to pass very few test. Only one or 2 makers try to get their gloves to pass the standards required.

In the UK there is no protective standard required for any bike clothing with the exception of helmets, and anything a manufacturer/dealer refers to as 'armour'.

Oxtar (or TCX as they are now) always tested their boots to acquire the CE rating for safety boots (even though it is not required by law). Recently, there has been a push in France to get gloves CE-rated and classed as PPE (personal protective equipment). Of course, the French brands are picking up fast on this one.

Draggin Jeans also meet various CE standards for abrasion resistance and burst tests, but again none of this is required by law.

Jo

I agree you can't go wrong with Spada I got 2 pairs of gloves 1 pair of fabric trousers 1 pair of leather trousers and 1 leather jacket from topgearsuperstore.co.uk all for less than £200.

My wolf textiles, did alot of miles, still in reasonable nick.
And hold up to water quite well.

Not even marked from the off I had on my 50.

Expensive, but worth it.
Now have a set of HG leathers, quality seems ok.

I have the Rukka Marco Jacket , Rukka Unit Trousers , Rukka Xtrafit Gloves and Alpinestars Ridge boots . All Weathers , All temperatures , All year , no worries . Cost ? £820 without my Arai Corsair lid , which would bring it in at over £1200 . Is this a worry for me ? No . It has 5 year warranty on the Rukka kit and I am happy and content in this kit . I ride everyday of the year with only a few days exception and I have been kept warm , safe and Dry .

There is no such thing as bad Weather , only bad equipment .

I think decent kit is really expensive. I ended up buying goretex trousers for £190, but they are waterproof. Previously I got soaked in my £60 ones. The Rukka ones I wanted were twice that, if I rode every day I'd have got them.

[ethariel]

On the way home from Elgin the other day (600 wet miles - Gggrrrrrrrrr) my 'cheap' J&S Water Proof (not Gore) jacket leaked down the front badly, my non waterproof 'aye they are the waterproof SMX-4 boots mate!' leaked so badly i physically poured water out of them at 2 service station stops on the M6 alone.

on the plus side, my Rukka Unit (Gore) trousers kept my man bits warm, dry and comfortable and the Alpinestars Xtrafit (Gore) 365 GTX gloves kept my fingers nice and dry too.

In hindsight, i should have stuck with my old boots and waited a month for the new Gore Sidi boots to be back in stock and should not have broken the 'if it's not Goretex, leave it alone' rule for the jacket.

Goretex kit will cost you up to 2x the cost of the 'whatever else lined stuff' but imho it's false economy in the long run.

Colin

PS - A 7 year guarentee on the goretex is ok, but unless the garment manufacturer also covers the garment then it's a hollow guarentee. luckily Rukka does a 5 year guarentee on the whole item not just the Gore liner, other companies such as Dainese stuff you with 5 years on the gore but just 2 years on the shoddy *rap jackets they sell (at the time for just £50 less thant he Rukks - stoopid me!)

I saw a lovely Spada textile jacket today..... have asked the shop owner if he can get me one in towards the end of the year when hopefully i`ll be needing one in a smaller size!!! and am very pleased that he can. The design of the jacket is fantastic and really stylish.... it`s a ladies jacket and is cut so well it could be tailored. The quilted lining is like a duvet and the colours are really nice too. WIll be looking forward to some colder weather riding now.

On the HG front in the last year I have returned my set of leathers twice as on both pairs the textile fabric has come away from the leather. Will see how set 3 do tho I`ve gone for a different style now.

I also bought their own make ladies gloves earlier this year... on the GMII rideout they have also split so they`ll be going straight back. Have to say I`m not impressed with HG clothing at all

So for winter I`ll be wearing Spada