Racewear recommendations

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Looks like I will be getting a chance to share a drive with my Dad in a VSCC sprint next month, so I need to get myself suited and booted. All the gear needs to be to latest MSA/FIA specs, but I don't need the undies or HANS since it's non-race. I already have some (black OMP) gloves, but I need boots, helmet and suit.

Live in Kent and need to get it sorted by early August, so can't go to some shop in Yorkshire or wait for the January sales :-)

Can anyone recommend a shop/online store, or any particular makes/models of race suits, boots or helmets? I hope to be doing more events over the coming years so don't want to get the cheapest, but equally don't really want to spend more than a grand. Where should I focus the cash?

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Thanks all. Will certainly try some of the kit on, from the basic measurements I appear to be of standard proportions for my height (i.e. for the given height, my waist/hips/chest/legs are also the right measurements), so might be able to order online/ebay if it's a good deal, but will check out some options in person first.

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OK, I was up at Brands Hatch today for the Mini Festival with my boy, and went into Alex Reade to have a look. I tried on an Alpinestars size 52 and it was pretty much perfect size, which is what the measurements suggested it would be. The guy tried just about restrained himself from sniggering at the prices I was hoping to pay but was helpful nonetheless!

Thanks for all the tips folks.

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Wow, thanks @jeffw, that seems too good to be true as Alpinestars GP Tech are going for >£1000 on Demon Tweeks...worth asking for more details at least though!

Thanks for all the other suggestions too.

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Just as a follow-up, I was about to order one of the Alpinestars suits from ebay/McGill Motorsports, when a lightly-used Sparco suit in my size came up on eBay, and I won the auction for about £80. The year of manufacture is 2007 but it has the necessary FIA approval patch. I am having trouble finding a helmet for less than £400 but at least since I haven't spent much on the suit I can spend that without worrying about it.

The suits at McGill were in their clearance section and the one I nearly bought was an Alpinestars GP Tech from 2010 (new with tags), for £300 inc VAT. http://www.mcgillmotorsport.com/clearance-range-al... - still a pretty good deal if anyone else is looking. They also have other clearance suits in that section.

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R8Steve said:

Trouble finding a helmet for less than £400?

See here, FIA approved and complete with hans posts for under £200, i have the full face circuit one and it's ideal. http://rrs-direct.co.uk/store/pilote-co/casques.ht...

Thanks, I had looked there but they only have XS and S sizes, and I need an XL! Demon-Tweeks stock RRS but not the full face.

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Demon Tweeks have this: http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/helmets/r...
It meets the standards required and would save about 150 quid on the Sparco WTX-5H that I'm looking at, but are they any good? Anyone got one?

While I'm at it, why is it impossible to find out how much each helmet weighs? They all have blurb about being lightweight but I haven't seen a single site that says how much lighter one is than another, nor any sites that have useful comparisons or user/expert reviews. Anyone?

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carl_w said:

http://www.v2sport.com

I have a carbon fibre helmet that I bought for £180 from Black Cat Racewear that turns out to be a BEIJING SHENZHOU RODIA BF1-R7 and weights 1150g. The same weight as my old Sparco Pro-Jet (fibreglass) which was only BS6658 Type A/FR. It seems the current helmets are a lot more bulbous and heavier than the older ones, and the price of carbon fibre seems to be coming down. Koden do some cheap-ish carbon fibre ones.

Thanks Carl, I have tried everywhere I can find selling the Koden Carbon fibre and nobody has stock, also tried to find the Hedtec Onyx which is carbon fibre, but nobody has any of them either.

V2 looks OK, will give them a call. Can't get the Black Cat website to work, a few pages are OK but the helmet detail pages don't show any content. http://www.blackcatracewear.com/carbon-helmets.htm

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OK, just tried ringing Black Cat and got no answer on the phone either.

V2 were helpful on the phone, they have the new V2 Super-Vent in stock at around £230 and helpfully told me that they weight 1520g in large size (counterintuitively the larger the size, the lower the weight - since the shells are all the same size and the difference in fit is down to the inserted materials, so smaller sizes need more filling).

Demon-Tweeks didn't know how heavy the helmets I was looking at are, but did say that the Sparco WTX-5H and -5W are middle of the road for weight, while the Racing Safety Accessories one is heavy, and cheap due to the quality of the internal materials.