Dainese quality - what does the trade think?

Dainese quality - what does the trade think?

Author
Discussion

Prof Prolapse

16,160 posts

192 months

Tuesday 11th February 2020
quotequote all
Zakalwe said:
Prof Prolapse said:
Similarly I was bought an "Emporio Armani", watch for Christmas (I'm more of a Casio man), and I have serious doubts over it's longetivity, I do forgive it be cause it's very pretty, I would have thought many buying Dainese leathers would sympathise with this mindset.
The difference with your example is that Dainese are the manufacturer and developer of the product, while Emporio Armani are just sticking their label on something they’ve picked out of a manufacturer’s catalogue
Semantics really isn't it? Armani commissions the designs and the Fossil group, build the watches in China. Same as my iPhone , Xbox, and most parts of my Volvo, are similarly made by the lowest bidder in China.

Point remains, design costs money, and there's still a top line. Some people are willing to pay to have more of the total cost of a product on form (and indeed prestige margins) over function.

To be clear though, I'm not saying Dainese is necessarily of any inferior quality, I honestly have no idea. Just making the point about prestige products potentially existing with motorcycle gear, and that isn't unreasonable.








Zakalwe

194 posts

63 months

Tuesday 11th February 2020
quotequote all
Even their cheapest Assen suit comes with a CE2 rating now, check the website

Birky_41

4,333 posts

186 months

Tuesday 11th February 2020
quotequote all
Just read a few comments here. Surprised on this as my dainese leathers have been brilliant for the last 5 years barely stretching and no issues with zips or stitching

My a star 1pc however I think looks good but the build is poor and was noticed when I stacked it at snett last year

A lot of the guys I ride with use rst which might be cheap but always goes baggy after a year and they replace after 2 years max

boyse7en

6,811 posts

167 months

Tuesday 11th February 2020
quotequote all
Since last year, all new motorcycle clothing products have to be CE-certified as a whole garment to be sold as motorcycle products. No CE approval means they can only be sold as fashion clothing.

Protectors (the armour bits) are rated as CE level 1 or CE level 2, but fitting these into a jacket doesn't make the whole thing CE-certified.

i'e, if I get a Primark jacket and stick CE-level 1 armour in it, I still can't sell it as a motorcycle jacket as the whole thing won't pass the required tests.

Salted_Peanut

Original Poster:

1,398 posts

56 months

Tuesday 11th February 2020
quotequote all
Zakalwe said:
Even their cheapest Assen suit comes with a CE2 rating now, check the website
The Assen is one of the suits that gets CE Level 2 armour thumbup on the elbows, knees and shoulders (but only Level 1 armour on the hips). However, the suit as a whole isn't CE Level 2. It's certified as under CE Category 2, which refers to compliance with the law and not how protective the garment is. As boyse7en said, this is now a legal requirement for all motorcycle protective clothing.

Under the new legislation, garments get a rating from A to AAA depending how protective they are. However, Dainese fails to state on its website if you're getting a crappy A-rated or a great AAA-rated garment. Whereas many other brands' websites give the rating for their clothing.

Bennetts said:
Classification AAA: The highest level, demanding four seconds of abrasion resistance with the machine spinning at 707.4rpm (the equivalent of 120km/h) in Zone 1, two seconds at 442.1rpm (about 75km/h) in Zone 2 and one second at 265rpm (around 45km/h) in Zone 3.

Classification AA: More suited to touring gear, this specifies two seconds in Zone 1 at 412.6rpm (about 70km/h), one second at 265.3rpm in Zone 2 and 0.5 seconds at 147.4rpm (the equivalent of around 25kmh) in Zone 3.

Classification A: Deemed suitable for urban riding, with Zone 1 requiring one second of abrasion resistance at 265.3rpm and half a second at 147.4rpm in Zone 2.

Walter Sobchak

5,725 posts

226 months

Tuesday 11th February 2020
quotequote all
How would people say Alpinestars compared?.

Turn7

23,775 posts

223 months

Tuesday 11th February 2020
quotequote all
Walter Sobchak said:
How would people say Alpinestars compared?.
On a similar level to Dainese in my experience.

SAS Tom

3,437 posts

176 months

Tuesday 11th February 2020
quotequote all
You can’t rely on a single brand to make the best of everything. Certain brands do great gloves but crap boots. Others do great leathers but crap textiles etc.

All of the companies use different factories for different items. Some produce good stuff and others are crap.

gareth h

3,595 posts

232 months

Tuesday 11th February 2020
quotequote all
gareth h said:
I had a conversation with a chap who repairs / adjusts leathers, he rated Crowtree / BKS (the hand made ones) and a couple of others, Held was his top pick of the mass manufacturers, but also said there is a big difference depending on how much you are paying from the big manufacturers ranges.
I was talking to this chap about having 2nd hand set of Crowtree leathers adjusted for size, it was expensive because the whole front panel was one piece of leather, fewer seams means it’s strong.
When I checked my old Wolf one piece their were that many different pieces I couldn’t count them, with many seams, I guess you get what you pay for!

Salted_Peanut

Original Poster:

1,398 posts

56 months

Wednesday 12th February 2020
quotequote all
It's a shame Crowtree's no longer available. I wonder how Dainese Custom Works compares in quality. Do you think Custom Works clothing's made in Italy?

SAS Tom

3,437 posts

176 months

Wednesday 12th February 2020
quotequote all
There’s a few people here that have had custom suits from Dainese. I’ve actually been trained to do these suits (by Rossi’s personal tailor) but for me this is where the issue lies. From what I’ve heard, the only place I would get one is BikeStop. I don’t know if any other shop that does as many as BikeStop.

The issue is that in many cases you’re being measured up by someone who has no idea about how to make clothing. When you go to somewhere like Scott leathers, crowtree, AM etc the people there know how the leathers are made and what the measurements equate to. Your average sales assistant in your local bike shop like me hasn’t got a clue about how to make clothes.

Obviously that leads to mistakes being made and Dainese are pretty up front in saying that a good chunk of the suits you do will be wrong. Hopefully they would catch it before they make the suit, it may need to altered or it may need starting again from scratch and when they take months to arrive, the customer isn’t going to be happy to keep waiting.

I spoke to people from other shops that were there and the minimum number of suits they’d got wrong in each shop was 3.

Salted_Peanut

Original Poster:

1,398 posts

56 months

Wednesday 12th February 2020
quotequote all
Thanks Tom - interesting stuff, and you're lucky to have been trained by Rossi's tailor! Did the training make you look at clothing differently?

The other question with Dainese is the marketing-speak. For example, calling something 'Tutu leather' is meaningless because it gives no indication of its level of abrasion resistance confused

WinstonWolf

72,857 posts

241 months

Wednesday 12th February 2020
quotequote all
Salted_Peanut said:
It's a shame Crowtree's no longer available. I wonder how Dainese Custom Works compares in quality. Do you think Custom Works clothing's made in Italy?
20 measurements? I reckon I had closer to 200 when I had my Crowtrees made in a shed in Louth hehe

The *only* problem with them is they are made to measurements I no longer am, I occasionally have to diet to get in them. I guess that's not such a bad thing smile

Rawwr

22,722 posts

236 months

Wednesday 12th February 2020
quotequote all
SAS Tom said:
There’s a few people here that have had custom suits from Dainese. I’ve actually been trained to do these suits (by Rossi’s personal tailor) but for me this is where the issue lies. From what I’ve heard, the only place I would get one is BikeStop. I don’t know if any other shop that does as many as BikeStop.

The issue is that in many cases you’re being measured up by someone who has no idea about how to make clothing. When you go to somewhere like Scott leathers, crowtree, AM etc the people there know how the leathers are made and what the measurements equate to. Your average sales assistant in your local bike shop like me hasn’t got a clue about how to make clothes.

Obviously that leads to mistakes being made and Dainese are pretty up front in saying that a good chunk of the suits you do will be wrong. Hopefully they would catch it before they make the suit, it may need to altered or it may need starting again from scratch and when they take months to arrive, the customer isn’t going to be happy to keep waiting.

I spoke to people from other shops that were there and the minimum number of suits they’d got wrong in each shop was 3.
BikeStop get a professional tailor in to do the measuring.They organise a few days each year and book the tailor for those days, doing groups of people at a time.

Salted_Peanut

Original Poster:

1,398 posts

56 months

Wednesday 9th February 2022
quotequote all
Turn7 said:
I used to sell Furygan, and for me, pound for pound the the (then) Prime one piece suit was exceptional value at £600. No hump or other trendiness, just good spec leathers
Yeah, I know this thread is a year or two old. But I see that Furygan still makes (at least some) leathers in France. I think a lot of other gear is made in China, with some Dainese clobber made in Tunisia?

Furygan UK said:
In 2021, we made a significant investment in our leather manufacturing in France.
And it’s setting up a warranty and repairs operation in the UK, according to this article.


mattb46

241 posts

137 months

Wednesday 9th February 2022
quotequote all
I absolutely love my plain black Crowtree 2 piece suit. It must weigh 10 kilos and the quality the hide and the stitching is awesome. Such a shame Alex passed away and the company went with him. If you can find a 2nd hand set which would be a good fit and isn't it some god awful colour scheme, Id snap them up