Dainese made-to-measures
Discussion
Following a recent item in Bike about made-to-measure Dainese leathers, and being in the market for a new set to fit my 6’4” frame, I toddled off to my local Dainese dealer to pop the question.
“No, sorry sir, we don’t have anyone here who can do the measuring”
Hmm, not a good start. So, on to the Dainese website, where there’s a nice little link to “Contact Us”. So, I write a nice polite request, explaining that I’d really like to give them around £1000 in return for some made to measure kit, and where and how can they best help me.
Response after a week? Nada. Zilch. Zip (or not). Obviously they’re charging enough for their goods that they don’t need to worry about answering any queries which might generate a bit more business.
So, it’s save up a bit more and off to one of the specialists for me.....
“No, sorry sir, we don’t have anyone here who can do the measuring”
Hmm, not a good start. So, on to the Dainese website, where there’s a nice little link to “Contact Us”. So, I write a nice polite request, explaining that I’d really like to give them around £1000 in return for some made to measure kit, and where and how can they best help me.
Response after a week? Nada. Zilch. Zip (or not). Obviously they’re charging enough for their goods that they don’t need to worry about answering any queries which might generate a bit more business.
So, it’s save up a bit more and off to one of the specialists for me.....
C8PPO said:
Following a recent item in Bike about made-to-measure Dainese leathers, and being in the market for a new set to fit my 6’4” frame, I toddled off to my local Dainese dealer to pop the question.
“No, sorry sir, we don’t have anyone here who can do the measuring”
Hmm, not a good start. So, on to the Dainese website, where there’s a nice little link to “Contact Us”. So, I write a nice polite request, explaining that I’d really like to give them around £1000 in return for some made to measure kit, and where and how can they best help me.
Response after a week? Nada. Zilch. Zip (or not). Obviously they’re charging enough for their goods that they don’t need to worry about answering any queries which might generate a bit more business.
So, it’s save up a bit more and off to one of the specialists for me.....
I would pop down to BKS leathers and have it done proper like ...“No, sorry sir, we don’t have anyone here who can do the measuring”
Hmm, not a good start. So, on to the Dainese website, where there’s a nice little link to “Contact Us”. So, I write a nice polite request, explaining that I’d really like to give them around £1000 in return for some made to measure kit, and where and how can they best help me.
Response after a week? Nada. Zilch. Zip (or not). Obviously they’re charging enough for their goods that they don’t need to worry about answering any queries which might generate a bit more business.
So, it’s save up a bit more and off to one of the specialists for me.....
Halo do made to measure, going to get myself a 1 peice in the next week or 2
http://warking.ultimateservers.net/haloleather/Con...
http://warking.ultimateservers.net/haloleather/Con...
I know that the Hideout/BKS suggestions are very good ones, it's just that the Dainese option was about £900 as opposed to £1200-£1500.
Then again, if I'm spending that much on kit I suppose I may as well go the extra mile. I usually do buy top-quality stuff as there's only one of me to go round! Also, BKS & Hideout aren't exactly local to me.
Never heard of Halo - is their stuff any good?
Then again, if I'm spending that much on kit I suppose I may as well go the extra mile. I usually do buy top-quality stuff as there's only one of me to go round! Also, BKS & Hideout aren't exactly local to me.
Never heard of Halo - is their stuff any good?
C8PPO said:
I know that the Hideout/BKS suggestions are very good ones, it's just that the Dainese option was about £900 as opposed to £1200-£1500.
Then again, if I'm spending that much on kit I suppose I may as well go the extra mile. I usually do buy top-quality stuff as there's only one of me to go round! Also, BKS & Hideout aren't exactly local to me.
Never heard of Halo - is their stuff any good?
you can get the Halo leathers for £799 plus £130 made to measure and £70 extra if you want the liquid armor. Just yourtube d30 for the vidThen again, if I'm spending that much on kit I suppose I may as well go the extra mile. I usually do buy top-quality stuff as there's only one of me to go round! Also, BKS & Hideout aren't exactly local to me.
Never heard of Halo - is their stuff any good?
crowtree. good old fashioned leathers with no gimmicky armour. A simple suit can be had from around £600. Bombproof.
Alternatively, see what most club racers race (and crash a lot) in. there's your answer, unless you want a nice spangly suit to ponce around at Box Hill, Ace cafe, etc in?
Alternatively, see what most club racers race (and crash a lot) in. there's your answer, unless you want a nice spangly suit to ponce around at Box Hill, Ace cafe, etc in?
fergus said:
unless you want a nice spangly suit to ponce around at Box Hill, Ace cafe, etc in?
Nope. I want a nice strong replacement for my Alpinestars so that next time I'm at the Ring/Brands/Donny/Silvertone/Snet (delete as appropriate) I feel protected, and so that I *AM* protected if I ever decide to do 90 down Paddock Hill on my jacksy again.
On the basis of the price/quality/fit compromise, that option at the time seemed best.
Can you really get Crowtree for £600? I thought the cheapest "specialist" kit was around £11-1200 and upwards from there?
C8PPO said:
Thanks, that's v interesting. WIll certainly look into that. I wonder why they're so much cheaper than BKS/Hideout, etc??
Low overheads 
I've got a set, fantastic kit. Once you feel the quality and compare them to a set of Dainese I think you'll be convinced. Best thing is if you damage them you can pop them back for a proper repair.
C8PPO said:
fergus said:
unless you want a nice spangly suit to ponce around at Box Hill, Ace cafe, etc in?
Nope. I want a nice strong replacement for my Alpinestars so that next time I'm at the Ring/Brands/Donny/Silvertone/Snet (delete as appropriate) I feel protected, and so that I *AM* protected if I ever decide to do 90 down Paddock Hill on my jacksy again.
On the basis of the price/quality/fit compromise, that option at the time seemed best.
Can you really get Crowtree for £600? I thought the cheapest "specialist" kit was around £11-1200 and upwards from there?
It's OK Rach, my AStars did a sterling job - I walked away with a bruised foot and a friction burn on the elbow. Had them patched up and still using them (this was a couple of years ago) but it's time for a new set, prob one-piece, and at 6'4" the off-the-shelf one-pieces are too short in the body, even in a racing crouch!
HRG said:
Once you feel the quality and compare them to a set of Dainese I think you'll be convinced. Best thing is if you damage them you can pop them back for a proper repair.
Yes, they are heavy, but when you're going down the road at XXXmph, you'll be glad of the weight! They can custom repair and seams as well, or patch/replace and panel.Custom made stuff can be had for cheaper than expensive off the peg as long as you don't try and emulate the off the peg designs, in which case you could probably double the price!!
C8PPO said:
Nice!
Cheers for the advice, That's good, I've just spoken to the nice chap at Crowtree and he's sendingme all the guff in the post. Bit of a schlep up there - 180 miles from me - but hopefully worth it.
Be aware that the standard (i.e. non multi coloured) suits can look a bit basic, and sometimes even a bit dated (even if all one coloured), but the protection they offer is first class. Don't be underwhelmed when looking through the info they send you. Cheers for the advice, That's good, I've just spoken to the nice chap at Crowtree and he's sendingme all the guff in the post. Bit of a schlep up there - 180 miles from me - but hopefully worth it.
By the way, if you do go the Crowtree route, they sit you down with an outline of a set of leathers, front and back, and a massive swatch of different colour leather samples and a set of felt tips, and you get to completely design your own suit.
It's really difficult, as you don't want something really garish, or something that will date quickly, but you probably do want something to make your leathers unique. Difficult choice!!
Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff