Dainese: is it really rubbish?

[SVS]

Twit said:

I would forget Dainese stuff, good for posers - f*ck all use for anyone who actually wants to ride a bike.

I've heard that before, with rumours of Dainese kit falling apart. How come?

Without testing it in a crash, my experience of day-to-day Dainese use has been different. I've used a Dainese leather jacket for 4+ years, regularly in bad weather, yet the jacket still looks pretty new. (It's had a professional clean by www.scrubbersleathers.co.uk plus leather cleaning/feeding from me every 6-12 months with www.renapur.com ) In contrast, Hein Gericke gloves gave up the ghost after 3 years and Hein Gericke trousers gave up the ghost after 4 years, despite being equally well treated.

I replaced the Hein Gericke GoreTex gloves with similar Dainese items last year. Having treated the gloves with Renapur before winter use, they still look in great condition after their first winter.

Dainese often comes out badly in RiDE safety tests. I've never had so much as a stitch come loose on my Dainese jacket or gloves, despite regular and all-weather use. In contrast, I've had the odd loose stitch crop up on some truly Rolls Royce kit (BMW leathers, Kushitani and Held race gloves - all supposedly as good as it gets).

I wonder whether Dainese is well made, but using poor abrasion resistent materials (hence the poor RiDE safety test results). Or whether Dainese has improved. Or whether BMW kit being made in Rumania has deteriorated its quality. Or whether Japan's finest Kushitani has actually been overtaken in quality. Or whether I've been lucky with Dainese and unlucky with the other 'better' brands ... ?

What are your experiences and thoughts?

[Silver993tt]

I have had a 2-piece Dainese leather kit for the last 5 years. It's fantastic quality - nothing has broken/gone wrong with it. I also have a Dainese Goretex 2-piece outfit which is still totally waterproof after 5 years of touring Europe. I now have a pair of their waterproof gloves, fantastic fit and finish. Tried Heine Gericke gloves but never use them again after one season.

[andy tims]

My only experience has been of their textiles.

The jacket I had was a good design with lots of handy pocket & decent armour but it leaked badly after 2 years admittedly heavy use.

The accompanying goretex trousers leaked at the crutch pretty well from day one, so not so good.

[rsv gone!]

My Dianese leathers have seen all sorts of ill treatment and bad weather - my favourite way of cleaning my jacket of flies is to jetwash it!

They are about 8 years old and still come up fine, with no quality issues at all.

(New jackets just never seem to fit as well)

[catso]

I've worn Dainese leathers for years, had one set for about 8 years + 2 crashes with no problems whatsoever (apart from seeming to 'shrink' around the waist ) I even got a reasonable price for them on ebay last year.

I bought new 2 pc Dainese last year and although probably not quite as well finished as the last set they still look good (although not crash tested). Also had a couple of pairs of their gloves and been using a pair of the full carbon race gloves for the last 6 yrs with no problems.

I have only good experiences of Dainese.

[Andy OH]

I have crash tested Dainese leather jeans at 70 mph.....and I am still wearing them with only a minor scuff, admittedly they are now my spare jeans. I landed on my right knee and without them and the armour I probably would have had no knee.....so I can confirm that Dainese did the job for me.

I have always used Dainese leathers and textile kit and have had no problems at all with them and I ride everyday to work in all weather and condtions.

Edited by Andy OH on Tuesday 29th May 10:44

[anonymous-user]

I had a set of Dainese 'tatoo' 2 piece and had x2 50 ish MPH crashes in them and used them for 5 years after the first crash and they held together fine in the second crash, retired them a while back only because they were looking a mess, But the stiching was still completely fine... Top gear imo

Edited by JS99 on Tuesday 29th May 14:00

[Busa_Rush]

I'm glad to hear this ! Have just bought a Dainese textile gore-tex jacket and leather trousers. I know some people suggested waititng a bit but these are basic bits of kit and the fit is very good. Can't comment on longevity yet obviously but they appear better made than other outdoor kit I've bought in the past.

[runnersp]

In response to Twit's very profound analysis of Dainese kit. Right, I've got a Dainese textile jacket which I used to commute in for four years solid in winter, never leaks and stood up well in a spill. A pair of Dainese leather gloves that cost me an arm and a leg but that have been in near constant use since 2003, have seen countless hours of rain and still come back for more. I've also just bought a one piece Dainese for racing and its fantastic. Am I a poser? Maybe. Is Dainese kit f*ck all use for people who want to ride? No. Is Twit possibly a bit silly? There's a good chance...

[MattOz]

I've had a number of Dainese suits and they've been great. Have tarmac surfed in one of them and it stood up very well. No damage to stitching etc and no holing. That was at 60mph. The Dainese boots that I had on at the time also stood up well. No injury apart from dented pride.

I can't understand people who slag Dainese. It's their issue, not Dainses'. Sure you can buy "better" kit, but for relatively inexpensive stuff, Dainese is fine.

Matt

[veetwin]

My experience of Dainese has been quality through and through. Excellent fit, comfortable and probably the best looking kit out there IMO.

This season I be mostly wearing Arlen Ness as their prices were good on the one-piece.

[Ray Luxury-Yacht]

I hope I can help put this one to bed. 5 years of national racing on superbikes with Dainese kit. Many horrifc and very high speed prangs later, with no skin damage and no abrasion resulting in holes in the kit. (Any breakages and dislocations i've suffered I think I would have suffered in any kit).

I do change all the armour for Knox stuff though, and wear Frey Daytona boots with the kevlar endo skeleton. Plus a Knox deep back protector. I've stopped racing now but my team mate is in BSB superstocks and continues to use Dainese. Again, we can't fault the kit after much testing. We also rate the gloves, again, no wear through damage as yet.

And Arai helmets, but thats another story!

[catso]

And how many WSB and MotoGP riders wear Dainese?.......

[Carrera2]

catso said:

And how many WSB and MotoGP riders wear Dainese?.......

Not many (if any) - it tends to be bespoke suits that they stitch the label on apparently.


My experience of Dainese:

I had 2-piece leathers from Dainese (approx £650) that the zips starting going on within 2 years of normal road riding. A friend bought them off me and within a couple of months of minimal wear some of the stitching came loose, mind you, he is a bit tubby

A friend of mine also had a relatively low speed off (c40mph) in Dianese boots and textile trousers - both were utterly ruined. They looked like they'd been shredded. No broken bones (none protected by Dianese anyhow) though so it arguabley did it's job but I would have expected it to have survived.

Against my better judgement I bought a Dianese 1-piece last year (I loved the look of it) and I've worn it a fair bit without any problems. I've had one low side (approx 60mph) and other than a few big scrapes it's come out good - no stitching frayed.

So I'm torn really - I've had good and bad experiences with Dianese. My next set's coming from BKS I think. You hear nothing but good reports from them.

[parakitaMol.]

I used to work in Marketing at a large multi franchise mc dealer network. They were (I stress past tense - this was a few years ago) a very large Dainese supplier.

By far and above all other manufacturers, the highest number of returns was Dainese, (closely followed by Frank Thomas) so much so they even sourced a UK authorised repair workshop, to save the European returns.

Personally I would not wear the stuff, in my mind it's fashion wear rather than protective - if you compare the price of a brand new season, top of the range, off the peg, Dainese suit with a high quality made to measure - it's not that far removed. If you compare all the suit components (stitching, cut, armour, grade of hide, thickness of leather, etc) it is very far removed. I don't think the brand offers good value. Having said that it's not the worst on the market by far and offers much greater protection than jeans or shorts!! It does come down to personal taste and budget to some extent too.

Also, despite people having 'offs' in Dainese and them holding up ok - well there are about 4million types of 'off' you can have so it's not that comparable, for a really good comparison you'd be better to look at a benchmark test for abrasion, impact and tear to compare leathers. Sure Ride have done this about a million times - should be something on the net.

HTH

[Andy OH]

parakitaMol. said:

I used to work in Marketing at a large multi franchise mc dealer network. They were (I stress past tense - this was a few years ago) a very large Dainese supplier.

By far and above all other manufacturers, the highest number of returns was Dainese, (closely followed by Frank Thomas) so much so they even sourced a UK authorised repair workshop, to save the European returns.

Personally I would not wear the stuff, in my mind it's fashion wear rather than protective - if you compare the price of a brand new season, top of the range, off the peg, Dainese suit with a high quality made to measure - it's not that far removed. If you compare all the suit components (stitching, cut, armour, grade of hide, thickness of leather, etc) it is very far removed. I don't think the brand offers good value. Having said that it's not the worst on the market by far and offers much greater protection than jeans or shorts!! It does come down to personal taste and budget to some extent too.

Also, despite people having 'offs' in Dainese and them holding up ok - well there are about 4million types of 'off' you can have so it's not that comparable, for a really good comparison you'd be better to look at a benchmark test for abrasion, impact and tear to compare leathers. Sure Ride have done this about a million times - should be something on the net.

HTH

So have you crash tested both the Dainese and the bespoke made to measure BKS, Crowtree or Hideout gear?? If you have then I think we would all like the results of your tests....as for magazine tests do you really believe what journos say about anything they test

Yes I've had a couple zips go on the jeans and jacket which have been replaced by Hideout, as I live near to there, but with approximately 60,000 miles use of wear the Dainese kit hasn't done bad.

I think we would all like a bespoke BKS, Crowtree or Hideout suit but if you are on a bit of a budget one tends to look at slightly cheaper kit and in fact I don't think £450 for a jacket and £300 on jeans is cheap......in fact Hideout actually admitted that my Dainese Bora jacket which was £450 was the one they modeled one of there jackets on and they said how impressed they were with the Bora jacket's constuction and quality.

I admit my next 2 piece may well be from BKS but I still believe the Dainese kit has done a bloody good job.

Edited by Andy OH on Thursday 31st May 12:00

[Twit]

Blimey... didnt expect my comment to cause a whole thread...!

I have a Dainese jacket and its a nice jacket, but I never wear it on the bike. The leather is really thin and some of the stitching is loose just through general wear. If it does that on general wear then god knows what it would do in a crash! My mate did crash in Dainese jeans and they broke along 2 seems and actually holed - it wasnt a particularly bad tumble and we were all a bit surprised at how badly they held up. Thats what I have formed my opinion on, although I have heard similar tails, and I wouldnt wear the stuff. I think it looks good but thats where the development cash is spent.

As far as leathers are concerned I would only trust 3 companies and they are Crowtree, BKS and Carrera. My leathers are Crowtree and you can tell just by feel and weight how much better they are then most the off the shelf stuff. Linked with that I'd only ever go made to measure as I do believe that for leathers to work in the event of an off they have to fit properly!

For textiles BMW and Rukka for me. My BMW kit is great, I do 20K miles a year on the bike and it alwasy holds up and never leaks. It has also been crashed off road in countries across the world and has held up well. Rukka kit is great for cold and wet and again no complaints. I do think Hein Gericke textile kit is good, very good for the price, although you may have to accept it will need replacing a bit sooner.

[308mate]

SVS said:

Dianese: Is it really rubbish?

No.

Is it fashionable to pull down Dianese at the moment because a year or two ago it was "de riguer" for the born-agains and catalogue-clowns?

Yes.

Its alot better than some stuff, not as good as others. Ive had my gear for 7 yrs and its still very good aside from a zip tab breaking off last year, replaced with a key ring. My Armadillo back protector with double kidney belt is very comfortable too - thankfully its as yet untested.

A friend of mine has gone skidding up the track in his Bealzibus(sp?) and they held up perfectly well for a essentially a two-piece road suit. Cosmetically secondhand but structurally in tact.

Dianese will also repair/recondition your old leathers if you have a favourite set that are a bit lack-lustre.

Just email [e-mail] with the details and she'll let you know how repairable they are.

[Ray Luxury-Yacht]

parakitaMol. said:

so much so they even sourced a UK authorised repair workshop, to save the European returns.

Nine lives?

[parakitaMol]

Andy OH said:

parakitaMol. said:

I used to work in Marketing at a large multi franchise mc dealer network. They were (I stress past tense - this was a few years ago) a very large Dainese supplier.

By far and above all other manufacturers, the highest number of returns was Dainese, (closely followed by Frank Thomas) so much so they even sourced a UK authorised repair workshop, to save the European returns.

Personally I would not wear the stuff, in my mind it's fashion wear rather than protective - if you compare the price of a brand new season, top of the range, off the peg, Dainese suit with a high quality made to measure - it's not that far removed. If you compare all the suit components (stitching, cut, armour, grade of hide, thickness of leather, etc) it is very far removed. I don't think the brand offers good value. Having said that it's not the worst on the market by far and offers much greater protection than jeans or shorts!! It does come down to personal taste and budget to some extent too.

Also, despite people having 'offs' in Dainese and them holding up ok - well there are about 4million types of 'off' you can have so it's not that comparable, for a really good comparison you'd be better to look at a benchmark test for abrasion, impact and tear to compare leathers. Sure Ride have done this about a million times - should be something on the net.

HTH

So have you crash tested both the Dainese and the bespoke made to measure BKS, Crowtree or Hideout gear?? If you have then I think we would all like the results of your tests....as for magazine tests do you really believe what journos say about anything they test

Yes I've had a couple zips go on the jeans and jacket which have been replaced by Hideout, as I live near to there, but with approximately 60,000 miles use of wear the Dainese kit hasn't done bad.

I think we would all like a bespoke BKS, Crowtree or Hideout suit but if you are on a bit of a budget one tends to look at slightly cheaper kit and in fact I don't think £450 for a jacket and £300 on jeans is cheap......in fact Hideout actually admitted that my Dainese Bora jacket which was £450 was the one they modeled one of there jackets on and they said how impressed they were with the Bora jacket's constuction and quality.

I admit my next 2 piece may well be from BKS but I still believe the Dainese kit has done a bloody good job.

Edited by Andy OH on Thursday 31st May 12:00

What's with the heavy sarcasm? of course I have not crash tested all of these but personally I WOULD pay more interest to a comparable rip test on a work bench than two random people on the internet saying mine were fine when I crashed them and knowing none of the conditions.

I did say in my original post which you must have missed, that my opinion was *personal* and budget is often a factor and Dainese is NOT the worst, better than real cheap shit or jeans - therefore I don't get what your point is?

Having worked in the sector for a number of years, spent time with our buyers and manufacturers, knowing lots of people in the clothing & helmet industry, knowing journalists, mates with several British Superbike Riders who have passed comment on what they WON'T ride in, worked for Uvex for a year and very closely with AXO on a couple of projects on their ladies product design out in Treviso etc. etc. I happen to have just a litle knowlege, not a lot, just a little and I was trying to help. Sorry it was a personal opinion and wasn't enough for you.

It is all subjective and bound by personal experience. I have not slated them, simply said I wouldn't ride in it and my reasons - which I feel very justified in having. P.S. I have owned a set myself which I rarely, if ever, wore - unless I was popping into town and wanted to look good.

Ray - yes Chris at 9 Lives. Maybe he could comment about how many Dainese suits he's repaired over the last 10 years?

Edited by parakitaMol on Friday 1st June 11:46