Cheap v expensive leathers - whats the diff?

[Sparky Bills]

Ever sold a set of spool? They come from the exact same place. I have had both sitting here together, the logo is lterally the only difference.

What Spool are you comparing them too?
I dont like Spool either.
Both are shit in my books.

[Motig]

Better to have some protection than none I would have thought. Just get the best that your budget will allow. But dont forget Quasi when your looking.

[cowpoos]

if I remember right they werent exactly slow offs though....
Maybe your fat ass is busting the seams??

why is the speed of the off relivent??

[flame]

Crashed at pace in a Tecnic suit (it saved my ass but destroyed the suit, it was torn to bits) the armor saved my bones mostly, still had nasty burns on my elbows and a cracked elbow,but all things considered, the suit did its job well. Crashed at pace in my Brixton (cheaper brand) and the suit got a bit scuffed up, had two tiny tears, but sure saved my skin and bones better than the tecnic (no breaks and no scuffs on my skin) and is well usable still....the suit that is!

I dont think it matters too much personally, as long as it's cow or roo hide leather, with armor and fits reasonably well. Ive seen alpinestar and Dainese suits absolutely written off after 40kph crashes too. I think it depends on how you crash, and what you hit along the way. Get what your budget allows, more importantly,try and make sure the armor is in the right place, and that it fits reasonably snugly, but without restrictions.

[FROSTY:Me]

Id rather have a decent quality second hand sut than a cheap quality new.

[Kickaha]

Maybe your fat ass is busting the seams??

No maybe about it

[CHOPPA]

I crashed 3 times 1 at 180ks + in my previous alpinestar suit it was the bottom of the range and it survived only with some rips on the elbows and shoulders where on the expensive versions have plastic etc The difference i found in the alpinestar suit to my other suits is that they are way more comfy they give you way more movement so you can ride alot easier no break in period or waiting for it to stretch

[cowpoos]

I crashed 3 times 1 at 180ks + in my previous alpinestar suit it was the bottom of the range and it survived only with some rips on the elbows and shoulders where on the expensive versions have plastic etc The difference i found in the alpinestar suit to my other suits is that they are way more comfy they give you way more movement so you can ride alot easier no break in period or waiting for it to stretch

My suits the same as Technic's...I believe he ripped the arse out of it after a failed victory wheelie at low-ish speed at taupo??

[TygerTung]

These Dianese seem pretty good, swapped my fieldsheer's today with my friend, had a bin at about 100, slid down the track, no worries, didn't wear through or anything. Very comfortable too. The last time my friend was out at the track he crashed a couple of times as well, and he was safe as houses. I've crashed a number of times in my fieldsheers and they seem safe as houses too as I had no injury.

[CHOPPA]

My suits the same as Technic's...I believe he ripped the arse out of it after a failed victory wheelie at low-ish speed at taupo??

haha yeah but he crashed atleast another 1000 times in those leathers! Actually it only ripped the material thats the flexi patch in the groin, it looks like from your pic you had the same leathers as me

[Mikkel]

Each crash is going to be different... It's pretty damn hard to predict just about anything about how you're going to hit the ground, whether you'll be tumbling or sliding and wheter you might hit doing so and what you'll hit, etc.

My two crashes, which were rather similar in their cause (locking front wheel up at 70-100 km/h on the track), resulted in two quite different outcomes. One I hit the ground with helmet, shoulder and hip at the same time, rolled and slid along on my back - the second I caught the ground with my left hand and knee, rolled and tumbled for ~50 meters, landing more or less on my feet without even touching my helmet down.

I was more sore from the first crash than the second due to hitting my head. The leather on the back of my jacket got a small tear on the second crash - it must have caught on something...

In both cases the leathers, Alpinestars TX-1 jacket and track pants, did their job marvellously and I had no injuries worth mentioning. Had my gear not had proper elbow, knee and shoulder armour I would have had broken bones for sure!

My point is just, we usually don't choose how or when to crash - as such it's better to prepare for the worst than trying to skimp on gear.

[AllanB]

Bottom line I think is that any set of average priced leathers is going to be better than the ski jacket and jeans some wallys wear.

[Dakara]

Well there's a difference between Cheap (sh!t) and Cheap as in good value for money.

I've been using a Quasi Rapid Jacket (http://www.quasimoto.co.nz/products/?category=17) since discovering them on KB last year and I've not looked back.

It's a great Jacket at a great price. Obviously if you're prepared to pay, then there are better ones out there, but take a $1,000 X brand jacket, it may be twice the price but not twice the quality. You pay a premium for the Label, like anything really.

[crash harry]

I've recently done the excersise for myself and ended up buying a Quasi 1-piece. Brett and Paula were awesome to deal with and I think I got a really good piece of kit at a good price.

My $0.02 is that for a lot of the brands out there you're paying a lot of money for them being Italian or because some GP racer wears the same brand. That doesn't make them bad suits, or overpriced necessarily, but given all the data I didn't think they were worth the extra money to me. Also watch out that some of the high price brands have some low-end suits that don't seem to be up to the standard of their top end models.

However, there are some awesome deals out there on Trademe on second-hand gear. Lots of guys buy a suit and then never wear it so there's some good condition stuff out there at significantly less than retail.