Affordable gear, I think, is worth buying.

[Shipwreck]

So, after saving up all my money to buy a KLR and the accompanying riding gear, I broke down and bought a 2013 S10. That left me with a small amount of money for gear. I bought Icon boots, Joe Rocket jacket, fox gloves and at least a shoei helmet. The boots are meh, does what it is supposed to do, but mos def not a wow. The jacket is comfy, good protection, ventilation and fit. Gloves also, just meh, does what it is supposed to.

So after 2 months of riding, the jacket's one air vent zipper jammed and in trying to get it in stuck, it broke and the gloves Velcro started falling off. Not a big deal cos this was cheap and I was kinda expecting this to happen but I thought I will send a email to the respective companies, not to get a replacement but thought I would help in potentially assisting them in making a better\more durable product. I told them, I have used this for about 2 months, it looks new but it certainly doesn't smell new anymore. It smells like gasoline, Lysol and oddly cigarette smoke even though I don't smoke. I guess that would make it "gassolette" flavor. Any who....

Both companies, without hesitation, replaced my items. Joe Rocket had me take my jacket back to the shop I bought it and a rep swung by and swapped it out for a brand new one and Fox asked me to destroy my old gloves and they are mailing me a new set.

I would like to own some alpinestar gear and maybe an Arai helmet one day but I thought I would just let you guys know that the (what I consider to be) fashion\franchise manufacturers will take care of you.

Not sure if this made any sense to you guys but just thought I would share my $0.02

 

[EricV]

I'm glad you took the time to contact the companies. I too have had good response from Joe Rocket. When I crashed and destroyed a pair of pants, which did work as advertised and saved me from injury, to ask about repairs, then let me know they don't do repairs, but then offered me a replacement pair at a deep discount, which I took them up on.

Summer gloves, well, I consider them somewhat disposable. I've worn out a pair in a year or two of various Comp Acc. cheapies and am working on a slightly better pair of higher quality Road Gear ones. The Klim summer, no guantlet gloves I got for $27 on sale lasted me longer, but not significantly. 2+ years, perhaps. The heavier, full gauntlet Elk Skin Aerostich gloves last 4-5 years, depending on miles used. I've gone thru three or four pairs of those over the years. Not thrilled with the current pair's excessively large gauntlet.

Jackets are a good place to spend some extra coin on, but comfortable and good armor works.

Helmets, don't beat yourself up too bad. 5 years, get a new one. And while I love the Arai fit for my oval head, I only ever bought one before moving to modular helmets and Arai won't make those. Old man Arai was a hat maker. He truly understood head shape and they are still the only helmet maker that specifically offers different shape helmets to fit different shape heads.

There are a lot of good helmets out there that will do a good job of protecting you. But, it has to fit your head right! Start there, because a good fit will usually be comfortable, then move on to other features you want.

Thanks for taking the time to share your positive encounter with the customer service people on your gear. ::008::