What you pay for...

[adouglas]

Okay, so this is a VERY shallow impression of a jacket I just bought. Here's why I'm taking your time with it...

The old "you get what you pay for" thing.

For a few years I've been wearing a Frank Thomas XTi perforated leather jacket. For those who don't remember or didn't pay attention, Frank Thomas was the Cycle Gear "high end" house brand here in the US before Sedici. I since learned that it's a mainstream-ish brand of its own in Europe, so not a captive CG brand like Bilt.

For our brethren on the other side of the ocean, Cycle Gear is a retail chain that sells gear and miscellaneous accessories/chemicals etc., but no bikes. They do carry some premium brands but their bread and butter is low-end lookalike products that don't appeal to more experienced riders as a rule.

I bought my Frank Thomas jacket because the deal was right... they were phasing the brand out (Sedici arrived the following spring) and offering a 20% discount coupon at the time. In between the coupon and the markdown, I got the thing for $119.

It's been fine. Quality is very good, especially for the price. Once broken in, the jacket fit well. I'll keep wearing it until time catches up with it... after a few years and many thousands of miles it's already showing some clear signs of wear but is still solid.

I just bought a used A* GP-R jacket from a forum member for $250. Street price for this thing is $450. Definitely a step up in terms of cost, though $250 isn't all that much for a leather jacket. Once again, I grabbed a deal. Nothing wrong with having the next jacket hanging in the closet, waiting.

First impressions... the leather is nicer. Softer. Better finished. The details are noticeably nicer. The fit is definitely better. Ventilation should be better (more perforation). Better features (more pockets inside) Style is WAY better. Overall, a clear upgrade.

But worth twice the price? I'm not so sure. Is the most important aspect -- protection -- vastly superior? I'd say definitely not. Would I drop $450 on it, given that I already had a decent jacket? Nope.

Most important takeaway? If you're tempted to spend $450 on a jacket because it's got a big brand name, you can and should expect a terrific product. But if you can't afford it, don't sweat that fact. You're getting more, but not THAT much more, provided you pay attention to the item instead of its label.

[JBizzle]

Originally Posted by adouglas

Okay, so this is a VERY shallow impression of a jacket I just bought. Here's why I'm taking your time with it...

The old "you get what you pay for" thing.

For a few years I've been wearing a Frank Thomas XTi perforated leather jacket. For those who don't remember or didn't pay attention, Frank Thomas was the Cycle Gear "high end" house brand here in the US before Sedici. I since learned that it's a mainstream-ish brand of its own in Europe, so not a captive CG brand like Bilt.

For our brethren on the other side of the ocean, Cycle Gear is a retail chain that sells gear and miscellaneous accessories/chemicals etc., but no bikes. They do carry some premium brands but their bread and butter is low-end lookalike products that don't appeal to more experienced riders as a rule.

I bought my Frank Thomas jacket because the deal was right... they were phasing the brand out (Sedici arrived the following spring) and offering a 20% discount coupon at the time. In between the coupon and the markdown, I got the thing for $119.

It's been fine. Quality is very good, especially for the price. Once broken in, the jacket fit well. I'll keep wearing it until time catches up with it... after a few years and many thousands of miles it's already showing some clear signs of wear but is still solid.

I just bought a used A* GP-R jacket from a forum member for $250. Street price for this thing is $450. Definitely a step up in terms of cost, though $250 isn't all that much for a leather jacket. Once again, I grabbed a deal. Nothing wrong with having the next jacket hanging in the closet, waiting.

First impressions... the leather is nicer. Softer. Better finished. The details are noticeably nicer. The fit is definitely better. Ventilation should be better (more perforation). Better features (more pockets inside) Style is WAY better. Overall, a clear upgrade.

But worth twice the price? I'm not so sure. Is the most important aspect -- protection -- vastly superior? I'd say definitely not. Would I drop $450 on it, given that I already had a decent jacket? Nope.

Most important takeaway? If you're tempted to spend $450 on a jacket because it's got a big brand name, you can and should expect a terrific product. But if you can't afford it, don't sweat that fact. You're getting more, but not THAT much more, provided you pay attention to the item instead of its label.

I have a Frank Thomas XTi Perforated Leather 2 piece suit that I picked up on Craigslist for $150. Obviously not as nice as a Dainese but I feel safe wearing it. I haven't really been able to find much information about the brand's quality/safety online (other than that it's popular in Europe) but am interested in what anyone has to say about it.

Recently slapped some AlpineStars brand knee sliders onto it

[csmith12]

I loved my XTI 1 piece and felt totally safe wearing it. It also crash tested well without needing a single repair. Leather was thick yet still soft but I did treat it with mink oil. Armor was about average quality and as normal, the back pad sucked. Overall, I gave it a 7/7.5 out of 10.

What I didn't like was the cut. It was large in the knees and lower torso. I normally wear a size 44 suit and a 44 FT seems to be cut for a beer belly rider. And... it was very hot. For a cooler weather, late season suit, it would have been just fine.

Would I own another?

[JBizzle]

Originally Posted by csmith12

I loved my XTI 1 piece and felt totally safe wearing it. It also crash tested well without needing a single repair. Leather was thick yet still soft but I did treat it with mink oil. Armor was about average quality and as normal, the back pad sucked. Overall, I gave it a 7/7.5 out of 10.

What I didn't like was the cut. It was large in the knees and lower torso. I normally wear a size 44 suit and a 44 FT seems to be cut for a beer belly rider. And... it was very hot. For a cooler weather, late season suit, it would have been just fine.

Would I own another?

I noticed the same thing about the beer gut cut with mine since I have a slim/athletic/non-obese frame.

Describe how you crash tested it?

I have the armor removed from mine and wear an AlpineStars Bionic 2 Protection Jacket underneath it.

[csmith12]

Lol, I crash tested them doing something totally stupid.

Preface:
I do my own suspension adjustments and I am not half bad at it really. The front of my R6 was way to soft for hard braking, so I thought... I got some time, lets cure that. A few changes later, I am geared up and ready to go for a test ride.

The event:
I am fully geared and ready to test my front dive corrections. I hop on the bike and head down my local roads, da twisty backwoods of KY 1 mile from my house. After a short test ride, I feel pretty good with my changes. I figger, I am warmed up a bit, the tires are warm, lets feel what super hard braking feels like. hahahahhahaha My braking marker was WAAAAAYYYY off. I end up with only about 100ft to scrub off about 60mph before a corner 200ft from my garage. I locked the front, got horrible rear chatter and when I released the front lockup, I seen a easy green run off and figgered it was better than a lowside on the pavement. I run off and still run out of grass before the treeline, so I locked the rear and kicked the bike away. I slid in the grass a ways. Now grass isn't so bad yea... problem with this grassy area also had rocks and small bushes littered about. After getting the bike back to my garage and walking the 200ft back to ensure no bike parts where in the grass. I saw I had scraped a few large rocks, 3 bushes and a sapling.

The suit just needed a wipe down and it had a few small scuffs, no big deal really. The bike needed a bath and a mirror. I still needed to finish my suspension setup but felt I had pressed my luck enough that day.

[Alex]

Squid.

[ninjamunky85]

I own the A*'s Tech-1r leather jacket that I got from sportbiketrackgear on closeout. It originally retailed for $700 and I got it for a little over $500. I will say that I have tried on the GP-R and it just isn't on the same level as the tech-1.

The leather quality is about the same with both jackets. The things that set the tech-1 apart are the fit and the dual density padding, also it has a back hump. The dual density padding is a big step up over conventional single density armor. Dual density combines a hard outer layer with a soft inner layer. This, combined with the almost too tight fit of the tech-1 make it feel like the most protective jacket I have ever owned. If I ever go down, I want to be wearing this jacket.

P.S.: The tech-1r has a "race fit" I guess. Basically if you are carrying around a spare tire, don't even consider this jacket. I'm 5'10" and 145 lbs on a good day. The size 38 has me sucking it in when I put it on. The good thing about this tight fit is that the padding won't move around in a wreck.