Okay I am at work and will post some pics when I get home. While stopped at Newcombs this last weekend at the Crest I noticed that the stitching appeared to have come undone right where the inseam and frontal area join together at the groin area of my new trackpants.

Stitching..?! No biggie right? Wrong.

Upon closer examination the leather had torn right where the stitch seam enters the leather. The holes into the leather from the stitch almost acted like a perforation on a piece of paper. Anyways I'm not sure if this is gonna be as easy as just send them back to A* due to the fact that I bought them here online from another member. Read: no receipt.

Is that going to be a problem? Really not sure what to do here so what do you guys reccommend?

I suppose I could take them to a leathers 'guy' for repair. The concern is paying the money to fix what may just be a defective pair of pants. If there is a way of getting A* to replace them or acknowledge the defect this would be preferable.

Does anyone have any advice or perhaps dealt with a similar situation? If so let me know cuz as of right now my minds drawing a blank.

 

brb

 

torn? take them back! if it is a two piece they are not really for the track though people do it... almost any leather person can and will fix them for you, not really a hard job. but since they were new, return them if possible. Much of the leather that is out there in the market place is fashion leather, not perfeormance leather, it is way to thin or it is stiched wrongly for maximum protection

 

The problem is I got them from a member here, so no receipt. Are you saying A* may take them anyways?

 

call them. They'll probably take them

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by gumtape_deathmatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The problem is I got them from a member here, so no receipt. Are you saying A* may take them anyways?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah worth a try... if not any good leather place will help you out. they are not jacked, just in need of repair

 

Can you still trust these to hold together in a wreck?

 

there is nothign wrong with repaired leather as long as it is done right. I think the problem is that that were more than likely NOT performance oriented leathers

 

Well they are the Alpinestars track pants extreme. So they better hold up in a crash. They didn't come undone at a critical area. Its the groin area where about 8 stictchings come together, most vulnerable area to something of this nature. It probably doesn't help that I'm out of the saddle more than in it stretching these things out like no tomorrow.

 

the repair should be fairly simple. i would take it to a leather or shoe repair place. it seems like they need to put a better backing to hold the stiching if the leather isn't holding up to the stress.

try to get this fixed ASAP, i would hate to see pics of you being the first person ever with road rash on your gooch!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by integrator43 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the repair should be fairly simple. i would take it to a leather or shoe repair place. it seems like they need to put a better backing to hold the stiching if the leather isn't holding up to the stress.

try to get this fixed ASAP, i would hate to see pics of you being the first person ever with road rash on your gooch! </TD></TR></TABLE>

Well since Chris is so fond of it, here's a few pics of my gooch....

The pants


The gooch


If I have to get them fixed then they are gonna have to pull the leather in to reseam it. Seems to me that might not look right or feel the same. Anyhow, I am looking to contact A* tomorrow. I will keep you all posted on the scenario.

I'm pissed off either way cuz I don't wanna ride without them!

 

I can't believed those things ripped

 

I dont want to bitch about others gear but Alpinestars are not worth the money. The stuff you see in WSB/GP is not anything like the stuff they sell in the shops which is mostly all made in the Far East. It can be repaired take it to a place that builds race suits, they will 99% take it on. If they say its shot then you can believe them. Better to know. A friend of mine has a set of Alpinestars he had one fall at about 90 or so and they actually wore through on the back panel. Pure abrasion failure which is unforgiveable. If he hadnt had a back protector on then he would have had a graze on his skin.

Anyone who is seriously looking at leathers give some of the made to measure places a try, you might be surprised at what they can do for the money. Good luck on the repair.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Luke &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I dont want to bitch about others gear but Alpinestars are not worth the money. The stuff you see in WSB/GP is not anything like the stuff they sell in the shops which is mostly all made in the Far East. It can be repaired take it to a place that builds race suits, they will 99% take it on. If they say its shot then you can believe them. Better to know. A friend of mine has a set of Alpinestars he had one fall at about 90 or so and they actually wore through on the back panel. Pure abrasion failure which is unforgiveable. If he hadnt had a back protector on then he would have had a graze on his skin.

Anyone who is seriously looking at leathers give some of the made to measure places a try, you might be surprised at what they can do for the money. Good luck on the repair.</TD></TR></TABLE>

which brands which are commonly found in shops do you really think is good and worth their money.
(I have a full alpinestars suit)

 

vanson, bates, dainese, helimot,

 

Now you can rock out with your **** out!

Hit up Z Custom Leather http://www.zcustom.com/ for repairs. They're not cheap but they overkill on reinforcement and stitching.

They sell pimp *** custom suits as well. Made to order. Tight *** GP style fit or loose or wutever.

They're in HB.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ScareyH22A &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Now you can rock out with your **** out!

</TD></TR></TABLE>

thats ******* funny

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Rednas &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

which brands which are commonly found in shops do you really think is good and worth their money.
(I have a full alpinestars suit) </TD></TR></TABLE>

Seriously I dont know, there are loads of suits out there. Ride magazine which you can find in Barnes has a good write up test sometimes. Wolf weren't that bad and I think Spidi did ok.

Seriously as you have a suit I wouldn't worry, its going to protect you pretty well, its just that after the event it may need alot more work to rebuild it. If you are worried buy a back protector to replace the stock piece of 5mm foam.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MSchu &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">vanson, bates, dainese, helimot,</TD></TR></TABLE>

I wouldn't **** on a Dainese if it was on fire and had $500 inside it. They are a classic case of having great GP suits made to measure and then selling the brand using Far East sweat shops with cheapo leather.

 

there is no excuse for a suit grinding thru and the seams need to be of teh correct type. this is one of the most over looked part of a suit. Look for at least a double stitch in critical areas, soem suits use a triple stitch... look at the way a seams are assembled to, they should not look like you clothes, they should be doubled over and top stitched, also in teh critical areas
Schu

 

***UPDATE***

I just got my pants back from Alpinestars. I am very happy about that. Needless to say I am not impressed with their customer service. I had to keep calling them to check on the status, difficult to get ahold of and when they were ready I may not have ever got em back if I didn't call.

They did pay for the shipping there, and would have paid for the shipping back if I wasn't in such a hurry to get them back.

Took me 45 minutes to drive from Irvine to Torrance at 4:30 PM!
Had to get outta Crenshaw before the sun goes down and teh nasties come out!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Luke &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I wouldn't **** on a Dainese if it was on fire and had $500 inside it. They are a classic case of having great GP suits made to measure and then selling the brand using Far East sweat shops with cheapo leather.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Being a Dainese owner myself I'd have to agree with this statement as far as the jackets and pants I have seen. I bought my stuff because I liked the way it looked and at the time may have been under the spell of their marketing department a bit. I love it for street gear and I'm very happy I bought it but I don't expect it to hold up any better then say A* in a getoff. I'm going to continue to use it for the street because I love the way it looks, not everyone has it and I don't plan on crashing frequently on the streets. I'm confident it will hold up for one crash, after that? Who knows. I must also say I own a pair of their speed metal gloves and I wish my jacket and pants were built like those things. I think they can survive WWIII easily.

After watching my brother crash test his Vanson gear a few times I know that my track suit is going to be from them. Takes forever to get but the stuff is built like a tank and provides excellent protection. After 2 high speed crashes this season he sent the suit back and all it needs is $100 in repairs. Vanson crashes well, repairs well and most importantly stays together forever. Go to any track day in the North East(not sure about the rest of the country) and I'm sure you'll be able to find a guy in his 40's wearing a Vanson suit that looks 10 years old and has been crashed dozens of times. Not many other brands can hold up to that type of abuse.