Do Dainese test their kit?

[Ben]

I like the look of Dainese kit (and I think the quality of their leather jackets is unrivaled) but their all-weather gear (in my experience) is sub-standard.

15 years ago I had a Dainese D-Dry (their version of Gore-Tex) jacket and the first time it rained, everything in the outer pockets got soaked. I learned to not stash anything in them that couldn't get wet. But with further use I realised the whole jacket leaked in heavy rain. I vowed to never use Dainese again.

I made the choice (mistake!?) of going back to Dainese last year when I saw their Sport Master kit in my local bike shop and thought it looked fab. I opted for the jacket, trousers and boots, as I liked the leather/textile combo and lightweight laminated gore-tex. Around £1,500 all in, which I thought was punchy but worth it for quality gear. It's good kit but I have a few gripes that just seem so simple, I'm amazed Dainese haven't thought of them.

Firstly the inner jacket pockets don't have a 'pocket' so to speak - the zips go all the way down and then everything spills out. The neoprene jacket cuffs catch on the velcro and have bobbled up in no time at all. The trousers have no pockets at all, which is massively annoying when you're off the bike and having a wander around, as you have to carry your phone, keys etc in hand. The armour in the jacket and trousers doesn't have pockets and is velcro'd in so it's not replaceable/upgradable. It was not massively comfy when I tried the kit on but I thought it would bed in. It hasn't!

The boots are torturous to get on and the single rear zip always feels like it's going to break when I'm doing it up. I got used to these boots but then put my Alpinestars ones on the other day and they felt like wearing trainers in comparison - they are so much more comfortable. Argh!

Frustrating really, as I should have thought about these features (or lack of) when I was buying the kit but I dismissed them all, thinking I'd get used to it. Clearly not!

Surely the feature list for quality kit doesn't change? It astounds me that on a high-end suit like this, it lacks the features you'd think were a basic requirement.

Such a shame, as it's got all the makings of being brilliant but right now I'm browsing sites looking for a replacement.

[mangocrazy]

Blimey - one and a half big ones and you're not really happy with it, and it sounds like Dainese didn't put enough thought into the design. I really don't get this - like you say, the requirements for a top quality riding suit don't change from year to year, do they?

[Firestarter]

Sounds like a lot of design flaws (or lack of design thought!). I've never had anything Dainese so can't comment, but the Wolf textiles I've got are very waterproof, have pockets all over and have lasted well. Only wear is the collar - it was foam with a woven cover, and the cover wore quite quickly so it's now just bare foam which looks ugly but doesn't cause any problems.

[bladey]

I used to have a subscription to Ride magazine where they did loads of testing on bike kit. It struck me at the time that Dainese never came out top, or sometimes near the top, considering it was so expensive. I know this was a few years back now but I've generally kept to slightly cheaper and in my opinion better gear like Scott and even RST.