Alpinestars, Fox, Thor - how long does your gear last?

All the gear you mentioned is good stuff but is the super thin and stretchy stuff that just wont last as long but its give and take. I have a set of Fly Kinetic that seems like a good balance of the two I rotate through about 5 set of gear the FXR stuff is very durable and comfortable, have some of the Moose Agroid which is thin and stretchy but also pretty durable and some cheap MSR stuff for muddy days. 

Ive put about 50 hours spread across these few sets this year and non is worse for wear aside from some stains on the white and gray stuff. This is all offroad riding as well. 

My last set of Thor Pulse gear lasted about 6 months. 

I used Thor from 2011 to 2021. From 2011 to 2019 it was fantastic. From 2020 to 2021 I tore the knees in every set I had the very first weekend I used them. 

Just for comparisons sake I switched to FXR in 2022 and I've put two full seasons on two sets of FXR gear and neither set has a single hole in the knees. FXR will continue getting my money going forward for as long as the quality lasts. 

I had TERRIBLE luck with alpinestars. 4 sets of pants all blew the seams on the seat of the pants within 5 rides.

Also switched to FXR and have been very happy. 

I think it would help if people also say which line of the brand of gear they are talking about when they post. And also rough number of Hours. Knee braces or no braces. And also include the type of riding they do. 

Just giving  a number of months or years, the number of hours ridden could vary drastically. Maybe include if You had any crashes too.

Over the years I've been making graphics, I've seen my stuff last some riders hours and some riders 100's of hours. Riding style , how the bike is washed and other variables go into how graphics last. And I'm seeing similar stuff now that I've been selling gear. Woods guys are harder on some stuff , moto guys are harder on other stuff.   

Both Thor and Astar gear has been solid to me over the recent years. I usually have a rotation of 5-8 sets a year going and I have found myself buying more Thor and Astar stuff these days. 
 

The key is to get the nice stuff that they put a little more time and money on quality. The nicer sets generally have waist straps as well. 

Glove quality for both are mids. I find Thor gloves are too thick at the palm and Astars are too tight at the wrist. My Thor gloves tend to go to shit faster I will say. Always at the seams too of my inner hand. 

I generally find myself buying glove specific stuff like FIST or 100 percent gloves so I can rotate them across different sets of pants and jerseys. I get many more rides from these versus the actual gear company gloves. 

100% gloves are AWESOME I try to turn all my friends onto them. 

I have the 2022 Supertech and techstar and the super tech has been far more tear resistant. The 2023 techstar seems similar to the 2022 Supertech while the 2023 Supertech is different. The ‘23 and newer Supertech pants have stretch material in the seat. I am not sure if that is an issue or not. The techstar does not, and I have seen 2023 techstar for about $120 a set at Rocky Mountain. 
 

I have hit the ground once (washed the front end) in 2024 Supertech and the jersey held up great. No tears at the elbow. 

I was wearing Alpinestars for the first time and really liked the fit. I had a huge crash last year and absolutely mangled my jersey, though. I'm not really sure if any other gear would have held up either, but I only got to wear that stuff for 3-4 rides. 

How well does AOT gear hold up?

I can confirm this and it took me two rides. The racer gear is supposed to be the tougher of the sets too. Im thinking one-two rides out of the other stuff then? Junk.

Thor Pulse has been very good to me. Prime line as well. It's taken a beating and it still fits and feels great like it did day one. I did rip the button off of a pair of thor pants but thats more of a fluke. Fly is good also just all ugly lol.

Bought some of the latest Alpinestars Supertech stuff a few months ago from the Astars website. First time in a long time I've actually bought current gear at msrp, normally I just wait for stuff to go on sale. They put this really thin mesh on the back of the leg which had a hole in it after one ride. Didn't crash, and never had that happen to any of my other gear. Emailed them a picture and they replied saying they were going to send it to the warranty department. Never heard from them again. 

Thor 22 pulse pants roll up to about my knee cap after a few laps of riding. Wearing tech 10 boot and leatt dual axis knee gaurd. not sure if anyone else has had a similar issue. 

I have three sets of gear currently in use.

Fly F16 - Probably 100 hours on them, they are lower end but made thick and have lasted well. Just don't vent or feel as comfortable as other gear sets. Good for a mudder.

Fox flexair - 4 seasons (2 barely riding) 150-200 hours. Really can't rave enough about how great it is, fits really well, very comfortable, vents well and has held up great to a lot of crashes. Ripped to shreds now after multiple bone breaks in it but still my favourite gear and I cant throw it away because it's so damn great 

TLD GP - 10 hours new set. Unfortunately because I like the brand and think it's the best looking set up I've ever had I just can't get comfortable in the pants. Not to brag but it's too tight on the crotch and I find the leather section on the knees keeps twisting as I grip the bike so they end up pointing forward. I'm still hoping it'll bed in a little because as I said it looks amazing. The jersey and gloves are the best fitting and feeling I've ever had though.

Friend of mine used alpinestars and it was really good quality stuff, I wouldn't hesitate on alpinestars

Shift Blue Line (or "3blue")!

Best Gear i ever had and still have. Style, Fit, Function AND Durability! 

Knees holding up perfectly, riding with Braces! Very durable full grain Leather.

Gloves letting go on one seem, but bought enough pairs luckily.

Only BIG downside: they seem to be out of market 🥹

All good if you are sponsored or can afford it, but back in the 80s and 90s we used the same gear for years and it was still good.
Same boots, same nylons, same jersey, with only the occasional new jersey or helmet to freshen the look. Gloves were the only thing that regularly wore out, and boots eventually. Didn’t matter if it was Fox, Shift or even O’Neal. What the hell happened?!

Fasthouse pants last about two years/100 hours for me. No knee braces just pads. Really happy with the durablilty of all their products, though I prefer 100% Itrack gloves. Fasthouse jersey/pant fitment reminds me of gear 10-15 years ago. Not too baggy, but not skin tight. 

I’ll be the guy showing up with 20yo Xtreme gear.  

They changed the Pulse stuff on some of the later 22.5 Pulse and the 23  Pulse . They got rid of the snap/button and hook thing. And put a ratcheting buckle on like the ones on their other pants. Looks like they have the same strap as the Prime pants. The buckle/strap on the Sector has bigger teeth so the adjustments are not as fine as the Pulse and Prime Buckles. 

I've been selling Thor gear  since early 2022. And customers have had mostly good luck. I also sell Alpinestars , everything but pants and jerseys , but have lettered a bunch of both brands. So I have much more experience with customer feedback from Thor. And everybody that try's the Prime has loved it.  Also I felt like I should say I sell it, since that could impact my opinion. 

FXR is incredible on durability and fit and yes MSR is actually really good and amazing price point 

I’ve bought at least 8 sets of Alpinestars gear. Mostly the Supertech stuff but have also used the Racer line. I’ve destroyed a few sets in crashes. Buckles broke and jerseys were shredded to shit. However, the Supertech is my favorite set of gear I’ve used in a long time. It doesn’t wear out per se. I’ve just destroyed it from crashes and it looks killer. 

I rotate through about 5 or 6 sets. FXR still look great and have held up well. Fly has also been good. Knee brace wearer for reference 

As far as looks go, FXR is about the only gear that reminds me of the glory years of MX (90s). Most of the other gear looks like liquid ass to me. And can someone tell me what happened to the glo green gear that all of the manufacturers made back in the day? 

The more expensive lines are performance lines and don’t last long. Their cheaper lines are more durable. So you got to pick if you was performance or longevity.. 

The cheaper lines typically also have a more old school fit.

I don't have as much feedback from Supertech wearers as I do from Prime.  But the seat area on the Supertech has been a problem for some , and or as more time is on the pants since it is stretch material and the prime pant has regular heavy non stretch type material there.  The other thing on the 23 Supertech they have some heat transfers on  the jersey that also wore out or peeled .  Some of the 24 Supertech still has the same thicker , rubber like stuff on the jerseys. But some colorways are all sublimated fabric. 

I do not have as much feedback about FXR . But I always ask people what gear they have and how it has been for them. most of the feedback on FXR has been positive.  I have had some customers recently switch toThor Prime from FXR, not sure which line they wore. But they do not have much time on the gear yet.  The FXR gear has a pretty heavy pre curve to the legs . Some riders with shorter or longer legs have said the curved area is in the wrong place for them. So if You go with FXR. Just try it on first. If You like the fit, it should work well for you. I have not had a chance to handle many sets of FXR pants , but I do not think they are as stretchy as Prime or Supertech.  BUT that is from customer feedback , and I forgot which FXR they were comparing . For riders in the upper range of sizes , FXR has more options that fit bigger sized riders well. 

As far as crash damage. All of the high end gear is super thin and will not hold up well to crashing. The only pants that customers have reported and issues with have been the Sector and Pulse .  But that has been minimal, and most customers come back and buy more so I ask them how the gear has been for them. Some sector pants that looked like crash damage  , a couple customers had issues with the early 22 Pulse snap's. The Supertech stuff has mostly worn out in the seat area. I do not think any of the customers I have that run Supertech wear knee braces. One of them wears the hinged style knee pads.  

If you're spending the money in my opinion RENEN is worth it.  For some reason I have no money spending money on gear, but I won't buy a new sweatshirt for three years and as a result I currently have a set of FLY, Alpinestars, TLD, and two sets of RENEN. I feel like jerseys are kind of a wash, but the RENEN jersey is slightly heavier than the others with bonus points for longer sleeves (I'm 6'7").  Pants however is where the RENEN gear wins. They're heavier, but with real leather knees, also thick in the stretch areas on top of knee where all my other gearsets have holes from my knees hitting the bars with knee braces on (again 6'7") that the RENEN pants haven't gotten yet. 

There's no doubt that the RENEN gear is expensive, but I think it's worth it. 

I saw earlier that someone loves the itrack gloves from 100% and I loved them too, until I crashed and smashed three fingers to bits.  The fingers would have broken in any glove between the hardpack and handlebars, but the itrack gloves just disintegrated and my broken fingers looked like hamburger meat. 

I'm with you 100% on the fit of the TLD GP pants. I think when they say "Racer" fit, they mean "Trans woman racer." 

Its gotten to a point that most gloves do not really offer much more than some protection against abrasion. But impacts , not many have anything to help absorb that energy.   The Sinisalo SCD gloves that were covered in foam with lycra over it. Offered protection from roost and still let You move around. I don't remember them being very hot to wear. Pants,jerseys and gloves have gone more towards the comfort side of things. And are less and less protective. Leatt has some gloves with the energy absorbing material in them that they use in helmets . 

Five brand gloves  has the most comfortable glove I have worn. The MXF Prorider S. They feel like a broken in pair of gloves right away. Easy to move around and grip. totally unrestrictive and the material they use in the palm is a type of polyester that was engineered to be similar to synthetic spyderweb. It gets grippier when it gets wet. Holds up amazing . I used to sell them before MTA went under. And my friends who got them from me are still using them now. Both race or ride at least 1 time per week. One is a local Pro/expert level racer who rides in 2 or 3 classes per weekend.  He has 2 or 3 pairs of them that he rotates out with his gear. His first set outlasted everything but his SG12's.  I searched to see if anybody else uses the palm material and I found 1 other MX glove. I do not remember the model, but it was made by O'Neal. They are still a minimalistic style glove though. slight palm padding. Which I have never liked in any other gloves until these. And not really much on the top of the hand. I'm not sure where to buy them now. 

I was approached by a rep for TLD . How has the TLD gear been for you? I'm 6'9" tall and when I was younger and slimmer, I used to have problems with pants being long enough to tuck into my boots! Now that I've gained an entire supermodel in pounds and inches around my waist, the pants are plenty long enough for me from Thor and Moose. Moose fits my Sasquatch size in the way I like to wear gear the best so far.