Posts: 942
Joined: 1/2/2011
Location: Cromwell, CT USA
Speaking to a Fox rep, he noted that there are replica knock-off Instinct boots sold on eBay occasionally, that have lesser quality construction. Has anyone had any experience with these? I also see some SG12 answer boots selling for under $300, wondering if these are also cheap imitations?
Posts: 929
Joined: 8/14/2017
Location: Mountain Top, PA USA
Joko wrote:
Speaking to a Fox rep, he noted that there are replica knock-off Instinct boots sold on eBay occasionally, that have lesser quality construction. Has anyone had any experience with these? I also see some SG12 answer boots selling for under $300, wondering if these are also cheap imitations?
The sg12 is a closeout colorway
Posts: 1391
Joined: 4/4/2015
Location: GBR
Ive seen FAKE Alpinestar Tech 10s available to buy from China.
The above may be fact or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting. I am not sure, you have no chance.
Posts: 205
Joined: 10/9/2015
Location: GBR
Thisusernameisavailable wrote:
Ive seen FAKE Alpinestar Tech 10s available to buy from China.
They couldn't be much worse than the crap Alpinestars produces themselves.
Posts: 3262
Joined: 6/24/2014
Location: Charlotte, NC USA
Edited Date/Time:
Thisusernameisavailable wrote:
Ive seen FAKE Alpinestar Tech 10s available to buy from China.
Mr Happy wrote:
They couldn't be much worse than the crap Alpinestars produces themselves.
While I respect your right to form your own opinion, what you just said is one of the dumbest things I've ever read on Vital. You may not prefer the brand, but to try and say everything the company produces is "crap" is beyond mad
Positively, absolutely 110% obsessed with anything MOTO.
Posts: 205
Joined: 10/9/2015
Location: GBR
Edited Date/Time:
I've had three pairs of Alpinestars boots, one MX and two road, and they've fallen apart very quickly. One pair of road boots the zip jumped teeth and started splitting after a month of being used every day. MX boots lasted about 20 hours before the stitching up the back of the boots came apart. Their customer service is non existent too.
Posts: 2061
Joined: 10/12/2017
Location: Pittsburgh, PA USA
Mr Happy wrote:
I've had three pairs of Alpinestars boots, one MX and two road, and they've fallen apart very quickly. One pair of road boots the zip jumped teeth and started splitting after a month of being used every day. MX boots lasted about 20 hours before the stitching up the back of the boots came apart. Their customer service is non existent too.
Never had this experience. I had a pair of tech 6 and they lasted for 6 years of hard riding. I put a ton of hours on those boots. Also super happy with the quality of my G10's
Posts: 1246
Joined: 1/8/2011
Location: Kansas City, MO USA
Mr Happy wrote:
I've had three pairs of Alpinestars boots, one MX and two road, and they've fallen apart very quickly. One pair of road boots the zip jumped teeth and started splitting after a month of being used every day. MX boots lasted about 20 hours before the stitching up the back of the boots came apart. Their customer service is non existent too.
Did you actually contact them? I find your comments to be quite different from my experience. Full disclosure, I do work for the main distributor for them but I have had them take very good care of warranty issues for 10 years now.
Posts: 3648
Joined: 4/1/2008
Location: TN, USA
Thisusernameisavailable wrote:
Ive seen FAKE Alpinestar Tech 10s available to buy from China.
Mr Happy wrote:
They couldn't be much worse than the crap Alpinestars produces themselves.
The older A-stars were top notch, but I've had issues with the newer stuff also.
Take it to the limit, one more time!
Posts: 205
Joined: 10/9/2015
Location: GBR
Spooner wrote:
Did you actually contact them? I find your comments to be quite different from my experience. Full disclosure, I do work for the main distributor for them but I have had them take very good care of warranty issues for 10 years now.
Yep, a couple of times over the course of three months. I wouldn't have been concerned by it had they actually done something about it when I contacted them stating what had happened. Basically they ignored me, so I'm not a very happy customer.
The difference is we live on different continents and I had to deal with the Italian side of the company.
Posts: 2062
Joined: 5/18/2015
Location: JPN
There are knockoff's for everything. Too good to be true prices from non authorised sellers= be cautious.
My old Tech 8's are bulletproof. Tech 10's aren't as tough, but they're great boots.
"Nothing happens until something moves"
Posts: 21287
Joined: 11/25/2008
Location: Thru-out, CA USA
Mr Happy wrote:
I've had three pairs of Alpinestars boots, one MX and two road, and they've fallen apart very quickly. One pair of road boots the zip jumped teeth and started splitting after a month of being used every day. MX boots lasted about 20 hours before the stitching up the back of the boots came apart. Their customer service is non existent too.
Spooner wrote:
Did you actually contact them? I find your comments to be quite different from my experience. Full disclosure, I do work for the main distributor for them but I have had them take very good care of warranty issues for 10 years now.
Mr Happy wrote:
Yep, a couple of times over the course of three months. I wouldn't have been concerned by it had they actually done something about it when I contacted them stating what had happened. Basically they ignored me, so I'm not a very happy customer.
The difference is we live on different continents and I had to deal with the Italian side of the company.
Gina, in Italy, has been awesome. I've been wearing Astars exclusively for about 4 years. I've had nothing but EXCELLENT "wear-n-tear".
I ripped a start from Egypt and I was happy about that.
Posts: 205
Joined: 10/9/2015
Location: GBR
TeamGreen wrote:
Gina, in Italy, has been awesome. I've been wearing Astars exclusively for about 4 years. I've had nothing but EXCELLENT "wear-n-tear".
Good for you, although you've had to contact them about products made in the last 4 years. As someone else said, the products they'd bought weren't great. The boots I'd bought weren't great. I'm an average consumer and they blatantly didn't care about me so I've moved back to other brands, however I'm not going to be complementary.
Had they made an effort to at least return my contact, and do something, I wouldn't really mind. What really pissed me off was being ignored.
Posts: 21287
Joined: 11/25/2008
Location: Thru-out, CA USA
Mr Happy wrote:
Yep, a couple of times over the course of three months. I wouldn't have been concerned by it had they actually done something about it when I contacted them stating what had happened. Basically they ignored me, so I'm not a very happy customer.
The difference is we live on different continents and I had to deal with the Italian side of the company.TeamGreen wrote:
Gina, in Italy, has been awesome. I've been wearing Astars exclusively for about 4 years. I've had nothing but EXCELLENT "wear-n-tear".
Mr Happy wrote:
Good for you, although you've had to contact them about products made in the last 4 years. As someone else said, the products they'd bought weren't great. The boots I'd bought weren't great. I'm an average consumer and they blatantly didn't care about me so I've moved back to other brands, however I'm not going to be complementary.
Had they made an effort to at least return my contact, and do something, I wouldn't really mind. What really pissed me off was being ignored.
When you ride thousands of miles in The Baja every year, you do need some new boots now and then. Also, I ride plenty of hours on the track...as seen around h'yar. So...yes...over 4 years I've been thru -4- sets of Astars. The 1st set are still in use by a friend (Along with my old 450SXF).
To the broader point: I'd contact them in Italy, again. They are good peeps.
I ripped a start from Egypt and I was happy about that.
Posts: 466
Joined: 12/2/2016
Location: SWE
Mr Happy wrote:
I've had three pairs of Alpinestars boots, one MX and two road, and they've fallen apart very quickly. One pair of road boots the zip jumped teeth and started splitting after a month of being used every day. MX boots lasted about 20 hours before the stitching up the back of the boots came apart. Their customer service is non existent too.
Spooner wrote:
Did you actually contact them? I find your comments to be quite different from my experience. Full disclosure, I do work for the main distributor for them but I have had them take very good care of warranty issues for 10 years now.
I have a similar experience to you Mr Happy.
My tech 7's fell apart after 20hrs. I went to the shop I bought them from, who told me to contact alpinestars directly, which I did, they told me to contact the distributor, who told me to contact the shop again.
In the end I still have a useless pair of boots and went and bought another brand, and I wore alpinestars from the age of 11 till 30, with no problems of quality. After taking 6years off from riding, alpinestars was much first choice. I doubt I will ever buy another pair.
Posts: 205
Joined: 10/9/2015
Location: GBR
TeamGreen wrote:
When you ride thousands of miles in The Baja every year, you do need some new boots now and then. Also, I ride plenty of hours on the track...as seen around h'yar. So...yes...over 4 years I've been thru -4- sets of Astars. The 1st set are still in use by a friend (Along with my old 450SXF).
To the broader point: I'd contact them in Italy, again. They are good peeps.
Again, good for you. I spend a number of months of the year on a ship, away from my home and family, so any chance I get to ride is not taken for granted and I'd like my gear to hold up.
I am not going to contact anyone. The company had a chance to make things right over 12 months ago after I had contacted them a number of times. To echo Badd127, I doubt I will ever buy another pair.
Posts: 265
Joined: 2/2/2017
Location: Atlanta, GA USA
I have reached out to Alpinestars twice in the last couple of years to get help with my Tech 8 RS boots. They have taken care of me quickly and professionally both times.
Posts: 16902
Joined: 1/6/2011
Location: Ogden, UT USA
Edited Date/Time:
hate my Tech 10's, but i'm too cheap to buy new ones. the cost of moto boots is ri-God-damn-diculous. not only that but moto boots are not made to be water resistant (more like water sponges, fuckin' suck), so i do my offroad rides with stream crossings and end up with wet feet all damn day.
Posts: 189
Joined: 7/17/2012
Location: Shoreline, WA USA
Posts: 9291
Joined: 1/4/2014
Location: FIN
All i've seen is knock off Sidi boots. I have never seen knock off Astars boots.
'
Gear is an whole other part. You can get TLD, Fox, Fasthouse knock off gear easily through Aliexpress. 70 bucks for pants and a jersey, probably cheaper if you go through alibaba and get 5-10 sets. I wouldn't recommend it, support the brands that support the sport.
Posts: 64
Joined: 1/23/2017
Location: Springdale, AR USA
I've had a pair of Tech 10's for like almost 10 years and I have no issues other than expected wear and tear. I don't even take that good of care of them to be honest. I wash them when I wash my bike and throw them in the back of my garage till next time.
2004 Honda CRF450R
Posts: 466
Joined: 12/2/2016
Location: SWE
Bfogg217 wrote:
I've had a pair of Tech 10's for like almost 10 years and I have no issues other than expected wear and tear. I don't even take that good of care of them to be honest. I wash them when I wash my bike and throw them in the back of my garage till next time.
That's because 10 years ago alpinestars still had some level of quality.
Like I said I ran a stars for nearly 20 years, without issue, but the latest boots don't seem to hold up.
Posts: 93
Joined: 4/5/2011
Location: Hubertus, WI USA
My current model tech 10s are falling apart and to the point I don't think they are worth using anymore, 11.7 hours of riding on them. I know this because I bought them when I bought the bike and that's all it has on it. I've reached out to costumer service 3 times and no response back.
Posts: 1629
Joined: 9/29/2016
Location: TN, USA
Mr Happy wrote:
I've had three pairs of Alpinestars boots, one MX and two road, and they've fallen apart very quickly. One pair of road boots the zip jumped teeth and started splitting after a month of being used every day. MX boots lasted about 20 hours before the stitching up the back of the boots came apart. Their customer service is non existent too.
I've got to disagree completely. I currently own Alpinestars Tech 8RS's, Tech 10s, 2 Street Jackets, 2 Street gloves, and 2 full sets of Techstar MX gear. Alpinestars makes great products. I also like the quality of their casual apparel.
Earlier this year I had two parts of my Tech 8s broken off and both toe caps were also gone. For $30 Ryan Mizushima @ Astars had them repaired and shipped back to me within two weeks. Awesome customer service.
I can understand having brand preferences, I have them too, but to make statements like that about a reputable company that makes great products and is heavily supportive of our sport is wrong.
Posts: 1629
Joined: 9/29/2016
Location: TN, USA
wisconsinracer24 wrote:
My current model tech 10s are falling apart and to the point I don't think they are worth using anymore, 11.7 hours of riding on them. I know this because I bought them when I bought the bike and that's all it has on it. I've reached out to costumer service 3 times and no response back.
customer.us4@alpinestars.com
Ryan always responded to me with a day or two.
Posts: 9291
Joined: 1/4/2014
Location: FIN
Edited Date/Time:
Mr Happy wrote:
I've had three pairs of Alpinestars boots, one MX and two road, and they've fallen apart very quickly. One pair of road boots the zip jumped teeth and started splitting after a month of being used every day. MX boots lasted about 20 hours before the stitching up the back of the boots came apart. Their customer service is non existent too.
twotwosix wrote:
I've got to disagree completely. I currently own Alpinestars Tech 8RS's, Tech 10s, 2 Street Jackets, 2 Street gloves, and 2 full sets of Techstar MX gear. Alpinestars makes great products. I also like the quality of their casual apparel.
Earlier this year I had two parts of my Tech 8s broken off and both toe caps were also gone. For $30 Ryan Mizushima @ Astars had them repaired and shipped back to me within two weeks. Awesome customer service.
I can understand having brand preferences, I have them too, but to make statements like that about a reputable company that makes great products and is heavily supportive of our sport is wrong.
I've had very good experiences with Alpinestars. I've had 6 pairs of Tech 10s(2 from the first gen and 4 from the recent gen) through the years and i had 2 sets of 2017 gear last year(Techstar and Racer). I got 2 sets of 2018 Racer gear a few weeks ago, i will get one set of the 2018 Techair gear. And i'm looking at starting riding track days with a Yamaha R6R, i've already ordered Alpinestars race gloves and i'll get a race suit from them too.
Posts: 11130
Joined: 6/5/2015
Location: TX, USA
Mr Happy wrote:
Good for you, although you've had to contact them about products made in the last 4 years. As someone else said, the products they'd bought weren't great. The boots I'd bought weren't great. I'm an average consumer and they blatantly didn't care about me so I've moved back to other brands, however I'm not going to be complementary.
Had they made an effort to at least return my contact, and do something, I wouldn't really mind. What really pissed me off was being ignored.TeamGreen wrote:
When you ride thousands of miles in The Baja every year, you do need some new boots now and then. Also, I ride plenty of hours on the track...as seen around h'yar. So...yes...over 4 years I've been thru -4- sets of Astars. The 1st set are still in use by a friend (Along with my old 450SXF).
To the broader point: I'd contact them in Italy, again. They are good peeps.
Mr Happy wrote:
Again, good for you. I spend a number of months of the year on a ship, away from my home and family, so any chance I get to ride is not taken for granted and I'd like my gear to hold up.
I am not going to contact anyone. The company had a chance to make things right over 12 months ago after I had contacted them a number of times. To echo Badd127, I doubt I will ever buy another pair.
You not very Mr Happy are you?
I’ve had nothing but Astars that lasted forever and handed down to others.
Are you guys buying these?
Posts: 1391
Joined: 4/4/2015
Location: GBR
Motofinne wrote:
All i've seen is knock off Sidi boots. I have never seen knock off Astars boots.
'
Gear is an whole other part. You can get TLD, Fox, Fasthouse knock off gear easily through Aliexpress. 70 bucks for pants and a jersey, probably cheaper if you go through alibaba and get 5-10 sets. I wouldn't recommend it, support the brands that support the sport.
The are Fake Tech 8s, now with the 'A-star' Logo removed from the shin. I can no longer see the Tech 10s, but I see some Tech3s & Tech6s on there.
http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Leather-racing-motocross-boot-New-Style_50033301020.html?spm=a2700.7724838.2017115.174.4ca5be5awLLt19
The above may be fact or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting. I am not sure, you have no chance.
Posts: 9291
Joined: 1/4/2014
Location: FIN
Motofinne wrote:
All i've seen is knock off Sidi boots. I have never seen knock off Astars boots.
'
Gear is an whole other part. You can get TLD, Fox, Fasthouse knock off gear easily through Aliexpress. 70 bucks for pants and a jersey, probably cheaper if you go through alibaba and get 5-10 sets. I wouldn't recommend it, support the brands that support the sport.Thisusernameisavailable wrote:
The are Fake Tech 8s, now with the 'A-star' Logo removed from the shin. I can no longer see the Tech 10s, but I see some Tech3s & Tech6s on there.
http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Leather-racing-motocross-boot-New-Style_50033301020.html?spm=a2700.7724838.2017115.174.4ca5be5awLLt19
It would be interesting to see some of those in real life. I know that there are lots of knock off Alpinestars GP Pro road racing gloves out there. I think a British motorcycle magazine did a comparison on the real gloves and the Chinese versions and the difference was big, but they looked similar.
Posts: 1034
Joined: 9/1/2012
Location: Not California, CA USA
I love how some of you guys are actually telling Mr. Happy he's doing something "wrong" by sharing HIS experience, which, by the way, is contrary to your experience/ opinion with Alpinestars.
You think he's bashing your "beloved" brand all the while you're swinging from Alpinestars' hairy Italian nuts.
Even funnier is how people are defending their customer service when in reality, if their boots were any good, you wouldn't need to contact their customer service.
