Knock-off Chinese boots?

tempura
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JP
11/29/2017 10:49pm
Here's a picture of the ones I've seen being sold locally. I can't tell the difference between these and the real thing. Perhaps they are the real deal?..


tempura
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JP
11/29/2017 10:54pm Edited Date/Time 11/29/2017 10:56pm
tempura wrote:
100% race craft goggles
These are the ones awash on the market
1-9 pieces= $9 each
https://m.alibaba.com/product/60580400376/100-Brand-Racecraft-Motorcycl…
Same exact goggles as the new FLOW VISION company, guess I should’ve came out with my own goggles longer ago before bunch others did lol
Well,flow vision are getting them for $7.50 a piece or less, and listing them for $56.00
Enter the market and sell them for $40!lol
nytsmaC
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Frig Off CA
11/29/2017 11:34pm Edited Date/Time 11/29/2017 11:35pm
Has anyone ever had to contact Gaerne customer support? Or are their boots that damn good?

Just curious. I switched from Alpinestars when I started hearing quality concerns online and found out they moved production from Italy to Croatia. I never had any issues with Astars boots but mine were made in Italy by hairy nutted Italians. I figured for the price of them they should be. My SG12’s have held up great, the memory foam in the ankle wore out before the soles.

The Shop

tempura
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11/29/2017 11:52pm
It's true, they are made in Croatia now.
Croatia is just a "stones throw" from Italy, across the Adriatic Sea.
You're right, they don't hold up like they used to, but I'm not sure that has anything to do with them now being made by Croatian hands. More likely lesser quality materials in a bid to cut costs (as the move to Croatia probably was).
nytsmaC
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Frig Off CA
11/29/2017 11:59pm
tempura wrote:
It's true, they are made in Croatia now. Croatia is just a "stones throw" from Italy, across the Adriatic Sea. You're right, they don't hold up...
It's true, they are made in Croatia now.
Croatia is just a "stones throw" from Italy, across the Adriatic Sea.
You're right, they don't hold up like they used to, but I'm not sure that has anything to do with them now being made by Croatian hands. More likely lesser quality materials in a bid to cut costs (as the move to Croatia probably was).
Yeah, I thought Croatia was some shit hole 3rd world country until I saw an episode of House Hunters and realized I couldn’t afford to live there!

At any rate I switched to Gaerne and this thread got me thinking, I’ve never seen anyone post about having any issues with Gaerne boots or interactions with customer service. It seems their product is so good they don’t even need a customer service department. But maybe I missed something.
motomike894
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1486
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9/6/2009
Location
Waterloo, IN US
11/30/2017 3:21am
tempura wrote:
100% race craft goggles
These are the ones awash on the market
1-9 pieces= $9 each
https://m.alibaba.com/product/60580400376/100-Brand-Racecraft-Motorcycl…
Same exact goggles as the new FLOW VISION company, guess I should’ve came out with my own goggles longer ago before bunch others did lol
tempura wrote:
Well,flow vision are getting them for $7.50 a piece or less, and listing them for $56.00
Enter the market and sell them for $40!lol
It’s still tempting lol and yeah you can get stuff made so cheap lol
G-DUB
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AF
11/30/2017 4:40am
Donovan759 wrote:
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...
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
ive had my tech 6's for about 10 years now.. looking a little bit tatty but still fine. haha only thing is now to me they look so outdated, i wouldn't mind some instincts. anyone rate them or shall i avoid?
twotwosix
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TN US
11/30/2017 7:33am
nytsmaC wrote:
Has anyone ever had to contact Gaerne customer support? Or are their boots that damn good? Just curious. I switched from Alpinestars when I started hearing...
Has anyone ever had to contact Gaerne customer support? Or are their boots that damn good?

Just curious. I switched from Alpinestars when I started hearing quality concerns online and found out they moved production from Italy to Croatia. I never had any issues with Astars boots but mine were made in Italy by hairy nutted Italians. I figured for the price of them they should be. My SG12’s have held up great, the memory foam in the ankle wore out before the soles.
Yes, sent a set to them in CA about 8 years ago to be resoled. Came out great.
tek14
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Location
Vantaa FI
11/30/2017 8:12am
tempura wrote:
100% race craft goggles
These are the ones awash on the market
1-9 pieces= $9 each
https://m.alibaba.com/product/60580400376/100-Brand-Racecraft-Motorcycl…
Same exact goggles as the new FLOW VISION company, guess I should’ve came out with my own goggles longer ago before bunch others did lol
tempura wrote:
Well,flow vision are getting them for $7.50 a piece or less, and listing them for $56.00
Enter the market and sell them for $40!lol
Well how much you think 100% or Oakley are paying for these same companies to build theirs?
419250f
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142
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Location
NY US
11/30/2017 8:20am
My Tech 8 RS split open after about 20 hrs, called them and they took care of it for free.
Have 50 hrs now, and the ankle support is just not there anymore so I just purchased another pair
this week.
Love the boots, but it is disappointing they can't stitch them together without issues anymore.
Would switch to SG12's but they just don't fit my foot and Sidi's flex too much.
I like a ski boot feel.
11/30/2017 10:37am
419250f wrote:
My Tech 8 RS split open after about 20 hrs, called them and they took care of it for free. Have 50 hrs now, and the...
My Tech 8 RS split open after about 20 hrs, called them and they took care of it for free.
Have 50 hrs now, and the ankle support is just not there anymore so I just purchased another pair
this week.
Love the boots, but it is disappointing they can't stitch them together without issues anymore.
Would switch to SG12's but they just don't fit my foot and Sidi's flex too much.
I like a ski boot feel.
If you like the ski boot feel, you may like the Forma boots.
tempura
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Location
JP
11/30/2017 4:24pm
Gaerne offers a re-sole service here, but so does alpinestars.
Here, if you have a premature issue, you're on your own it seems.
I know a guy who's the Gaerne distributor in my area. When we meet at the track, he's always shitting on my tech 10's and telling me I should buy some sg12's, as they are so much better...
Then early this year at Honda's HSR track, he comes up short and cases..snaps his ankle in his sg12's.. I was very tempted to say "shoulda been in tech 10's bud", but would've been inappropriate.
He's still not back on the bike, he's mid 50's and healing is slow.
The moral of that story is, there's no magic boot, and I choose protection over longevity.
Joko
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Cromwell, CT US
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11/30/2017 8:15pm
tempura wrote:
Gaerne offers a re-sole service here, but so does alpinestars. Here, if you have a premature issue, you're on your own it seems. I know a...
Gaerne offers a re-sole service here, but so does alpinestars.
Here, if you have a premature issue, you're on your own it seems.
I know a guy who's the Gaerne distributor in my area. When we meet at the track, he's always shitting on my tech 10's and telling me I should buy some sg12's, as they are so much better...
Then early this year at Honda's HSR track, he comes up short and cases..snaps his ankle in his sg12's.. I was very tempted to say "shoulda been in tech 10's bud", but would've been inappropriate.
He's still not back on the bike, he's mid 50's and healing is slow.
The moral of that story is, there's no magic boot, and I choose protection over longevity.
Anklesavers.com
NHtoWA421
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Bremerton, WA US
11/30/2017 9:22pm
419250f wrote:
My Tech 8 RS split open after about 20 hrs, called them and they took care of it for free. Have 50 hrs now, and the...
My Tech 8 RS split open after about 20 hrs, called them and they took care of it for free.
Have 50 hrs now, and the ankle support is just not there anymore so I just purchased another pair
this week.
Love the boots, but it is disappointing they can't stitch them together without issues anymore.
Would switch to SG12's but they just don't fit my foot and Sidi's flex too much.
I like a ski boot feel.
Sheriff245 wrote:
If you like the ski boot feel, you may like the Forma boots.
I love my formas. Also superior life to any astars I have owned. Soles hold up to my raptors just fine Smile
12/1/2017 1:03am
Badd127 wrote:
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...
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.
A bit off topic but I have to chime in on this one as I work for an importer myself, not working with Alpinestars but I doubt their policies are much different from other brands.
In these cases you should always contact the dealer you bought the product from first. They should then contact the place they bought it from, usually the importer, who then can either give a new product straight away if it's a clear case or check with the company making the product whether it will be replaced or not.
So in this case you've done the right thing by going back to place you bought the product from, but they haven't done their job by sending you away.
Canadad
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CA
12/1/2017 6:56am
tempura wrote:
Here's a picture of the ones I've seen being sold locally. I can't tell the difference between these and the real thing. Perhaps they are the...
Here's a picture of the ones I've seen being sold locally. I can't tell the difference between these and the real thing. Perhaps they are the real deal?..


Nothing pisses me off more than the cost of goggles, less than $10 to produce (likely less than $5) and a $100+ price tag....for injected plastic, foam and elastic.......a healthy margin!! Hopefully an Alias type company can enter the market and bring some reality to the pricing.
Brtp4
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Bend, OR US
12/1/2017 9:04am
Tech 10 and Tech 8 are made in Croatia. Tech 7 and Tech 5 are made in Thailand. Tech 3 is either China or Vietnam, I forget.

BP
Vince_192
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SI
12/1/2017 2:18pm Edited Date/Time 12/1/2017 2:32pm
Brtp4 wrote:
Tech 10 and Tech 8 are made in Croatia. Tech 7 and Tech 5 are made in Thailand. Tech 3 is either China or Vietnam, I...
Tech 10 and Tech 8 are made in Croatia. Tech 7 and Tech 5 are made in Thailand. Tech 3 is either China or Vietnam, I forget.

BP
People concerned about the quality of high-end Alpinestars boots should know that the finishing production is done in Croatia since the early 2000's..

The "high-end" Alpinestars boots are put together (sewn and glued) here by Boxmark (the company is actually one of the largest leather manufacturers and processors for the automotive industry - they do a ton of stuff for Audi/VW/Porsche/BMW/Mercedes-AMG and others).

They started only as a leather supplier for Alpinestars back in the early days - but got involved in the final assembly of products since the early 2000's (they did the Tech 6 from day one, the Tech 8 have been made here since 2004/05 - same goes for the Tech 10, also a majority of road boots is produced/put together here).
There have been periods in the meantime where Alpinestars simultaneously produced some of those boots in-house (in Italy) - but the majority has been done by Boxmark.

The leather parts of the boots are actually the only parts that are truly "made in Croatia" by Boxmark, while the PU,plastic and other parts are being supplied by Alpinestars and various suppliers.


Brtp4
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Bend, OR US
12/1/2017 2:34pm
Vince_192 wrote:
People concerned about the quality of high-end Alpinestars boots should know that the finishing production is done in Croatia since the early 2000's.. The "high-end" Alpinestars...
People concerned about the quality of high-end Alpinestars boots should know that the finishing production is done in Croatia since the early 2000's..

The "high-end" Alpinestars boots are put together (sewn and glued) here by Boxmark (the company is actually one of the largest leather manufacturers and processors for the automotive industry - they do a ton of stuff for Audi/VW/Porsche/BMW/Mercedes-AMG and others).

They started only as a leather supplier for Alpinestars back in the early days - but got involved in the final assembly of products since the early 2000's (they did the Tech 6 from day one, the Tech 8 have been made here since 2004/05 - same goes for the Tech 10, also a majority of road boots is produced/put together here).
There have been periods in the meantime where Alpinestars simultaneously produced some of those boots in-house (in Italy) - but the majority has been done by Boxmark.

The leather parts of the boots are actually the only parts that are truly "made in Croatia" by Boxmark, while the PU,plastic and other parts are being supplied by Alpinestars and various suppliers.


That is good info, thanks.

IMO production in East Europe, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia etc. is generally the same quality as Italy, which is to say excellent. Still, quality issues based on the design or the spec'ing can arise. Example, the T10 went through several iterations for the sole compound.

BP
twotwosix
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12/18/2017 9:59am Edited Date/Time 12/18/2017 12:22pm
These Chinese boots are interesting.
DTR830
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12/18/2017 10:24am
twotwosix wrote:
These Chinese boots are interesting.
text me pics 570-606-7687
419250f
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NY US
12/18/2017 10:25am
419250f wrote:
My Tech 8 RS split open after about 20 hrs, called them and they took care of it for free. Have 50 hrs now, and the...
My Tech 8 RS split open after about 20 hrs, called them and they took care of it for free.
Have 50 hrs now, and the ankle support is just not there anymore so I just purchased another pair
this week.
Love the boots, but it is disappointing they can't stitch them together without issues anymore.
Would switch to SG12's but they just don't fit my foot and Sidi's flex too much.
I like a ski boot feel.
Sheriff245 wrote:
If you like the ski boot feel, you may like the Forma boots.
Thanks for the info, appreciate it.
CrGuy2T
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12/18/2017 11:17am Edited Date/Time 12/18/2017 11:20am
Mr Happy wrote:
They couldn't be much worse than the crap Alpinestars produces themselves.
Have to agree. I had a set of tech 8 lights and the mid sole fell off after 5 rides. Sent pics and stuff to a stars they wouldnt do anything without a receipt. clearly the boots still looked new as the service rep. They fit good so I threw everything else away. I will not buy another pair.

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