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you wear a $700 helmet, but you bought FRANK THOMAS leathers...

To the OP, your response should have been "yeah, but your folks shelled out a few hundred grand to feed and clothe your ass for 18 years and now you work behind the counter at Cycle Gear..."
 
daaaaaammmmm! sorry CG dude! shoulda just said, "paper or plastic?" or "thanks for shopping at CG!"
 
what's more retardederer? wearing a FT suit or paying $700 for a helmet? i'd go with the latter
 
salesguy sounds like a major douchebag...

Making a suggestion is one thing, the laugh under his breath shit is weak...

for what its worth, I have crashed twice going 80+ in a teknic 2piece, and they are still in good shape...

Paid $350 for them (although it was "last years model") off of newenough, so I think retail would have been $700
 
jdhu said:
.

for what its worth, I have crashed twice going 80+ in a teknic 2piece, and they are still in good shape...
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i crashed twice going about 50mph in a $250 SHIFT supermoto suit and it's still good.
 
i bet if Rossi or Spies or Hayden or whoever you follow wore FT, a lot more you would be saying how great FT is and would want a set of your own for $370...yeah uh huh!
 
i wouldn't mind owning FT gear and i would feel confident wearing it as well.
but if someone were to offer me free gear of my choosing i would prolly get dianese.
 
all I can say is I had on a Dainese Monza jacket, P103 Pants and a G back protector when I hit the guard rail somewear in the area of 50-75mph and I survived. Thanks for the Gear MOM!!!!:thumbup
that being said, I wont need any gear for a long time.:( Fuxord Wrist:( the AlpineStars GP pluss gloves ripped right of my hand.:wtf
 
mikooldaddy said:
and what's wrong with HJC!??? here we go again....
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nothing, and have a good laugh here, your hjc dot and snell approved, will protect your head just as well as the x-11. the x-11 sounds faster, but that is all marketing and starbucks status.

i have a few shoei, x1k and tzr, an hjc, a bieffe x-cross, and now a nolan. of them all, they are all all snell and dot. the hjc is the lightest. i have the hjc because an x left the x1k shoei bitch lid med i had at a store, losing it, and then she replaced it with an hjc. i would have told her not to bother at the time as i was stuck on the belief there were only 2 helmet acceptable to wear, shoei or arai. well the hjc, is a on par with them all in the protection dept and looks and feels exactly like an arai. of all the helmets i have in the 300 - 500 price range, the nolan i just got is the fits my head the best and feels the most comfortable, though i fear i will be shunned at starbucks now, but wtf, i already get enough ducati bashing from those damned sbrs.

what is the most important thing is how it fits your head shape, not the name brand on it! this is also true of leathers as well, as the human models used in design and creation are for one type of person relative to build and shape.

okay, now to the op and frank thomas. i have a pair of FT pants i got 10 years back. the leather is very thick and they have the same standard CE protection in them. i took several lowside slides in them and they protected me every time and the pants looked fine after. my only comment on them was the stitch work, parts came undone, like the bottom trim and the velco waist strap. the lining also went out, but was replaced under the 2 year warranty all FT's had at the time. the pants alone ran me 300, and that was 10 years back, that would be what, 420 now, so a whole suit for 370 would make me worry a bit, unless it was some sort of closeout. i also have a set of FT textiles for rain. these are the original made in england ones, before they outsourced to china. they are very well made, but again, the whole suit cost me about 450, and that is textiles.

dainese, i have two full 2 piece suits, one summer, one winter. the summer is leather upper, air textile lower. the main diffence is the jackets, one is a new pelle monza and is light weight with removable lining, you cannot get the sytle anymore, i am glad i got it , and the other the one i got 7 years back and is heavy and you cannot remove the lining. pants are either pucked with perferation leather or drake air textile with standard armour. also have dainese boots as well and my riding outfit head to toe runs about $2k. my cats say i am worth it and i better return in one piece to fill their bowls and properly serve them. i have high and lowsided in one of my dainese jackets and it looks like new still. i did not get a single scratch. my decision to go with dainese was not based on brand name, i wish they did not have that on them at all, well i do like the demon, i mean cat, logo; it was based on fit and quality. after 7 years and about 100k miles, my dainese jacket has not lost a single stitch.

dainese fits me the best. maybe it is because of my euro origins and ancestry and the models they used when creating them. abslolute perfect tight fit. again this is the most important thing! FT does not fit me as well.

i was recently going to get a pair of alpine stars cargo textiles to wear around town but i discovered that they, like all of their new stuff, is made in china and i am boycotting chinese goods because of their human and animal rights violations; not for any prejudice or base ethnocentric reasons, so don't read that the wrong way.

gloves, i have 2 pairs of frank thomas and one pair of dainese. the FT match my bike or are waterproof, the daisese are my summer pair.

the cashier was fucking with you, well because you got a helmet that is sort of a look at me status symbol that gives the same protection as an hjc, helmets are uniformly tested to meet snell and dot ratings, leathers are not!, but the cheapest leathers in the store. not that that should matter, if it fits you best and offers great protection, that is better than any brand name.

one should only laugh at the persons who get those helmets and then ride around in jeans and tennis shoes.:twofinger

i will repeat: what is the most important thing is how it fits your head shape, not the name brand on it! this is also true of leathers as well, as the models used are for one type of person relative to build and shape.

the only i would say about FT, is carefully examine the stitch work periodically. you have a 2 year warranty on those, take them back if
you got a bad pair. FT quality control in recent years is not as good as when they were solely based in england. otherwise, they should be fine.
 
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gOtChA_RC-51 said:
I have no insight on the durability or reliability of Frank Thomas leathers, but one thing I do know is that I think Frank Thomas fuked up by naming his product "Frank Thomas".......
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I have a Frank Thomas jacket I haven't tested its durability in any way.
A huge baseball fan friend of mine laughed about the irony of my protective gear having the same name as somebody known as "The Big Hurt."
 
I have a ft onepiece that has seen alot of pavement and is still holding strong( i dont wear it anymore because its god awful ugly) I lowsided at stockton one time in my a stars track pants and theres a big ass hole now... wear what you want... if it fails, try another brand, then if that one fails try another, and another... dont let someone "peer pressure" you into doing something you dont deem neccessary.
 
my friend crashed hard at laguna turn 5 and buttonwillow with FT. it is holding up well! some stitches came apart but he has no roadburns and still wears them!
 
My Frank Thomas 1-piece has held up fine. The pads sure have helped, particularly when I landed on my shoulder last month. Lots of rash on it now, still no holes or lost seams. My wrecks have all been low speed though so far. I would still feel comfortable wearing this suit on any other bike or track.
 
I'd rather have to replace a FT suit 'cause I crashed than replace an A* suit 'cause I crashed. :2cents

..
 
mikooldaddy said:
thanks for all the feedback especially from the vets, but like one of the previous replies said, i'm on a budget. I think its great that frank thomas can put a product out there for those of us who can't drop a grand on leathers. but they should do the job right? they should be able to meet the requirement for a trackday right? they will provide adequate if not equal protection for my ass if I go asphalt surfing right?
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I didn't intend to imply anything bad about FT leathers. I had a chance to look at a set today; they seem like a solid product, especially given the price.

My point was, most of the people buying Shoei X-Eleven helmets are buying them because they are the latest and greatest. I'm sure it's an amazing helmet, but I have a hard time believing that it provides twice the protection and comfort of a $300 helmet.

The guy was probably chuckling at the disparity between an inexpensive leather suit and an expensive helmet. I understand where he's coming from... It's kind of like someone putting a $3000 set of rims on 98 civic.

Personally, I'd put my money into the leather. A good set of leathers will last you several crashes. An expensive helmet will crack the same as a cheap one.
 
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To the OP, was this "unmentionable" shop in Fairfield or Pacheco (Concord)? I know of a guy who'd do that at the Concord store, but none at Fairfield.

What I say of FT: It's an economic brand. You'll get decent protection at a decent price, but if you want comfort, go with something else.
 
hey Var, whats more Retarded. the op, or you saying retardeder???? i vote for the latter

and just my :twocents: , hjc fits me like shit. lots of wind noise, and the visor seems to plit open at higher speeds. shoei for my head, and joe rocket for my body (shameless plug for my sponsor!!) thanks kelly dodds!!!
 
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