Dainese— has the quality plummeted?

[Salted_Peanut]

I was a Dainese aficionado. It was my Renaissance art—pretty pricey but striking and meticulously made. However, has Dainese’s contemporary art gone wrong?

Dainese textiles are among the most expensive, yet they’re among the least protective tested by MotoCAP. The latest airbag-equipped race suits have less airbag coverage than before. Has Dainese switched to cheaper materials? Their expensive gloves often have cheap synthetic suede (mamma mia!) for the palms, with predictably poor protection according to MotoCAP test results.

Has Dainese gone from artist to con artist?

[podman]

The subject does crop up now and again..

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

I had a poor experience with a Dainese jacket and 1 piece suit, IMHO the price hasnt reflected the quality for many years now.

[trickywoo]

If you go on the Sportsbikeshop website its impossible to buy a AAA rated Dainese jacket of any kind.

For comparison there are 18 AAA jacket options from RST.

Speaks for itself really.

[Salted_Peanut]

As customers like me drift away, how long will Dainese get away with increasingly cheap materials? I wonder if the company is trying to maximise short-term profits before its private equity owner sells it.

I’d forgotten the earlier discussion, but I was glove-hunting recently and shocked by the crap suede Dainese now uses for the palms on so many gloves. On a positive note, the latest Full Metal 7 gloves have been upgraded to CE Level 2. Unfortunately, Dainese’s less-crazy-priced gloves seem to have subpar protection. Alpinestars, Five, Oxford, Lindstrands, etc., all have Level 2 gloves in their ranges for less money than the Full Metal 7.

trickywoo said:

If you go on the Sportsbikeshop website its impossible to buy a AAA rated Dainese jacket of any kind.

For comparison there are 18 AAA jacket options from RST.

Speaks for itself really.

I spotted it, too. Even their top-end race suits have only an AA rating. Bonkers!

[MesoForm]

According to Wiki "the Dainese Group was acquired for €130 million by Investcorp in 2014", which in my experience often leads to a drop in quality as they chase profit to get a return on the investment.

[TheInternet]

Trying to find out their safety ratings or what materials are used is difficult and it would be easy to think they are a style over substance brand. My 5yr old textiles are doing well, but I'll be looking elsewhere next time (unless it's the only thing that fits well again).

[Mark_S1000RR_2010]

I’ve had 3 items of Dainese over the years. Every zip on every jacket has broken off at some point.

[Biker 1]

I've got a Dainese summer mesh jacket I bought around 10 years ago. I don't use it much, but it is very robust, zips are decent quality & fabric seems pretty good. I think it was about £200 at the time & is still going strong. Haven't tried any of their other stuff since, but I can well believe quality has plummeted just reading the above. Why do the vulture investors seem to wreck almost every decent company??

[HybridTheory]

I often look on vinted for bits and was delighted to see someone local to me selling a pair of winter dainese gloves but then shocked they had zero protection may aswell have been ski gloves

[Salted_Peanut]

LinkedIn suggests that Dainese’s CEO and Chair, Cristiano Silei, just left the company. Had he been reading this thread?

MesoForm said:

According to Wiki "the Dainese Group was acquired for €130 million by Investcorp in 2014", which in my experience often leads to a drop in quality as they chase profit to get a return on the investment.

Indeed, Dainese’s private equity ownership changes appear to be associated with the brand's use of ever-cheaper materials. In 2022, Investcorp sold Dainese to the Carlyle Group. Product quality often seems to tumble even more when a company is sold from one PE firm to another. Sadly, it appears to be a downward spiral, as previously repeat customers gradually switch to better-quality brands.

[Exasperated]

I guess some of it depends on what you buy. I have a CustomWorks suit, which is a few years old and the quality is absolutely top-notch. On the flipside, I've had gloves and a textile jacket which left a lot to be desired.

[Salted_Peanut]

Has RST quality increased, unlike Dainese? I tried an RST base layer on spec and was surprised at how great the quality was—infinitely better than the old RST. The British brand comes out well in MotoCAP tests, too.

Exasperated said:

I guess some of it depends on what you buy. I have a CustomWorks suit, which is a few years old and the quality is absolutely top-notch. On the flipside, I've had gloves and a textile jacket which left a lot to be desired.

I would expect Dainese Custom Works to be of high quality! However, sadly, your experience with Dainese textiles and gloves matches their poor results in MotoCAP tests.

[Rubin215]

The last place I worked at as an instructor was a prestige dealership who also stocked Dainese.

All the instructors wore Dainese kit, not because it was any good but because we had the perk of being allowed to buy it at half of what the business paid for it.

This not only kept the order book ticking over nicely every quarter, but also was a great advert for the brand as all the students saw the instructors wearing it so assumed it was the best of kit and went straight into the showroom after passing their test to get their 5% loyalty discount (£25 off a £500 jacket that actually cost the business £125).

In actual fact, it was pretty rubbish; badly put together, not particularly waterproof and designed to fit a 12 stone Italian gentleman, not a 15 stone Scottish chubster; the Spada jackets in the training centre were better made.

That was the best part of 15 years ago, I haven't bought Dainese since.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

podman said:

The subject does crop up now and again..

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

I had a poor experience with a Dainese jacket and 1 piece suit, IMHO the price hasnt reflected the quality for many years now.

When I first passed my big bike thingy I returned a jacket that wetted out in one rain fall. Refunded.

I then bought a lightly used (I.e. as new) Dainese Goretex whatever its called. Again wetted out very quickly.

I still like my Dainese leather pants and boots but I wouldn't touch the brand with a barge pole now.

[Condi]

Salted_Peanut said:

Has RST quality increased, unlike Dainese? I tried an RST base layer on spec and was surprised at how great the quality was—infinitely better than the old RST. The British brand comes out well in MotoCAP tests, too.

10/15 years ago RST stuff was crap with lots of reports of seams failing during an accident. Last year I bought RST jeans and leather jacket and have been really impressed with the quality, especially given the price point vs other brands.

[Triaguar]

Salted_Peanut said:

Has RST quality increased, unlike Dainese? I tried an RST base layer on spec and was surprised at how great the quality was—infinitely better than the old RST. The British brand comes out well in MotoCAP tests, too.

Exasperated said:

I guess some of it depends on what you buy. I have a CustomWorks suit, which is a few years old and the quality is absolutely top-notch. On the flipside, I've had gloves and a textile jacket which left a lot to be desired.

I would expect Dainese Custom Works to be of high quality! However, sadly, your experience with Dainese textiles and gloves matches their poor results in MotoCAP tests.

Opinions eh! I was an early adopter of RST stuff and feel the quality has plummeted from the early stuff. For example the early trousers logos were embroidered new one is a cheap transfer. Summer jacket, poorly tailored in that the shoulders flap annoyingly at speed, and internal zip has failed. New trousers zip failed in 6 months. Change of brand for me.

[Exasperated]

Salted_Peanut said:

Exasperated said:

I guess some of it depends on what you buy. I have a CustomWorks suit, which is a few years old and the quality is absolutely top-notch. On the flipside, I've had gloves and a textile jacket which left a lot to be desired.

I would expect Dainese Custom Works to be of high quality! However, sadly, your experience with Dainese textiles and gloves matches their poor results in MotoCAP tests.

Yeah, there have been a few bright spots, like my Antartica [sic] jacket, which has been the best winter jacket I've owned, but on the whole I tend to treat their stuff with a bit of caution these days.

[Far Cough]

Exasperated said:

Yeah, there have been a few bright spots, like my Antartica [sic] jacket, which has been the best winter jacket I've owned, but on the whole I tend to treat their stuff with a bit of caution these days.

I was the same. Had an Antartica jacket ....... Absolutely super until the zip gave way and no way of a repair. Gutted.

I have switched to "RICHA" now which I am told is made in the same factory and the current jacket has lasted very well. The zip is much more robust than the more expensive item , go figure ? I still use the Antartica trousers which again have been superb , but I am way more choosy and careful about my purchases now.

[Salted_Peanut]

Far Cough said:

Had an Antartica jacket ....... Absolutely super until the zip gave way and no way of a repair.

Couldn’t Hideout or Hill4Leather repair it? Hideout’s fixed jacket zips for me—a routine job for them.

[Far Cough]

Salted_Peanut said:

Couldn’t Hideout or Hill4Leather repair it? Hideout’s fixed jacket zips for me—a routine job for them.

It wasnt worth the hassle in the end as it was 2 years old . I did look at the option but just went for a brand new jacket instead. The zip fitted was one of those small gauge waterproof ones that are supposed to seal as they close. It wasnt man enough for the job. A main zip like that need to be one of the chunky heavy gauge kind you normally get around the bottom of the jacket to zip to the trousers.

My replacement RICHA jacket is now 1.5yrs old and still going strong. I like it