I was chatting to one of my riding friends today and contimplated wether or not to write about this, But I figured "Why the Hell not". Before I go on, I've only ever bought 2 pieces of Alpine Stars merchandise: a pair of gloves (which are fantastic) and 3 months ago, a textile jacket.  I really wish I could remember the actual model but it was black, blue and white and cost around $160.00. This article isnt an "Alpine Stars is 100% crap", type of rant but more of a "Take heed and watch out".

So here's the skinny. I go down to one of my local motorcycle stores, Del-Amo motorsports in Huntington Beach which is a great store and has some great stuff. About 3 months ago, I purchase the jacket and after taking it home, it sat in my closet because I only got my bike last Sunday. I had perhaps tried it on twice at the most. A month later, I bought a helmet and wanted to have a wee trying on session and the zipper burst on the jacket, causing 2 of the teeth to become warped.

After taking it back to the store, the kind manager at Del Amo informed me that it had to be returned to the Apline Stars headquarters and I would see it again in 2 weeks. 5 weeks later, the jacket finally arrived and I went on my merry way to Del-Amo. Got there, tried on the jacket and to my surprise exactly the same thing happened again. After closer inspection, I actually realised that the zipper they had replaced was of far inferior quallity and resembled the kind of zipper you would see on everyday clothing. I showed this to the sales person and I ended up receiving money back in the form of a gift card.

Fast forward a few weeks and I return to the store to spend some of the money. There I am looking at, amoungst other things, Jackets and what do I see on the rack? The very same jacket with the same inferior zipper. Granted it didnt have a price tag on it but I was astonished to see it on the shop floor.

I guess the moral of the story is that if you do end up returning something to Alpine Stars, check the work thats been done. I'm sure they are a fantastic company and this was probably a one off but I can guarantee that If i had taken the jacket out riding, who knows if I'd have been able to return it and get it fixed free of charge.