Why I’m cautious about buying

[Steve_M]

I’ve rarely bought kit from bike shows. And never protective kit.

 

I hate to be proven right

[Bender]

You can only imagine how rife amazon and eBay are with this stuff. 

[Steve_M]

17 minutes ago, Bender said:

You can only imagine how rife amazon and eBay are with this stuff. 

The phrase I’m thinking of involves a barge pole. 

[Stu]

It's worrying really! 

 

How many new riders are there out there that don't know what to look out for! 

[Bianco2564]

But legally you can ride a bike in a donkey jacket, pair of normal jeans and a pair of wellys if you wanted to

[Gerontious]

Ive always been very wary about stalls at shows, walking past them without a backward glance. always seems to me the prices were often too good to be true. fine if the gear was being sold as new 'old' stock.. leftovers from a previous season perhaps. But that wasn't the deal (so to speak). I only buy from bricks and mortar shops.. mostly because sizing is too inconsistent and I can't be doing with returns. Its far from convenient having to ride to a shop... but for me thats the only way to do it. Its a shame that local stores are pretty much a dying breed. but hey ho, its what it is. I'll be heading over to Sportsbike shop when the weather is tad milder. I want a new 'summer' jacket for the tour in June. Bits and pieces aside from that I can usually pick up from a local dealers 'gear' section.. or even J&S, though I dont think much of our local store to be honest.

[S-Westerly]

Most of my recent (last few years) gear I've bought from either Fowlers or Sports Bike Superstore in Bristol or Motolegends in Guildford. I prefer to inspect what I'm buying and try it on before buying. Really can't be doing with returns and I've found sizing is not consistent so what might be an L in one brand is a XXL or larger in another.

[Bender]

36 minutes ago, Bianco2564 said:

But legally you can ride a bike in a donkey jacket, pair of normal jeans and a pair of wellys if you wanted to

You can but that's out of choice, if you bought what you believe to be a good safe jacket and helmet and they fall apart when needed that wasn't really what you chose, buyer beware is fine but some folk believe what ever they are told. 

[Steve_M]

I would add that there are many trade stands at the large events that I would be more than happy to buy from. Hideout, for example, display at the NEC. I own a set of Hideout leathers and they’re superb quality. 

[billy sugger]

 I know my kit was bought before the new rules, but I looked at all of my kit, leather and textile, last night and found no CE labels of any kind, even in my HG kit

Edited February 15, 2022 by billy sugger

[Steve_M]

25 minutes ago, billy sugger said:

 I know my kit was bought before the new rules, but I looked at all of my kit, leather and textile, last night and found no CE labels of any kind, even in my HG kit

I attended a talk by Dr Rod Woods back in the 1990’s. He’s the guy who set “The Cambridge Standard”, which I think the CE standard was based (though that may be a false memory). Since then I’ve been wary of buying from anywhere but a trusted source and with the relevant labels. I also refused to by Frank Thomas stuff after I found that they submitted higher quality items than their production units for testing (I think that was for RiDE magazine review and test).

 

This might interest you

 

 

[billy sugger]

Even CE marks can be misleading.

I bought a CE marked headlight unit for the 500, but it's no good in the UK. 

The lens set up is wrong, so dip beam is to the left, high to the right

[Steve_M]

13 minutes ago, billy sugger said:

Even CE marks can be misleading.

I bought a CE marked headlight unit for the 500, but it's no good in the UK. 

The lens set up is wrong, so dip beam is to the left, high to the right

CE isn’t a mark that it’s an appropriate fitment, though. It’s a standard of quality. 

[husoi]

Somewhere in this forum I posted some info about CE standard.

CE as in the image means China Export

 

While the European standard marking is the E being of similar shape as the C

Background can vary same as the colour of the lettering.

 

Or

 

Chinese companies just exploited the loophole (crater like hole) around the standard which is not IP protected.

 

CE marking
The letters ‘CE’ appear on many products traded on the extended Single Market in the European Economic Area (EEA). They signify that products sold in the EEA have been assessed to meet high safety, health, and environmental protection requirements.

 

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Not all products must have CE marking. It is compulsory only for most of the products covered by the New Approach Directives. It is forbidden to affix CE marking to other products.

Please note that a CE marking does not indicate that a product have been approved as safe by the EU or by another authority. It does not indicate the origin of a product either.

source: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/single-market/ce-marking_en

[Spongefinger]

Looks like CE now stands for Chinese Export.

[Bianco2564]

20 hours ago, Bender said:

You can but that's out of choice, if you bought what you believe to be a good safe jacket and helmet and they fall apart when needed that wasn't really what you chose, buyer beware is fine but some folk believe what ever they are told. 

Yes I get why its done, to maintain standards and reassure people what they are buying is safe, my point was they police the sale of biking gear but do not police what you wear when riding, aslong as you wear a helmet you can do as you please.

 

 

Edited February 15, 2022 by Bianco2564

[onesea]

There is also another thought, that when it comes to protection.  Something is better than nothing, there is a balance between affordability and safety.  
 

When the law states you only need a helmet, and you can ride in any cloths you choose there is an interesting point.

 

Some armour is better than no armour, however when the labelling and advertising is misleading that should not be allowed.

 

Bike gear is at the stage where you can almost always buy better or more suited at a cost.  We all have to reach a balance that suits us.