Frank Thomas leathers??

[causeofkaos]

anyone have first hand experience
im almost 100% on an Alpinestars 2 piece
just curious about what i saw at cyclegear the guy was saying if any part of it comes apart ( not in the case of a wreck ) like stitching or whatever they just replace it. It sounds very convenient.

[Popeye the Sailor]

I had a pair of gloves.


Poor quality-you could give me a 100 free pairs, I don't think I'd wear them again. They started unstitching in about 6 months.



I don't believe they'd be adequate for anything over a 5 MPH tipover.


YMMV.

[ducatiz]

I have a set of Frank Thomas XTi pants and I like them a lot.  I've gotten soaked in them 2-3 times and they've been fine. 

the XTi's have pucks, and they seem to be shaped more "american" than most of the euro brands

[sugarcrook]

I think Frank Thomas is an exclusive line for Cycle Gear or it's a store brand.  They're going to push that brand over almost anything else. 

[causeofkaos]

pretty much what i figured
thanks for the input.

[erkishhorde]

Look closely before you buy Frank Thomas. I was browsing around Cycle Gear and started eying some of the FT stuff. Then as I looked closer almost all of it was either torn or frayed.  The FT stuff sits on the rack for a while and sometimes gets moved from store to store so it sees a lot of hands.

[causeofkaos]

A* it is

[Monster Dave]

Ok, so I wear Frank Thomas gear almost exclusivly because it's the only brand that is not cut for the typical American body (wide). I have broad shoulders and a very narrow waist, so the gear fits me really well; it was really hard for me to find anything that fit me properly both throughout the shoulders and into the waist. I really like the brand and have 3 coats: 1 leather old school (as seen in my profile image to the left), 1 perfed leather, 1 canvas. All three are really nice quality. I also have a pair of leather pants that fit me well and are made well. The only downside is that the zipper quality is a bit under what you'd expect. I had 1 zipper replaced in my first jacket which Cycle Gears satisfaction guarentee paid for, and recently my pants zipper got jacked up and won't zip correctly. I was wearing one of my leather coats during a crash and it hardly showed any blemishes, moreover is protected me very well.  A+

Rating:

Fit: 5/5
Look: 5/5
Quality: 4/5 (for the zipper)
Durability: 5/5
Ease of Cleaning: 5/5
Lifespan: 5/5

Overall I'm really pleased with my FT gear. 

Here's the Frank Thomas website: http://www.frank-thomas.co.uk/

Interesting side note, Cargo Endurance the brand of cargo bags that has been raved about by me and many others is a FT product brand as well!

[vwboomer]

I've been wearing a 2 piece FT suit that I got used from someone OTB. I've got about 3k miles in it and since I've been upright the whole time, it's lasting and wearing fine. It's got armor, which is  more than I can say for my Vanson jacket.
Would I buy brand new? I dunno but $200 is what I paid and I couldn't afford much more.

[yotogi]

I had the XTi mesh jacket for half a season. It survived a slow lowside really well, but popped the stitching in the other shoulder after just a few months wear. When I took it back to CG for replacement, every single one of them showed this same problem.

Very poor QC, not sure I would ever own anything of theirs again.

[OT]

I think Frank Thomas is an exclusive line for Cycle Gear or it's a store brand.  They're going to push that brand over almost anything else. 

Frank Thomas is big in Europe - I think considered a premium product (i.e., not Joe Rocket).  Check out BIKE or T.W.O mags at the newsstand.

[Monster Dave]

Like I said, I love mine. Minor issues with the zipper feed aside. They actually FIT me.