BiLT Products.

[Fish R1]

Is BiLT Trackstar leather Motorcycle gear a quality product line? I have recenctly bought a pair of BiLT Trackstar gloves so I am giving one of the products a test.

Does anyone else have any input? (good or bad)

Thanks

[Stardog82]

I was wondering the same. I need some new gloves pretty badly, and saw that Cycle Gear has some Bilt ones on sale for cheap. Any reason not to?

[Dragonfly]

BiLT is Cycle Gears in house brand. It replaced the Frank Thomas Line. It doesnt seem as well constructed as the Frank Thomas line but they do offer a pretty good warranty on their stuff.

[milesmiles]

I personally don't own any built gear so take what you will from what i post. I do own frank thomas and for the price i got it's worked out good(keep in mind i got it on clearance, super cheap). It's now starting to fall apart though and i wished i would have went with a better product. If you can stay away, it's cheap for a reason. But if you can't some of their products seem to be ok

[fixxervi6]

I have some bilt boots, they are ok, but if I crash I sure hope I have my Alpine star boots on instead.

Bottom line is this, if you need gear on a budget, BILT is going to be better than a T-Shirt.

If you can fork out for better, do it, if you need gear but don't have the scratch for high end stuff, see previous statement.

[Striple]

I'm not a big fan of the Cycle Gear in house brands, regardless what name they slap on it. I own several of their items (boots, hot gear/cold gear, etc.), and none of them seem to be particularly well-constructed or durable. The Bilt boots are extremely comfortable, and are absolutely waterproof (as advertised) as long as they don't get wet. First monsoon I wore them through had my feet splashing around the inside of the boots, despite solid rain gear pants.

When it comes to gear, its better to pay extra for quality and durability.

[WillK675]

If you need the gear on a budget, go ahead and pay a little more for the sedici. It is CycleGears other in-house brand, but is of a little better construction and materials. Not the top of the line, but alot better than the Bilt stuff, and still cheap.

[Telomere]

If you need the gear on a budget, go ahead and pay a little more for the sedici. It is CycleGears other in-house brand, but is of a little better construction and materials. Not the top of the line, but alot better than the Bilt stuff, and still cheap.

I would think that Sedici replaced the Frank Thomas line because Bilt is definitely lower quality than FT.

Bilt will most likely last 1 wreck. They will protect you but they will most likely fall apart at the seam too. I have heard of people purchasing 1-piece bilt leathers and had to replace them under warranty because they were coming apart at the seams.

Sometimes, you can find good deals on products that are on clearance at stores in the area (moto liberty and cycle gear) but sometimes there are deals online too. The best deals for the stores in the area, would be when it is not in season. If you are looking for leathers or a mesh jacket, check those stores in the winter time etc.

[milesmiles]

Yeah i always thought that sedici replace FT, not Bilt. I do consider Bilt lower quality.

[WillK675]

Long story short. Frank Thomas went under. CycleGear teamed up with FT's suppliers and a couple of people from FT, and started the Sedici and Bilt lines.

[DemonDuck]

The built boots are comfy. The FT Pants do me well. All that said I found a nice deal on a A-star full suit that I might buy.

[Fish R1]

It sounds like Bilt Track Star leather products are (1) cheap price (2) average to poor quality (3) 5 year guarantee. The reason why I bring up the 5 year guarantee is this.

When I was coming up in the construction trade we would buy the Craftsman brand tape measures and other Craftsman brand tools of the trade. When the tools broke we would take them back usually without a reciept and Sears would replace them on the spot. The tape measures were an item that would wear out or break frequently due to high usage. The moral to this story is I only had to buy 2 tape measures in 20 years.

I realize that alot of the other higher quality leather product manufacturers offer the same guarantee (possibly longer) I also read in this thread about the 1 wreck situation.
This is something that needs to be considered in this discussion thread also.

Everyone has given some great information!!!!!!!!

Thanks FWMR Keep it coming.

[milesmiles]

As stated i have frank thomas gear(little better than bilt in my opinion). I'm doing my very best to get quality leathers and not skipping on them either. I'm worried that in a wreck my FT gear will not hold up. That's my number one concern!!! Now on the 5yr guarantee....if it's through cycle gear then that would work out great, but normall they ship it off to Bilt themselves and that is the biggest head ache ever. You sometimes have to pay shipping and then you wait and wait and wait only to hear back that you abused the product and they will not cover it

[fixxervi6]

From what I've seen with the built (and form experience) you just walk into the store and they swap you out.

[milesmiles]

well that's not a bad deal then. But you have to ask yourself, why do we buy this gear? We buy it to protect us. If i have the means to buy quality gear i will, if not i have to go with something cheaper. Buy the best gear money can buy and in my opinion that puts some of the questions of "will this hold up" to rest. With that being said i'm pretty poor guy lol

[WillK675]

You may want to ask someone at cyclegear, on the warranties. But the sedici is still cheap and a better built product. Looking online I see the Bilt has a 5-year guarantee, and the sedici has a lifetime guarantee.

[fixxervi6]

You may want to ask someone at cyclegear, on the warranties. But the sedici is still cheap and a better built product. Looking online I see the Bilt has a 5-year guarantee, and the sedici has a lifetime guarantee.

Turismon swapped out a bilt leather jacket in the store, and Monster swapped out dirtbike armor in the store.

[Bewst]

Anything Speed and Strength(Tucker Rocky) I have bought has come unsewn.

[Haste]

I use a built jacket and glove set. Seriously, if you can afford better get something else. The stitching on the gloves and jacket is COMPLETE shit, i hate it but i cant afford a new jacket for another month or two.

Its better than nothing, but not by a large measure.

EDIT: Less than 5 months of riding has stressed a lot of the stitches to the point of partial failure. Or if you look at it in terms of miles, 8k miles has resulted in major stitch faults.

[milesmiles]

Anything Speed and Strength(Tucker Rocky) I have bought has come unsewn.

Ditto!

[fixxervi6]

My First Gear stuff is holding up amazingly.

My jacket gets the hell used out of it and abused, it's showing no signs of wear, My mesh pants are holding up better than my FT leathers and the mesh gets used a lot more.

It's not the most expensive stuff in the world but I'm blown away by how well it's holding up.

[milesmiles]

Yeah I have some winter pants, first gear, and I'm very happy with them

[MattStrada]

Just bought a SS jacket hopefully it holds up. At least until the winter mths.

[DemonDuck]

My SS jacket has done well.

[Rhino]

My First Gear stuff is holding up amazingly.

My jacket gets the hell used out of it and abused, it's showing no signs of wear, My mesh pants are holding up better than my FT leathers and the mesh gets used a lot more.

It's not the most expensive stuff in the world but I'm blown away by how well it's holding up.

++

I have a First Gear leather jacket and it's my favorite ever. Their stuff really is top notch, for a decent price.