More than likely this.... Yes Dainese includes TCX and AGV. They have made some not great choices in the recent past and are possibly paying the piper now. IMHO they have been cutting corners on the internal side of the equation for awhile trying to make the numbers look better, but the product is still solid and I still wear quite a bit of it and will continue to purchase it. Love the stuff I have and haven't seen any quality declines in the past few years, unlike other brands that are still commanding top dollar (looking at you Klim). Similar to KTM, the brand will not go away, but guessing the next few years will see some changes. Hopefully the core competencies that garnered a solid following will continue and they will hire the right people to run the company and continue to make top quality gear.
Oh, Rossi is gonna help. I bet his and VR46 (and a lot of others) contracts are very high on the chopping block. Rossi wears Bells in the cages. . . I’ll bet Not just dainese but alpinestars spending spree in motogp is about to brake hard for 2026.
A big issue is their US distribution on the Dainese side. They set up Tucker like a year before they fully tanked. Now I think they are trying to work with Turn 14 but they have an extremely small market share. AGV is sold through us (Parts Unlimited) but we never can get enough inventory but there really is a lot of demand for the helmets. I really hope they can figure it out.
I'm fortunate to live 90 minutes or so from Revzilla Philly. Their stock was impressive, as was their staff. I tried on 3 different suits from 2 manufacturers (after getting fitted for an air bag vest) before I found the right fit. 3 or 4 gloves. 2 or 3 jackets. It was great. They had a bike in the shop to sit on while trying on gear too. There's a Cycle Gear less than 30 minutes from me but their stock is much more limited and the staff is nice but not as knowledgable. TBF, they are more of a generic motorcycle store compared to RevZilla Philly.
Anecdotally, I feel that the decline of Dainese has been happening rapidly in the post COVID era. When I started riding and racing I only wore Dainese. The quality was unparalleled. It was only starting in 2023 that I started to really have issues, namely around their D-Air suits. Two of which, using two different generations of airbag tech failed to deploy on fairly large crashes, the Misano 2 & 3. I detailed the reverse engineering to resolve the issue on the beeb to hopefully help those who if they tried to contact Dainese with similar issues would get told to pound sand, like I did. I switched over to AStars as a result, but man, it sucks to see Dainese in the current state. Coming from the tech side of things, nothing good will come of Dainese being owned by private equity. They’ll be squeezed for every last cent of value and sold for scrap within 5 years.
Yep. "Legally" siphoning the money away, with no regard to the lives/businesses affected. My last employer is PE owned, and I feel within 6 months they will file for bankruptcy. A major supplier to the auto industry. Already not paying bills to their suppliers, and on lists of companies not to do business with, unless paid up front.
Tell me about it!! I went and tried on some suits at their Costa Mesa store yesterday. Good Lord they were tight on my arms,c shoulders and chest. Tried on a 50 and it took 2 people to help get into it lol. They were looking at me and kept saying yeah, you're shoulders and arms are too big, you need a custom suit. Lol
I had to take out all the arm padding in my Dainese suit when I had it. Still extremely uncomfortable. Was rocking 22" arms at the time. Now I am a measly 18.5" at my old age. Dont get me wrong! The A* suit was still tough at first to get the arms in but not like Dainese.
Mine aren't that big, but they're pretty big... I'll have to try on other brands. He even said it's made for tall thin Italians not a guy like me lol.
I've been happy with the Sedici suits had/have. I never felt the need to upgrade and they've held up well in my offs. The rest of my gear is alpine* boots, LS2 helmet, Sedici gloves, chest protector and full back protector.
I bought an overpriced t-shirt at Dainese Seattle as a souvenir last year. It lasted exactly one wash before a seam split leaving a big ugly hole that was not readily repairable. It went in the trash. $45 down the drain.
Talked to a guy from there last week and they are shutting down most of the D-stores but wasn't sure exactly which ones.
Read today Dainese is dropping a handful of riders for 2026. A few days ago there was a snippet going around about Alpinestars signing Moreira (if I remember right) for crazy stupid money.
When your lenders take over, they aren't interested in spending money. I think Moto D announced a short time ago that they bought $70K in Dainese boots. Fire sale time
