Video: Fake vs. Real – Alpinestars Gloves Broken Down!

In this video, watch me expose the differences between a real pair of Alpinestars GP-Pro gloves, and a fake pair trying to pass itself off as the real deal. How do I do it? By chopping them up of course! See what $240 really gets you, inside and out, in a motorcycle glove.

The Alpinestars GP-Pro is one of the hottest gloves in sport riding, and with good reason: with full-grain cowhide and goatskin construction, a kangaroo palm, and hard armor and sliders throughout, this race gauntlet sees action in both MotoGP and World Superbike, and provides the top-of-the-line protection you need when you’re riding on the street or track.

But when you have a product this popular, you’re bound to have people trying to knock it off too. So when we heard about some GP-Pros for sale online for only $60, it caught our interest, especially because we heard so many people talking about how they could be the real thing – or close to it – such as factory seconds, genuine gloves that failed quality control, or, simply stolen merchandise.

So we figured the only way we could know for sure was by ordering a pair, and doing a side by side comparison with a genuine pair from our inventory, so you could see what you’re really getting. But anyone can order two pairs of gloves and compare them. At BikeBandit, we decided to take it a step further.

As your gear experts, we wanted to educate and inform you on what you’re really getting when you buy these gloves, and what’s on the inside, where you would normally never see. So we chopped them apart!

Check out this “Fake vs. Real” video comparison, where we cut up a pair of real Alpinestars GP-Pros, and a pair of knockofss, and show you what the differences really are. Bottom line: when you buy fake gloves, the protection you get will also be fake, and we think its a lousy idea to spend money on gear that will probably fail when you need it most – in a crash!

Take a look at these big differences we found while making this video:

Packaging materials are identical in appearance, but the fake glove used cheaper materials (yes, even in the tags.) Oddly, the fake gloves came in a nicer, zippered pouch, while the real ones shipped in a plastic bag.

The real gloves are make with cowhide, kangaroo, and goatskin; the fake ones are made with a single material throughout, which is clearly a form of imitation leather.

Stitching is the most notable difference; the stitches are tighter and straighter on the real glove, and loose and crooked on the fake. Panels were lined up very poorly on the fake glove.

The real glove’s fit was excellent; it feels snug and anatomically correct from the first wear. The fake glove was looser and did not have the proper precurve.

External hard armor was visually similar, but felt different; the real glove’s armor had more shock absorption, and the fake glove used thinner, more brittle-feeling plastic.

Perforation was notably different; holes were less uniform on the fake glove, and many holes were not completely punched out.

The logos and paint looked identical, but the paint underneath the clear molding on the wrist cuff was badly damaged during production of the fake glove.

On the inside of the glove, the real glove had a layer of aramid (AKA Kevlar) fabric lining the glove; the fake glove didn’t even have yellow fabric trying to pass itself off as aramid.

The foam panels inside the glove are a dense closed-cell foam in the real glove, and less dense open-cell foam in the fake glove.

The knuckle armor in the real glove has internal channels for air flow, and is individually molded for right vs. left gloves; the fake glove had no air channels and was the same on both sides.

Our thoughts: you get what you pay for! They may look like the real thing, but they aren’t, not on the outside, and definitely not on the inside. If all you care about is looks, you may be happy with the knockoffs; but remember, the true purpose of these gloves is to protect you in a crash. And the knockoffs are very unlikely to do that based on what we saw deconstructing them.

Now that you see the work that goes into making the real deal, check out the full line of Alpinestars gloves here at BikeBandit and get a pair for yourself, or shop the full line of top-quality Alpinestars motorcycle gear. Good stuff is worth the investment!

What do you think of our “fake vs. real” comparison? Would you like to see us cut apart more motorcycle gear so you can see what’s inside?