Where to buy gear in the bay area?

[davidji]

With the demise of what may have been the Bay Area's best gear shop (Roadrider), and several others in recent years gone or no longer selling motorcycle gear, it seems like time for a new where to buy gear locally discussion.

Fit is trickiest for boots, gloves, and helmets, so I'm most interested in those.

Where would you go for those items or for gear in general?

Here's what I got.

Gloves:
Best selection seems to be at Scuderia West in SF and I've bought a couple of pairs there. Other currently operating shops I've bought gloves from in the past include Cal Moto in Mountain View, and the Dainese D-Store in SF.

Boots:
I don't know of anywhere with a great selection, but Scuderia's isn't bad and I've bought boots there in the past--though I was unsuccessful last time (ditto for Roadrider).

Cycle Gear boot inventory may be narrow, but there's a lot more they will order for you. I got my last boots by ordering in store. 1st pair didn't fit, but 2nd pair did. Since they're not far from me, three trips there was less hassle for me than ordering shipped to my home and returning, and I didn't pay for shipping. I'd rather go into a shop, try, buy, and go home, but that didn't work out.

Helmets:
Here's where I've really got nothing. My current lid came from a Bell head scanning custom fit event at Roadrider. They also had the best selection of off the shelf lids. My helmet before that came from Helmet City's long gone shop in Oakland. We don't even get an annual motorcycle show anymore to try on selections from helmet manufacturers.


I know moto dealers can be a source of gear. Specifically I think both BMW and Harley have good gear items under their brand name. And dealers may sell brands beyond their motorcycle brands (e.g. Ace in Concord sells or used to sell Rev-It).

 

[Hoppalong]

I know moto dealers can be a source of gear. Specifically I think both BMW and Harley have good gear items under their brand name. And dealers may sell brands beyond their motorcycle brands (e.g. Ace in Concord sells or used to sell Rev-It).

Keep in mind one thing about dealers (maybe not all, but most): they will lie right to your face about when they'll get the item in so as to keep you from buying it somewhere else. Same lie about when your service work will get done.

 

[GetOuttaMyWay]

I'm always impressed with SF Moto. Good selection and the staff will work with you to make sure your gear is right for you. Also crazy is i got my last shoei there and the price was actually lower than Amazon, and then they gave me some kind of loyalty points or something that dropped the price even further. Got some new boots there recently too and pricing was excellent.

 

[jwb]

SF Moto has a solid selection of boots and helmets.

FYI Scuderia also has some kind of loyalty card. I forget how it works but mostly it just goes to remind me how much I've spent there :-/

 

[UDRider]

Now that RR is no more I guess revzilla.

 

[Surj]

Revzilla isn't in the Bay Area.

But yeah, big ups to SF Moto, and many dealers have a reasonable stock of gear. As mentioned, BMW shops tend to have a decent stock of stuff, and that's been my experience with BMW of SF, Cal Moto, and SJ BMW. Some of the bigger Japanese dealers, too. Just check out some of the shops and see what works for you. Stepping foot into a shop now and then ain't a bad thing.

 

[yodaisgod]

I'm guilty of showrooming at CycleGear and buying some of my gear on RidersDiscount.com

I got my Shoei RF-1200 solid color helmet for $359 back in 2014 (free shipping and no tax). Most places were at least $100 more, plus tax.

Sucks not to buy local. But, sometimes, I shop with my wallet instead of my heart. :nchantr

 

[Abacinator]

I buy everything online. There just aren't any brick and mortar business conveniently located near me. My local cycle gear has a pretty crap selection of gear imo and every time I go in there I end up leaving frustrated.

 

[MeatPuppet]

I buy everything online. There just aren't any brick and mortar business conveniently located near me. My local cycle gear has a pretty crap selection of gear imo and every time I go in there I end up leaving frustrated.

I bet it's the one on El Camino in Redwood City. Tiny shop, but decent staff.

 

[Abacinator]

Pacheco

 

[yodaisgod]

We've been through the Cycle Gear hate since they started to use more store space to sell their "house" brands like Bilt and Sedici pushing aside Alpinestars, Dainese, Cortech, ICON, etc.

So, you either have to got to other moto shops that sell other brands which tend to have a limited selection and pricing is way too high.

If I could try a selection of jackets, pants, gloves at a shop that has reasonable pricing, I'd buy it right there.

Alas, I know my sizes so I just order it online. Oh well...

 

[firstbuell]

[edited]I'm guilty of showrooming at CycleGear and buying some of my gear on RidersDiscount.com

OK, I'll come clean about my delusion:

"showrooming at CG izznt the same as showrooming at Santa Clara Cycle Accessories"

the former is a national chain with a big online presence, the scourge of Mom-&-Pop [Dad-&-Son?] stores like SCCA

this logic may make zero sense, yet I feel better now.....

 

[fubar929]

With the demise of what may have been the Bay Area's best gear shop (Roadrider)

Let's be honest: RoadRider's selection of gear in recent years was hit-or-miss. The stuff they had was good, but the number of choices was dramatically lower than when I started riding. Remember when they had an entire room full of gloves? And enough leather jackets that your arms would wear out before you could try them all on? Those days are long gone...

Fit is trickiest for boots, gloves, and helmets, so I'm most interested in those.

Where would you go for those items or for gear in general?

I bought my last pair of boots from Revzilla since nobody in the Bay Area stocked them. Needed one exchange to get the perfect fit, but it was painless. The Cycle Gear in San Jose had as many different boots as RoadRider the last time I was looking. Size availability was pretty crap, but at least you could get a look at them and (try to) get the store to call you when stock came in.

In helmets, I know which brand I like and what size fits me. If I wanted to try something different, I'd call around until I found a vendor with the specific brand and model I wanted in stock. If I just wanted a different color variation on one of the models I'm already wearing, I'd buy from Revzilla.

Of the five pairs of gloves I currently own two pairs were purchased at Road Rider, one pair at Cycle Gear, one pair at Revzilla, and one pair directly from the manufacturer. My most recent boots and gloves were both Dainese, so I might give the D-Store a try. Gloves are easy to return, so I also wouldn't hesitate to buy online if I couldn't find anything locally.

Now that RoadRider is gone, I'll probably buy more gear online. I'd like to support Scuderia West, the D Store, Johnson Leather, etc. but getting to SF is just too much of a hassle. I try to avoid Cycle Gear San Jose ever since one of the weasels that works there told me they had exactly what I wanted in stock, I made the 40-minute ride down, only to find out they had the Sedici version rather than the name-brand that I wanted. The last time I was looking for jackets, I had the impression that many of their Sedici and Bilt designs were "borrowed" from more well-known brands like Alpinestars, Dainese, etc. which seems more than a bit shady.

 

[yodaisgod]

The last time I was looking for jackets, I had the impression that many of their Sedici and Bilt designs were "borrowed" from more well-known brands like Alpinestars, Dainese, etc. which seems more than a bit shady.

There was a thread about this a few years ago. I believe it was agreed upon that CycleGear sourced their house brands from the same factories in India, Pakistan, etc that the "name brand" companies use.

They change some things here and there like material quality, stitching, dyes, etc....just enough to differentiate their products. It give CG the means to control costs, logistics, etc. Why wouldn't they do it if the can make more margin?

For many, good enough works. Especially those who are just getting into motorcycling. Or, vets who know that CG does offer decent gear that won't break the bank.

I'm not being a CG apologist here. I just understand where they are coming from. Just not a fan of limiting in-store options to their house brands.

 

[Alan_Hepburn]

I've had decent luck with the San Jose Cycle Gear - just bought 2 helmets las week. People seem to hate their BILT line but we haven't had any issues with them. We just got their Techno 2.0 Modular helmets for $239 each, and they gave me a 15% discount on top of the sale price for being a veteran!

Things that come in sizes I would rather purchase locally so I can try them on without the hassle of returning stuff.

 

[UDRider]

Revzilla isn't in the Bay Area.

But yeah, big ups to SF Moto, and many dealers have a reasonable stock of gear. As mentioned, BMW shops tend to have a decent stock of stuff, and that's been my experience with BMW of SF, Cal Moto, and SJ BMW. Some of the bigger Japanese dealers, too. Just check out some of the shops and see what works for you. Stepping foot into a shop now and then ain't a bad thing.

Point remains.

 

[SFSV650]

Dainese D-Store has phenomenal deals on their sale racks. It's a matter of going often and pouncing when you find something in your size, but on a long enough time span you end up with a lot of premium gear for not a lot of money.

 

[295566]

Dainese D-Store has phenomenal deals on their sale racks. It's a matter of going often and pouncing when you find something in your size, but on a long enough time span you end up with a lot of premium gear for not a lot of money.

I wish the D-Store was closer, or just not in SF. I hate going to the city with a passion, and only really go there when the misses insists.

 

[Surj]

Point remains.

And still doesn't answer the question posed in the OP. :afm199

 

[Ezekiel]

It's outside of the bay area, but if you really need to try on gear, Sacramento Cycle Gear has a HUGE selection and very good pricing on almost everything. All of the brands that our local cycle gears used to carry and that we wish they still did...those are at the Sacramento store. Arai, Shoei, Dainese, Sidi, Alpinestar and more.

It's an even larger shop with more selection than Road Rider had which is of course saying a lot. It's worth the drive/ride.