While Jorge Lorenzo, Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa may be battling it out as the top three in the MotoGP championship this season, they do have one thing in common (other than their seemingly superhuman talent, that is). This common ground is that they all wear Alpinestars’ top of the line suit. You may not be able to walk into a dealer and leave with a MotoGP prototype bike like Lorenzo’s Yamaha YZR-M1 or the Honda RC213V of Stoner and Pedrosa, but you can give Riders Discount a call and have the same suit worn by some of the best riders in the world delivered right to your door – the Alpinestars Racing Replica.
The 2012 Alpinestars Racing Replica is the brand’s flagship suit, so they used their premium, full grain, 1.3mm leather for the highest level of abrasion resistance and durability. The leather pieces are sewn together into an aggressive race fit using multiple-stitched main seams that are extremely resistant to tearing. Perforation is abundant on the large leather panels, but it is not found from seam to seam. Alpinestars carefully thought out the layout of the perforations in order to provide a great deal of ventilation without reducing the strength of the leather by punching too many holes in it. For this reason, you will find that there are no perforations next to the seams, or in high risk abrasion zones. In addition to high-grade leather, a variety of armor types beef up the protection provided by the Racing Replica. Starting at the top of the suit, the shoulders have hard, thermoplastic molded shoulder protectors that not only provide a great deal of impact protection, but also vent air through the open channels in the shell. Alpinestars has done a lot of research and gathered a lot of data, so they are very familiar with the parts of the body that touch down first and most often in a crash. This is why they beefed up the elbows and forearms by using a seamless leather construction with external PU protectors on top. These take the brunt of the impact and slide instead of catching the pavement. Impact energy is further mitigated by the CE certified armor and energy absorbing foam found underneath the leather. Inside the torso, Alpinestars provides a CE level 2 back protector and a chest protector. The chest also has pockets that allow you to easily add the Bionic Chest Guards if you choose to do so. Continuing down the suit, you will find the tried and true knee protectors that will be familiar to those that have worn the previous generation suit. Alpinestars did not carry these over to the new suit because they are cutting corners, they did so because they are highly effective. External TPU armor wraps around the knee and CE certified protectors with energy absorbing foam backs it up underneath. One unique aspect of these knee protectors is the is the soft grip patch found on the inner surface of each of each leg that helps give you better contact with the bike. All of this protection means that the new Racing Replica is not exactly lightweight, but this doesn’t mean it’s uncomfortable. The new Racing Replica is a stiff suit at first and many think it is too small when they first try it on, but it stretches and conforms to your body very quickly thanks to the abundant leather and Kevlar stretch panels. Torso mobility is aided by the new leather stretch panels encircling the shoulder and connecting to the collar. These same panels branch off and run down down the side of the body to the waist. The lower body is flexible due to the use of Kevlar stretch material in the crotch and back of the legs, but this ends at the knee. Leather stretch panels take over again at that point to surround the knee armor and cover the entire calf. The calf is another area that generally feels tight the first time the suit is worn, but it stretches to your size quickly. One of the reasons that you find the additional stretch panels in the upper body is the optional Tech Air airbag system. This system is a great piece of technology that Alpinestars has been developing for more than 10 years. It uses sensors and a computer to constantly monitor rider movement so that it can determine if a crash is imminent by recognizing movements that deviate from the norm. In the event that a crash is going to happen, the airbags can be deployed in less than .05 seconds to protect the shoulders and collarbones. The Tech Air Airbag system is not available through Alpinestars dealers at this time and must be purchased directly through Alpinestars themselves. The Alpinestars Racing Replica suit is the best suit on the market, whether you use the airbag system or not and we can’t recommend it highly enough.MSRP $2899.95
The leather is perforated in a way that gives a lot of airflow without taking away from the strength of the leather.
The collar is soft for comfort and it lets air flow right through it. The hump also catches air and sends it down your back to help keep you cool.
Knee armor not only protects, but also helps you grip your bike. The grey portion shown on the inside of this knee is the softer grip pad.
The Alpinestars Racing Replica comes with a CE level 2 back protector and removable chest protector. Get extra protection by adding the optional Bionic Chest guards!
Tech-Air Airbag ready!
This suit is also available in black, and white/red.
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