Is the quality of Fox riding gear dropping?

Have you got Fox gear? How would you rate the quality?

Many would remember Fox started as a family business that as passionate about racing and good products. Now Fox is owned by a private equity company that sells clothing, sunglasses, hats and dirt bike gear in 50 countries. Most of the dirt bike gear is made in China now and many feel that quality has nose dived over the years. Other still seem to be happy with the current gear on offer. What do you think?

I generally use Fox gloves, Pawtectors or DirtPaws. I wear them out pretty quick. Don't know if the quality is down or if it's just my death grip.

Quality is NOT what it used to be. I still use their products because of their sales. Casual clothing from FOX these days is disposable (Goodwill or such)
I'm 15 minutes from their headquarters and they have great in store sales.

How can it be a great sale if it is crap gear ?

Gloves might be Fox's lowest quality product nowadays, judging by the comments on Facebook and Youtube.

I only looked at user reviews for boots, helmets and body armor so I wasn't aware there was a problem with gloves. But many have said Fox gloves used to be great but now often barely last a few rides - in some cases only one ride - before splitting.

I used Fox Bomber gloves many years ago and loved them, but possibly they were actually made in the USA then and not China.

Sadly, I've seen a significant drop in their quality. For off road riding, DirtPaws had been my go to since I was a kid. I used to get an entire riding season out of a pair before they needed replacement. The last two sets that I purchased lasted less than 1 month.

I have a Fox Legion set (pant, glove, jersey and boot). They’ve all been rock solid, and I like the gloves so much I use them for everything that requires dexterity... turning wrenches, working around the yard, riding my BMX in the cold, etc.

OTOH - I have a 180 jersey and it slowly shreds just looking at it.

I wouldn’t pay 50.00 for bomber gloves that will only last me a season or less. However, when those same gloves are 12.00 I’m happy to buy and wear them.

They have never been that good to begin with..........................

Their chest protectors were pretty good in 1997



Still has the Made in Italy sticker

There have been many comments from Fox users on Facebook and Youtube to the vid. Some have come out in favor of their Fox gear, so obviously not every one hits problems.

I'm hesitant to draw solid conclusions, but so far the comments suggest the following:
- the vast majority of their gloves appear to be very poor quality
- Fox's expensive Legion gear mostly gets good feedback
- there are many complaints about boots, even the premium-priced Instincts.

Overall their helmets seem okay, there were just some cases of prematurely rusted brackets. The worst was a chin strap pulled off almost immediately due to almost poor stitching... but I couldn't find other cases of this.

Count me in on the poor glove quality crew. I have a pair of Bomber LT and one seam split on the first ride. For now, it's holding, but I don't don't give the gloves long before they shred.

The early Legion stuff is of poor quality and the materials are not what you'd expect given their price point. I'm unlikely to buy any more Legion gear unless I find it on close-out. It's over-priced and fails quickly.

I've had great luck with Kilm and Leatt apparel.

Poor quality,made in China,a connection?

Fox stuff went to crap 20 years ago.

Design and manufacture a product to a low enough price, and poor quality products can be made anywhere.

Plenty of high quality products are made in China, but the manufacturing standards have to be set high by the company, and enforced - same as anywhere. If Fox has decided that it's easier to let standards slip to maintain a desired profit margin, they wouldn't be the first company to do so.

Been using Fox gloves (DirtPaws) and goggles for years now, and no complaints with the quality of either.

I've had a huge amount of feedback from Fox users from Youtube, Facebook and various forums.

The general consensus is much of Fox's motorbike gear has gone from great to crap over the years, although their 'lifestyle' clothing still appears to be reasonably good quality.

The riding gear? It seems Fox gloves get the most complaints, followed closely by their boots, even the premium priced Instinct boots.

Watch for rusted strap brackets on their helmets (not many cases, but an important safety issue). Zippers break extremely easily on their armor. Jerseys and pants came in for a lot of complaints too, although their premium-priced Legion gear less so.

I've been shopping armor, and completely wrote off Fox after seeing so many zipper failures reported.
That's purely a cost cutting measure in my eyes. It's not difficult to spec a good zipper that's up to the challenge.

Long before I started riding motorcycles I worked at Pacific Sunwear (PacSun) in the local mall. I always assumed Fox was cheaper stuff just from the company they wanted to keep. Stuff like O'neill, Billabong, Volcom, DC, etc. I had no idea they were supposed to be a premium moto accessory manufacturer until I started riding motorcycles years later. I still can't really shake the "cheap" image of Fox in my mind. I always saw Alpinestars as the premium brand and Fox as the budget wallet-friendly competition.

Too bad about the gloves. I love the Bombers, but the last pair I got, the little rubber 'decorations' on the fingers have been falling off and the velcro went to crap almost immediately.