In the last episode, I’d left you with the cliffhanger of some stuff being sent back to FC-Moto for replacement, and the unbearable suspense of whether size S will be available in the Icon Mesh AF jacket or not.
It will not.
FC-Moto.de buying experience
FC-Moto is a great site, it definitely deserves the title of “Revzilla of Europe”. They’ve got a huge selection of gear, the prices are very good, and the entire buying experience was without any hiccups.
One strange thing I noticed was that the site said Free Delivery for orders above 243.70 Euros, but my order was over 700 Euros, and I was still charged a delivery fee of 3.90 Euros. Not sure why that happened, but it was a small thing so it didn’t bother me much.
The only nitpicky thing I could bitch about would be that they can be rather slow to react. Status updates on orders can be very slow, and they aren’t big fans of sending frequent email updates either, even automated ones. This is especially the case if you, like me, ended up paying by bank transfer. When you email them, the responses can be painfully slow as well.
The general feeling you get from all this, is of one man sitting in a giant warehouse, with walls of boxes of gear on all sides, and the lone master of the dark dungeon sitting red eyed in front of a computer, processing orders, replying to emails, and occasionally peeing a bottle of Coke, the contents of which he’d just consumed minutes ago.
I’d definitely buy from them again, in fact I think I will be forced to.
FC-Moto.de return experience
When I got my big box of happiness, it contained a Returns Slip. If I didn’t want something, I could just mark it on the sheet, tell them if I wanted a replacement or a refund, and send it back over.
I marked in the sheet that I wanted stuff replaced, they still sent me a refund.
As is their usual style, there were no explanatory emails as to why I got my money back rather than a helmet and a jacket. I assume this happened because of a couple of different factors:
- The Icon Mesh AF jacket that I needed in S size has never shown “in-stock” on their site, so probably they simply don’t have it
- The items I’d bought were bought during the Black Friday sale thingy, with 15% extra off. That sale is over, so maybe items bought during a sale can only be returned and not replaced?
Ultimately, you are dealing with Germans, and half the time I have no idea what the hell they are up to. The refund was processed within 2 days though, so I don’t have much to complain. The return process was easy AND free, my hands are tied.
They never asked me if they should just send the replacement helmet and leave the jacket, I’d have been happy to wait for the jacket to come back in stock as well, but here I am, sitting empty handed, with money in the bank.
Plans, and diapers, change
The fact that I couldn’t get the Icon Mesh AF jacket in S size has thrown my entire planning into a bucket full of shit.
I do not like buying stuff, anything. I find it very hard to make a decision when there are a lot of conflicting options, the crippling OCD doesn’t help. After some very long planning and research I’d decided on the Mesh AF, now I had to do it all over again.
So I did, and I am still not able to make a decision. Here are the choices:
| Jacket | Price (€) |
| Alpinestars Calabasas | 120 |
| Rev’it Eclipse | 127 |
| Alpinestars T-SPS air | 148 |
| Alpinestars Wake | 151 |
| Rev’it GT-R Air 2 | 156 |
| Dainese Air Flux | 158 |
| Dainese Air Frame D1 | 175 |
| Rev’it Torque | 175 |
| Icon Mesh AF | 176 |
| Alpinestars Viper V2 | 180 |
| Rev’it Airwave 3 | 195 |
Yeah, ain’t that a pretty sight.
What I’ve done is listed all the jackets in the sub 200€ (~18000 INR) price bracket. I’ve also tried to rate the jackets based on other factors, like if they have the option to add a chest protector or not, but I’m not able to make a decision. Icon Mesh AF remains the best choice by far, but I can’t find the bloody thing in stock anywhere in size S.
An open letter to gear manufacturers
Now would be a great time for me ask gear companies, why must you fuck each and every product of yours with giant, ugly, colorful logos of your own brand? What is so wrong about allowing someone to just wear something they are paying good money for, why is it mandatory that we do free advertisement for you every meter that we ride?
Rev’it, for example, what goddam disease made you put that logo of yours in bright white in the front AND the back of this Vertex jacket? You couldn’t even leave the arm alone could you? Why, just why?
This pimping out of the jackets is making my decision even more difficult. I just want a simple jacket, I want to blend in with the crowd. Bikers who stand out tend to get into trouble, they’re branded as “racers”. You don’t want to be a “racer” in a remote village somewhere, especially if some random biker ahead of you has just done a hit and run with the villager’s goat.
I’ve now wasted almost the entire week trying to make a decision, but it’s not happening. My wife is on the verge of leaving me, since I can’t stop thinking about mesh panels and 600D Cordura and level 2 armor, and a grown man being unable to buy a jacket because of minute technical considerations apparently doesn’t help your sex appeal.
There is no god.