Customer Reviews

Alpinestars Bionic Chest Pads (Pair) Black/Red One Size Fits All 670208-13

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Alpinestars Bionic Chest Pads for Leather suits and jackets

My Tech 1-R leather racing suit came with these foam inserts for the chest pads which looked like they could protect some parts during a UPS shipment, but not my chest or ribs in the event of a crash. I opted to go with the Knox Gilet Vest which is a vest that uses the CE-approved chest and back protectors into a 1 piece mesh vest. Although I liked the setup, I felt that the lack of a hard impact protector may present problems in the event I flipped onto the bike or hit some sharp objects. The Alpinestars Bionic Chest Pads look and feel like your typical CE-approved elbow/shoulder/knee protector. There is a hard formed plastic shell with a few vent holes backed with polypropylene foam (not a memory foam), and unfortunately it is not listed as CE-approved armor. With my Tech 1-R suit, there is not much ventilation in the area where these inserts are placed, so it does run a bit hot but not much more than if the inserts weren't used.

The Bionic pads are slightly smaller than the standard foam inserts, but fit perfectly. The formed plastic is curved to fit larger chest muscles (I imagine the Stella bionic pads are curved more to suit the full female figure). I purchased these bionic pads for puncture and impact protection because the Knox chest protector is a soft material that affords great impact protection, but not puncture resistance due to lack of a hard surface. I am probably over analyzing this, but these Bionic pads weren't that expensive and are a good idea if you have an Alpinestars leather jacket or suit with pockets designed to take these pads.

Note that I would not recommend using ONLY these Bionic chest pads as your sole chest protection. Make sure to use a CE-approved chest protector like the Knox. The Bionic pads do not cover much of your ribs or sternum and there is a huge gap in the center of your chest. I've high sided on my bike once and had something on the handlebars jab right into the center of my Icon Field Vest as I flipped over the bars. If I had a Knox protector, it would have protected my chest. If I had these Bionic pads with the Knox, I would still have been protected but the hard plastic on the Bionic pads would offer additional puncture/impact protection.

Overall: 5/5 stars, good design but could be better with memory foam and CE certification, and I still recommend you get a Knox chest protector.

I bought these to put in my alpinestars textile jacket. The jacket came w light foam padding that offers no protection. These pads are a hard plastic which seem like they offer much more protection and would absorb the shock of falling on road. I think it is worth it to have these. I also have the back protector. The price for these on amazon is good and i got free shipping.