A Sport Bike Riders Mecca … KneeDraggers.com
Written: Aug 16 '04
|
| Full Review |
When it comes to my bike … I only buy the best. When it comes what I wear when I’m riding my bike.. I buy only the best. For a long time I’ve sung the praises of RideGear.com, one of my favorite places to shop for accessories, clothing and other assorted oddities but it never hurts to shop around and see what the competition is offering. That’s how I came across Kneedraggers.com; I have been looking for new racing leathers and wasn’t all that impressed with the selection at most of my regular online haunts. I wanted a one piece leather garment that could be customized to fit me like a glove. Price wasn’t really a factor since I’d be dropping another $125.00 on top of the price to have it tailored to my body. My old leathers are still in great shape but they don’t really match the colors of my bike and damn it, that really bothers me. When I started looking for sites that sell upper level racing gear I only found a few that actually offered then in women’s sizes. After talking to the tailor that would be doing the work he suggested I just get one of the largest male sizes [without having to pay extra] so he could have some extra material to work with. When you are almost six foot tall and packing some muscle, you can’t exactly shop off the rack .. and that goes double for anything leather related.
Kneedraggers offers the motorcyclist a well stocked store full of accessories, bags, clothing, boots, repair and after market items as well as a nice sale section. The site is easy to navigate and the prices, for the most part, are average with others that carry the same products. Some of the bigger names you’ll find at the site are Alpinestars, Penske, Joe Rocket, Icon, Teknic, Power Trip, Vortex, Shoei just to name a few. After looking through all the different companies that KneeDraggers carriers I was pretty impressed and happy to find a lot of the items on my wish list right there at the site, now all I had to do is see how they measured up on prices. Some items, like the Shoei helmets, require you to call in to “get the best price”. If it means saving $50.00, yeah, I’ll make the call – but don’t waste my time for .37 cents – pretty soon you won’t even be able to buy a postage stamp for that. I’ve been to the site more than a few times and find the descriptions they offer to be completely accurate, the photos crystal clear, prices competitive with other sites and the lay out and navigation easy to use and understand. There are no pop up banners or advertisements and I’ve yet to come across a dead link. If you are concerned with kids viewing the site, don’t be – there’s nothing questionable or objectionable at the site but I doubt any kid will be interested in it unless they have a bike or ride with an adult.
Purchases
One of the first things I picked up at the site was a new pair of boots; the ones I have been using were Hi-Tec Magnums and they had seen better days. As soon as I saw the Icon Women’s Super Duty boots, I knew that I had to get at least one pair. Some of the other girl riders said that these were some of the best boots they’d ever worn and raved about them so much I purchased them without even trying them on. I usually spend about $85.00 - $120.00 on my riding boots and there were selling, at the time, for $90.00 so price wise it was a pretty good deal, even more so if they performed as well as the girls said. Once I got them I had to break them in and try them out on the bike. Needless to say, it was the best $90.00 I ever dropped on a pair of biking boots. You can check out the pics of them in all three colors here: www.kneedraggers.com/details/34-ICON-WSD. Another big ticket purchase was a second helmet – Shoei of course. This one was a little more than the first one I purchased however the design was so nice that it would only need a minimal amount of detailing to match the custom paint job of my bike. I finally settled on the Shoei RF-1000 Storm [www.kneedraggers.com/index.php?partno=32-RF-1000-STORM-TC-2] and called to “get the best price” which was about sixty dollars less than the suggested retail price.
As a huge surprise for my oldest son, I recently purchased him a used, but still in excellent condition, CBR 600. He’s still overseas finishing up his classes so he’s got no clue what’s waiting for him when he gets home. Of course this means that I had to pick up some accessories for him – gloves, standard helmet that he can have color customized, jacket etc. I was really pleased with the items I picked out and while they might be a little big on him now, no doubt he’ll grow into them [and then back out of them] in short order. A nice perk to the site is that they do allow you to return items that are not the correct size, there may be a restocking fee associated with this process so be sure to read the fine print before you order.
Customer Service
Kneedraggers Inc
29A Trolley Square
Wilmington, DE 19806
www.kneedraggers.com
sales@kneedraggers.com
[877] 294-2920 – toll free order line
[302] 328-5562 – customer support
[302] 328-6617 - fax
Return Policy
If there is one possible downside to the site it would have to be their stringent and restrictive return policy. First you have to acquire an RMA [return merchandise authorization] number in order t have your item properly processed, if you try to return something without this number, it will be refused and it will be sent back to you at your cost. Second, you only have ten days to get the RMA and start the return process. Most sites offer you thirty days … in my opinion ten days just isn’t enough time to work with. On the plus side, you have ten days to get your RMA then another then days to get the item back to them once you receive the number. If you live in another country or expect the delivery time to exceed the ten day window, call customer service to see what can be done. You will really, really want to read the return policy before you order because it is pretty specific as to what you can and can’t do in regards to making a return.
Payment Options
So far I have used both my MasterCard and Visa at the site and had no problems getting the order processed, approved, filled, delivered and billed correctly. The site does accept MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover however if you have to pay with another form of currency, call customer service to make arrangements or see what other options are available to you. Items are billed showing the KneeDraggers name as the merchant so if you are planning on making a purchase as a present, hide the credit card bill. After my first purchase at the site I completely forgot that I used a particular card – my initial reaction was that someone used it at an adult site … then I had a huge laugh when reality hit me.
Shipping
Almost all the items that I’ve ordered at the site have been sent to me via UPS ground, the cheapest option that they offer. The prices aren’t exaggerated or fluffed up – a good example is a recent order of about $75.00 – the shipping fee was $8.75 and arrived in about a week from the time I placed the order. Not bad for UPS … not bad for UPS Ground. I haven’t ordered anything big like rims or replacement fenders but I would assume that the really big things would be shipping out by a freight carrier – if you have any questions call customer service. Be sure to check the front page for free shipping offers – currently they are offering free shipping on items purchased from certain manufacturers, a great way to save some extra cash. The shipping fees aren’t obscene and are pretty much dead on balls accurate with what UPS charges to ship items out.
The Bottom Line
So far I’ve had nothing but great experiences at the site and look forward to doing more business with them in the future. Seeing as how my son will have his own bike when he returns home, I am sure that he too will be scouring the site for goodies and sale items. If you are a sport bike rider or a motorcycle enthusiast, this is definitely a site to check out. They carry everything from parts and after market modifications to clothing, boots, security accessories and helmets. I’m not leaving RideGear or turning my back on them but if one site is cheaper than the other and they aren’t going to match prices to get my business, then I am definitely going to go with who ever is cheapest. They ship quick, package items well, offer great customer support and their prices are excellent. Now if we could just get them to relax a little in regards to the return policy … it would be a huge help.
As always, thanks for the visit …
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2004 Freak369
Related reviews …
RideGear.com
2000 Suzuki GSX-R600
2000 Suzuki GSX-R750
Shoei Shoei X-Tec Ukawa
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
About the Author
Reviews written: 6442
Trusted by: 927 members
About Me: 7% Terminator, 4% silicone, 38% muscle, 51% freak
|
