POC gear – Why so expensive?

Is it actually better than the other stuff on the market, or is it just a Hagen-Daaz, inflate the price and the convince the consumer it’s premium product tactic?

They want to appear as a ‘premium’ brand, hence the price tag.

A bit like Orange.

Häagen-Dazs is a premium product!

Part of it is that they just don’t make much. Low volume:High cost. Plus, they don’t let the big retailers discount it.

Of course – cheaper stuff is available….. 😉

Brand Placement.

If you make niche you want to get niche for it non?

Too many players on the mass brand racks n shelves maaaaannn, you need something inovative and design specific, they certainly have that.

Me likiee, me might buy a helmet (it’s to replace an old one) It’ll go with my pants that blue colour.

druidh – they have chosen to market their products as a premium product, and take steps accordingly to retain the high price tag.

If every Tom, Dick and Harry was sporting a POC helmet it wouldn’t be an elite brand!

I have a pair of their flow shorts that i got a 60% discount on. they’re nice enough but i can’t imagine speding the £80 rrp on them!

For such a premium price, the quality isn’t so great..

The trabec helmets are great, pretty much the only trail helmet that fits my enormous swell head without making me look like a complete tit. The high price keeps the slobbering plebs away, darling.

Likes my pads 😀

I bought one of their ski helmets & I think its an excellent bit of kit. Pricey? Yes. Worth it? Yes as well.

I had a POC Spine VPD Vest, which was very comfy in the Alps, and which I would buy again for this reason but there were a few quality issues. I ended up returning the vest, but to be fair the shop and POC were excellent.

I’ve also got a set of elbow pads which are great but the straps are not robust enough.

Great product design but very poor quality for the price

Loved my knee & leg protectors (Bone?) in terms of fit and protection

Falling apart slowly from about the 3rd outing. Got them at 30% off. RRP is £100. Shocking quality for that price TBH

Mate of mine bought some expensive Poc gloves that split at the seams almost instantly, not impressed tbh… 😕

I’ve found the quality to be good, but have only had their Bone Leg guards and DH helmet, so can’t comment on their ‘softer’ stuff. Both the helmet and pads have been bounced along the ground, whacked into trees and dropped from height (with me attached) on many occasions (4-5 dh races per year, plus the same uplift days), for nearly 3 years. So it has lasted well.

Fit was a big factor for me, as I always found Race Face pads and 661 pads slipping or exposing my knees in a crash, whereas these stay where you want them. Great articulation too.

Khani I’ve had similar issues with troy lee stuff – glove stitching came out after a couple hours of riding and moto jersey went all bobbly after about a month. Overpriced tat imo, i stick to decathlon and berghaus for tops now.

VPD pads came unstitched after about 3 hours use, not inspiring on what was the most expensive pad on the market. My dainese pro air knee/shins are over 10yrs old and only just starting to suffer elastic stretching. The VPD stuff is also quite high maintenance, can’t machine wash or use detergent (compare that to Gform).

I think its a mixture of deliberate market positioning, and them actually designing and testing their own kit rather than buying in technology (VPD vs 661 using D30) or off-the-peg mass produced then rebadged stuff.

Biggest long term disappointment for me is Fox kit, every pair of gloves of theirs I bought failed quicker than the last, the worst being their top of the range £30 Unabombers which began to fall apart after one ride. Replaced with £6 old stock Kona gloves from CRC which have already far outlasted them.

I can only speak for the Bone pads, since they’re all I’ve used… Nobody else makes an elbow pad that comes close tbh, I don’t object to paying extra for something that stands so far clear of the competition. The shinpads aren’t quite as impressive but still the best I’ve tried. The build quality’s been spot on for me.

Some of their stuff is ridiculously overpriced though, the jerseys in particular are laughable.

I had a POC Spine VPD Vest, which was very comfy in the Alps, and which I would buy again for this reason but there were a few quality issues. I ended up returning the vest, but to be fair the shop and POC were excellent.
I’ve also got a set of elbow pads which are great but the straps are not robust enough.

A friend of mine bought one for the Alps last year as took it back due to some quality issues. Does look like a premium product but am unconvinced it is premium quality from what I have seen and heard although again he had great service. I had a Range Rover which is another premium product with quality issues, but people still buy them!

I have some POC gloves which TBH are only a few months old, but very comfy & look fine for the use they’ve had.
Will report back once I’ve crashed in the m a few times (it shouldn’t be long now).

Overpriced yep. I got a Iris DH goggle for cheap. It’s cool with the tow lenses but there is other stuff that is as good and way cheaper.

At the end their stuff probaply comes out of the same factories in china than the cheaper stuff so why bother to pay 100€ for a **** jersey.

I’d second the complaints about quality – i got a pair of the flow shorts at a big discount but they are dropping to bits after only a few uses – holes in the lycra between the pads and the waistband separating from the shorts despite treating them very carefully. I’ve got a cheaper pair of 661 padded shorts that have lasted far longer with rougher handling which seems cheeky given the POC’s are nearly 40% more expensive at full rrp.