Maybe you’ve heard the story about my first custom suit and the subsequent effect it had on my wife and I starting the Bison brand. If you haven’t, I’ll give you the Cliff’s Notes version: it didn’t fit and I got banged up in an easy crash because of that.
Unfortunately for me, the company that I bought the suit from offered me no instruction or tips on how to measure. I simply got a form with about 15 measurements on it, with brief descriptions on each dimension. On top of that, because I had no instructions I bought a measuring tape and measured myself (tip: that never goes well). Sure enough, when I got the suit it was far too long in the torso, too short in the legs and generally wrong everywhere else.
Even more unfortunately for me, that custom suit company offered no sort of assistance with the issues I was having, let alone a written Fitment Guarantee. I was on my own, left to decide if I wanted to hang the suit up as decoration (it WAS pretty after all!), pay someone hundreds of dollars to alter it, order another one or go ahead and try (uncomfortably) riding in it. I figured out pretty quickly that none of those options were ideal, especially since I had doled out a pretty good chunk of my annual racing budget on this suit.
Turns out I’m not the only one who’s been in that boat. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve talked to someone about getting a custom Bison suit or gloves and they tell me things like “I tried the custom suit thing with ‘Company X’ and it was terrible. It didn’t fit and they wouldn’t help me. I just threw my money away”, or “I had an issue and I got it fixed but I had to pay for it”. It’s comments like that which remind me why our Bison Fitment Guarantee is so great and unique, and how it has earned us so many repeat customers and an overwhelmingly positive reputation within the industry. Despite this, we are constantly trying to win back these customers who had a past negative experience with another company.
In the first couple years of Bison’s existence we had a loosely-structured Fitment Guarantee of sorts but we took care of any issues that arose. When we started to get busier, it became obvious that we needed to add more structure to that guarantee. These days, with our business in full stride and more orders than ever we have a concrete written Fitment Guarantee which provides clarity and transparency to our customers before the order is even placed. Keep in mind we ask you to do some due diligence in order to qualify for the Fitment Guarantee. This includes studying our instructional measurement video with your measuring partner, having the proper garments and tools available to do the job, and visiting a Bison Authorized Measurement Partner (AMP) or scheduling a virtual measurement appointment with one of our AMPs so we can oversee the process virtually. It’s easy stuff but it ensures us that you’ve taken the steps to do as good a job as possible, meaning a reduced risk of mismeasurements and fitment issues.
We all know this hobby (sport) is inherently expensive. We’re spending hundreds of dollars on our tires, upgrades, gear and track time. If you haven’t ordered yet because you’re worried about throwing your money away on something that doesn’t fit, take a look at our Fitment Guarantee Policy and see for yourself how we’ll protect your investment just as well as we protect your body! Better yet, don’t just take it from us - here’s an email we received just last night:
“Good evening,
I just received my suit after alterations and WOW...FREAKING WOW!!!! What a difference!! I sure wish I said something prior to racing in it (trying not to complain) because that is how the suit was meant to be for sure. I don't have a race till the end of month to test it but I can tell the difference right away. The lower leg goes to the ankle like it's supposed to and the crotch seems to be right (maybe a little web action but nothing even close to like before). There's no more “pulling my pants down” feel. The knees stay where they should...DANG!! I'm excited now! And to boot Sage even put 2 tiny patches where the holes were in the arm and shoulder. I can't thank you, Robert, and your team enough for making this suit right!
I now know why I'm seeing more and more of your suits around the paddock and why I chose Bison! I will most definitely spread compliments about your company around the paddock. I feel pretty confident in the fitment for my next race and again THANK YOU!! (Customer for Life)
Best regards,
Travis Park #683
Legion of Speed race team”
Thank you Travis for the feedback and kind words!
The bottom line is this: we never want someone to feel shorted and most importantly we don’t want someone running around in Bison gear feeling uncomfortable or unsafe. Lastly, it's very important to us that when someone asks you about your Bison gear (which they will!), you will feel compelled to tell them how well you were taken care of even if there were some issues along the way.
If you have any questions about our Fitment Guarantee please don’t hesitate to contact us via phone or email. Our team is always standing by to help!
Rob Lackey has been a motorcycle gear connoisseur for years, mostly because he crashed a lot there for a while. After spending 20 years in the automotive industry managing service departments with a focus on culture and customer service, Rob decided to combine his passion for making people happy with that of racing and "going fast while staying safe". He founded Bison Track LLC with his wife, Tosha and they now roam the country with their two youngest kids, Edith and Carter, growing The Herd and educating others about the importance of safe riding gear. Every now-and-then he still gets to race.