2024 Alpinestars Stella Techstar Gear Set Review

Alpinestars’ new 2024 Stella Techstar gear set gives women an upscale jersey and pants option for hitting the off-road trails and motocross track. This is a welcome addition to Alpinestars MX offerings for aggressive women, as the Stella Fluid line’s pants are not cut wide enough to accommodate knee braces—at least my Pod K-4 2.0 braces. The delightfully colorful new Stella Techstar set is playful, bold, and ready for serious riding.

Designed in the United States, the premium Alpinestars Stella Techstar jersey and pants have a trim, athletic cut that hugs the body without inhibiting movement, and is perforated to keep air flowing. The fit means there’s nowhere to hide, but it seeks to inspire and is ready for competitive riding.

The Alpinestars Stella Techstar pants and jersey are patterned for the female shape, so they lay nicely and don’t have excess yardage. The rainbow graphics are designed to work together and flow across the two pieces brilliantly. However, arcing the Alpinestars name logo up and around a woman’s seat is, er, risky. “Do these pants make my butt look big?” is the inevitable question. Initially, there is only this Black/Multicolor colorway.

Constructed from polyester and elastane, with liberal stretch panels and minimalist neck and cuff seams, the Stella Techstar jersey is super lightweight and breathable. I was a bit worried about the fit as I started to pull the jersey over my Stella Bionic V2 Protection Jacket. Fortunately, the wispy material stretched over the chest protector without complaint. If you’re used to a more relaxed fit and wear under-jersey chest protection, you may want to move up a size.

I like the Alpinestars Stella Techstar jersey’s long tail. It stays nicely tucked in all positions on the bike, and the generous-length sleeves leave no gap between the gloves and sleeve cuffs for my wrists to get sunburned.

The entire front of the jersey has pinpoint-sized perforation, with some larger diameter perforation holes along the top of the chest. The sleeves have the same tiny ventilation points from cuff to shoulder, as do the sides of the jersey. As long as I am moving, the Techstar jersey breathes and keeps me cool.

The Alpinestars Stella Techstar pants are an interesting combination of materials (polyester, elastane, and leather) across a myriad of panels. Some panels are perforated, others elastic, and some stretchy mesh. They are all strategically mapped, working together to allow natural movement on your dirt bike while keeping you cool.

Perforation is sprinkled across the front of the thighs and across the hips. A gusset panel across the top of the knees adds flexibility and allows air to flow. The calf area of the Alpinestars Stella Techstar pants is a very lightweight, stretchable mesh panel that reduces bulk in a tight area while contributing to the breathability of the pants.

Where you need your pants to be more robust, the Stella Techstar pants step up. The inner knees are protected from exhaust pipe heat—two- or four-stroke—with goat leather panels that also help me grip the bike with my knees, and the butt and knee areas are a durable ripstop fabric.

When sliding into the unlined Techstar pants, I had to give a little extra attention to pulling them over my knee braces. The pants are cut wide enough for professional braces, but there is not a lot of wiggle room.

Eschewing the usual ratchet buckle to close over the YKK-zippered fly, the Alpinestars Stella Techstar pants have a plastic buckle with a new magnetic SX2 auto-locking mechanism. Despite my initial concern that the buckle could easily be unlocked by getting bumped or caught on something, the buckle never hinted at coming unfastened. The waistband is elasticized at the sides, and once the buckle is secured, you can adjust the fit via a hook-and-loop adjusting tab just off-center on the right side. The half-inch-wide silicon strip running along the inside waistband in the back of the pants keeps the jersey’s tail tidily tucked.

Once in place, I could ride without giving the Stella Techstar pants and jersey a second thought—always the highest compliment for riding gear. They didn’t bind on my body armor or knee braces, leaving me unencumbered as I hit some of the most technical trails in the Los Padres National Forest and high-speed desert sections.

While the Stella Techstar line does not have a female-dedicated glove to complete the ensemble, I tested the pants and jersey with a pair of the new men’s 2024 Techstar racing gloves and was quite satisfied.

I have large hands, and wear a women’s Large glove. When wearing men’s gloves, I usually fit into a Medium. The men’s Techstars were slightly big on me. Happily, the hook-and-loop tab allowed me to cinch them tightly at the wrist, leaving the glove with a relaxed, but secure, fit. I’ll have to give the men’s Small glove a try.

Made from synthetic perforated suede and stretchable materials, the Alpinestars Techstar gloves are flexible, comfortable, and breathable, with no binding points. The suede palm is reinforced at the heel of the hand and along the thumb webbing where you grasp the bar, providing a bit of cushioning. The top of the knuckles—frequently a source of tightness—utilizes perforated neoprene across the knuckles to provide flexibility and protection.

In addition to the silicon Alpinestars branding that gives my fingers a non-slip grip at the levers, the fingertips are smartphone- and GPS-touchscreen sensitive. Yes, I can quickly take a selfie and post it to your social media page without doffing my gloves. There is a lot of thought and detail in the new 2024 Alpinestars Techstar glove, so we hope to see a Stella version soon.

Whether mixing it up on a track or simply attacking your favorite trails, Alpinestars’ Stella Techstar jersey and pants keep you cool, comfortable, and almost as sleek and head-turning as Jett Lawrence or Chase Sexton.

Photography by Don Williams

Alpinestars Stella Techstar Pants Price: $195 MSRPAlpinestars Stella Techstar Jersey Price: $70

2024 Alpinestars Techstar Gloves Price: $45/pair