EXTEND THE LIFE OF YOUR GORE-TEX GEAR

Keep your cherished GORE‑TEX® Garments adventure-ready by using an expert GORE-TEX® Repair Service.

FreeRide is at the extreme end of recreational skiing and boarding – and that means our gear takes a beating.  But we cherish every nick and ding that comes along with the journey. They remind us of past adventures and make our gear uniquely ours.

It’s all part of the FreeRide goodness.

Keeping gear in service isn’t just good for the environment and our wallets, it’s therapy of a kind too. There’s nothing more satisfying than rescuing a pair of socks from exile in the bottom drawer with some good old fashioned darning wool or resewing a frayed seam in your favourite merino base layers, ideally using a non-matching thread colour so you can show off your handiwork at the refuge on your next adventure. It’s all part of the FreeRide goodness.

But sometimes repairs need a professional – especially when it comes to Gore-Tex.

As I discovered, there’s only so much you can do with stick on patches and glue. After many years of abuse, my Gore-Tex Pro shells needed some attention in the … ahem, crotch, from someone with more love to give them than I could myself. My first thought was to approach the respected mountain equipment brand from which I had originally purchased them. A few emails later, after reminding me they were out of warranty, I was informed they were badly delaminated (whatever that means) and likely beyond repair. They offered to take a look for fifty quid, but suggested “it may be more worthwhile to invest in a new pair”.

We can repair almost anything.

Somewhat disheartened I looked around for alternatives, and that’s when I stumbled across the GORE‑TEX® Gear Repair Service. As the name suggests, they repair pretty much anything made from Gore-Tex using a super simple 4 step repair process and confidently claim “we can repair almost anything”. This was exactly the news I wanted to hear.

My repair was assigned to the United Repair Centre (London Repairs) and they were awesome. They emailed me to say my package had arrived. Then they emailed me again to say how they were going to repair my gear and checking I was happy with their plan. They even told me to “Have a great day!” A few days after that they were back in touch to say my shells were on their way back. All for £24.88!!

They’re now safely home and looking good (see for yourself in the photos below). After I’ve spoiled them with a spa treatment using Grangers Wash + Repel, they’ll be back in my adventure wardrobe ready for next season.

My Gore-Tex shells live to ride another day. BEFORE - showing my botched repair attempt. AFTER - thank you United Repair Centre The 4 step repair service - as simple as A, B, C.