Boots - What do you want
 

Hi Guys,
As Travellers (not as enduro riders that call themselves ADV).
( Full disclosure I run a traveller accessory shop and have an idea: BUT)

What do you want out of your boots?
What do you use and why?
What do like?
What do you dislike?

In approximate order of priority:

I want a boot with an upper that is stiff enough to prevent me from breaking my leg, even when I drop my fully loaded bike onto it.

I also want a foot section that prevents breaking a foot should I happen to do something similar to it.

Unfortunately, I'd also like it to be waterproof--don't seem to have worked that part out just yet. Failure to breath doesn't bother me, since I assume my feet will pickle and bake and accumulate stench regardless.

And I sure would like a thermoformable liner like the kind I get for ski boots, so I can mold it to all my weird bulges, bunions and bone spurs. What I've ended up doing instead is cutting holes in my liners to allow wiggle room for this protrusion or that. It works, but kind've defeats the purpose.

Oh: all that, plus lightweight and walkable.

Yah, dream on.

Mark

I don't go off-roading, I generally stick to decent roads to get me from A to B. I have had a pair of AlpineStar Stage street boots for about the last 5 years. They have held up extremely well, and I would buy another pair.

They're nothing fancy, just decent sturdy black street boots with a Goretex liner. They are comfy while riding, are alright for walking off the bike, keep my feet warm and dry in cold or wet weather, yet aren't overly warm in hot weather.

-What I look for in a boot is something that plays a multipurpose role so I do not have to carry and extra pair of footwear for walking in when I am off the bike.. Waterproof is nice so Gore-tex comes into play here.. Also something sturdy with good ankle support and a good foot support cradle... Also something that has an extra rubber rand for protection from stones kicked up by the wheels...

-I have settled on a sturdy hi top hiking boot made by Meindl to fit my personal needs in a riding boot... The model I use is the Dovre..

-These boots are built on a mountaineering platform and are sturdier than a lot of the branded for dualsport riding boots out there.. They are 11" high so when I use shin guards they will tuck into the boot and give protection up past the knee.. They have a Goretex liner and are very waterproof for the first 1-2 yrs until the liner breaks down, after that they still perform a reasonable job at keeping your feet dry... On a lot of my rides I will also get off the bike and trek in the mountains so a DS or MX boot are totally unsuitable for my needs.

- The only real downside is that the Miendl's are expensive, their cost is higher than a lot of riding boots... Then again, they are performing the role of 2 pair of boots...

A bit of video:
https://youtu.be/LXIjL-iUMGU

On both of my trips I used different kinds of boots

I think you need a mix of support whilst you are riding to protect your feet and ankles, whilst also being comfortable, and you need the durability for them to be good for walking about in when you stop to visit place on your route. Having some kind of waterproofing is also good.

On my trip to Thailand I use normal offroad (motocross) boots. Really great for on the bike especially when on the trails, with lots of protection and semi comfortable for wearing all day. They were not waterproof but i wore Seal Skinz to combat this. But they were rubbish when I was stopping off to visit places on my route and there was no give in them when walking.

On my Balkans trip I wore the Forma Adventure boot. Again I found I them great on the bike, not as stiff as the motocross boots but still good ( I did test them when I came off). They are waterproof and worked well when I needed them. Walking around in them was good due to they way they developed the sole. Nothing really to dislike about these

Wayne

Thanks for you feedback everyone.

Some day, Toby, you'll drop the sharp edge of a pannier onto your ankle--with all the weight of the bike behind it. Do this on a surface more solid than gooey mud, and you'll know why I wear motocross boots, not hikers.

There are other ways to break an ankle or tibia on a bike (which you can research as easily as I can), but that's the one I've had experience with.

An alternative: continue to trust in your skills and your luck. I'm fine with that if you are.

Mark

I use Vanucci boots from louis.de
https://www.louis.eu/artikel/vanucci...3e7951bd4e07b5

I think I paid €150 when I got them over three years ago but they're still waterproof and still holding up (just exceptionally scuffed). They're good for walking moderate distances in and reasonable protection, however...

DEAR LORD THEY NEVER DRY OUT.

Even with waterproof boots eventually water will end up sluicing down my leg and when that happens it's at least a week of soggy feet.

So yeah, if someone could invent a magic technology that could dry out motorcycle boots that would be fab.

slowly but surely I switch exclusively to enduro mx boots from my adventure ones even for longer travels. Safety first as I like get off the pavement as much as it's possible. Unfortunately adventure boots don't protect your legs enough, the trade off is waterproof properties but I can live with that. There are ways to dry them fast. Our legs are at most risk on and off-road. Currently I use Gaerne SG12, very comfortable and bullet proof boots.

I currently ride in Gaerne Gore-tex all terrain trials. Like them a lot (waterproof and cross continent comfort). Will soon be changing - my priorities will be:

Decent protection

All day comfort

Gortex

Stiff enough soles to ride standing for hours at a time

Sole with some grip


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Too true, lots of documented cases. I nearly broke my leg, R100RS pannier pinned me to the ground. Also pulled a bike off of more than one fallen rider, PINNED by his own pannier, luckily no breaks but very sore. Close call. I've also seen the pannier protect rider leg, so it can go either way.

Lots will depend on WHERE and HOW you ride, at what pace and whether your doing a lot of off road and how technical it is. Type of bike can be relevant too.

Agree! Even Gore-Tex. In fact legendary world traveler Walter Colebatch will not use GoreTex boots, he says they take TOO LONG to dry out once soaked. :innocent:

In Cold weather steel toes will FREEZE your foot quickly. A NO GO for travel, IMO.

Good foot box design and correct materials will protect your foot just fine without a Steel toe.

I currently own 5 pairs of boots, Dainese street boots (too expensive)
TCX ADV boots, Forma street boots, TCX GoreTex Infinity. ALL are pretty good doing longer walks, and that is a must for me. I raced off road enduro and have owned Sidi Crossfires. Great protection but, IMO, not practical for long range travel where you LIVE on your bike for months.

I've crashed a few times on my TCX ADV boots and they protected well. Super stiff Motocross boots have a down side for twisting injuries. They prevent ankle moving much so the "Twist" goes up to your knee ... and if you don't have Knee Braces, your knee can pop out. This has happened to me more than once.

Traveling, knee braces may not be practical for most. So, a bit of "give" in your boot may be preferred? I've WHACKED a few rocks in the Desert a few times, no pain with TCX ADV boots. Good knee pads are important to me too. They need to cover knee then extend down into BOOT TOP. This way, Tibia is really well protected. Tibia injury is one of the most common

Some of my current favorite boots:
https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/...v-tourer-boots

https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/...dventure-boots

https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/...eep-rain-boots

https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/tcx-baja-wp-boots

https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/...-drystar-boots

I’ll clarify: I was posting in favor of motocross boots in preference to hikers. I was not taking a stand on hard vs. soft panniers.

My hard panniers have protected my legs in falls. I don’t know whether soft panniers would have done the same. Either way, that’s not the subject of this thread.

Mark

I like safety first since I like offroad riding. I like Alpinestar Tech 7 boots. They flex at the ankle level. For travel, buy one size bigger than normal, add gel insoles and don't overtight them. Setup that way, walking is not bad.


Patrick

the problem is hard pannier may hurt your leg as well as save it all depend how you land it while soft panniers will never hurt your leg. I prefer MX boots regardless.

What it comes down to is personal requirement of what you need the boot to do..
Not much mentioned on injuries sustained by slips and falls while trying to walk somewhere in stiff MX boots or trying to muscle the bike over an obstacle and losing your footing... On one of my group rides we rode into and hiked a short trail to a waterfall, one of the guys in MX boots slipped on the rocks and fell into the river.. Fortunately 2 guys were close enough to help pull him out before he was washed down stream.. Even with a lug sole, MX boots provide feel similar to a ski boot for walking in... They work well for what they were designed for, MX racing..

I think the boots designed for Adventure riding will be more comfortable in the long run and work better for your average traveler...

The same holds true in the hard VS soft bag debate, factor in your personal requirement of what you need from the luggage and what terrain you ride in.. I ran both types in the past, but after been bitten a few times on the back of the legs by the hard boxes I now have switched permanently to soft bags... For my type of riding a much safer choice..

don't agree here, mx boots are not for racing only. You're better off wearing them in any kinda off-road riding. Can you afford crashing your leg under the
bike in middle of nowhere when you ride alone? It takes some time to get use to
but after a while I feel as comfortable in mx boots as in my adventure boots.
Only walking is not as comfortable obviously but I carry sneakers for that.

This is true in my experience. Did 8 years AMA Enduro competition and serious dirt riding for decades.

Fact is you DO get used to riding in Motocross boots. Walking is never ideal but riding does come after a period of adjustment.

For travel or dual sport riding I use a compromise Adventure boot that offers good protection ... but NOT the great protection you get from a full
Motocross boot. In many serious crashes I never had a foot, ankle or Tibia injury during my years of Off road.

Now, with the Adventure boots, I'm more (much!) conservative and have learned well "how" to crash. So far so good! :rofl:

I must say, I do hate trying to walk around in Moto boots ... and terrible choice for international travel, IMO.
bier

Main construction - Leather that can be re-proofed.
I can always wear a gore tex sock that can be replaced cheaply.
some kind of ventilation , maybe via a zip.
easy to walk/hike in but offering a decent amount of protection, I can buy mx boots for full on protection.
laces to get the best fit but hidden and then a side/rear zip for easy entry

if the boots look good that would be nice too:scooter:

I have owned sailboats for years in Canada and now in Guatemala. I am leaving the boat in a couple of weeks to go back to Canada for 5-6 months. It is humid here so mold is a big concern. I am going to leave my air-conditioner on dehumidify mode AND do a trick I always did when I put my boat to sleep on Canada. Buy a package of disposable diapers. Place the diapers all over the boat in various places. There is a chemical inside (as you might imagine ) that DRINKS MOISTURE!! Voila! I return to a dry, mold free boat.
This morning while drinking my coffee and reading this post I'm thinking....hey!!! The guys who can't get their boots dry???? I'm thinking a better solution to stuffing those boots with newspaper would be.........
a disposable diaper!!! I haven't tried it yet but I WILL! Hey, just a thought.
Oh, NOT to worry. I've been called crazy before.

Some of you folks make it like the MX boots will make you invincible to leg/foot injuries... If you crash right you are going to break your leg no matter what boot you wear, many who were riding in MX boots have broken bones to prove that... It took us hours to get a guy out who went off the road on one of my rides and you guessed it, he was wearing MX boots... In fact when we got him out to where we could meet the ambulance at dark he pleaded with the medics not to cut off his boots {compound fracture} as they were brand new.. The WR 250 MotoMavericks trip ended in {I think it was Mongolia} in 2016 from a broken leg, while wearing MX boots, they returned to finish the trip in 2017 and it ended again with another broken leg, you guessed it, while wearing MX boots...

That been said, MX boots do offer the stiffest platform that can absorb direct hits better than a softer boot... They also limit rotation which could be good in most cases but could also move a twisting injury further up the leg ..

I would wear a lugged sole MX boot if all I did was stay on the bike, but like my bike, I like to have foot wear that excels in a multi purpose role... I linked a video earlier in this thread that represents why I choose a mountaineering style hiking boot over an single purpose boots.. If an MX boot fits your adventure requirements then go for it, some people do that and then wear flip flops for their walking shoes..

of course not, no boots or any gear can guarantee 100% safety,
but increasing your odds are always good i think. With MX boots there is some risk of twisting your knee when you unlucky because they're too stiff so if ankle won't go, knee will. When I'm just touring I still wear high, leather adventure boots but I don't take chances off-road much then.

WRT travel boots, I feel foot crushing protection from a typical slow-speed fall over is more important than lower leg protection. So is day-to-day off-bike walkability comfort, ease of fitting and I suppose waterproofness. It’s not 40 mins bar-to-bar round an MX track, it’s 40 days and 40 nights or more on the road.

Like many, I started with MX-style Alpine Star bricks and felt proper Mad-Max invincible, then swung to the other extreme with lighter Hi Tec Magnums and even Chelsea boots (ATGATT had not been invented then). Back to Gaerne MX, then lace-up Altberg desert boots and so on. In the end, experience has shown I prefer just enough to do the job rather than overkill.

I know from hiking it’s virtually impossible to get non-membrane boots these days but as mentioned, once wet inside GTX takes forever to dry and anyway the membrane fails or clogs up eventually. Old school waxing plus GTX socks if necessary, as stuxtttr says. Would keep costs down too.
Preferring arid deserts over knee-deep Colebatchov-like bogs, I have little need for membranes and used ex-army desert boots and Altberg road boots for a while, but these have little foot-crush protection.

Thinking I ought to up my game, just this year I got some TCX Baja midis which tick my boxes: MX crush-proof meets mil-spec desert boot. Short, light, lace-free clip-on and adjustable, walking comfy and membrane so maybe waterproof. In the desert I had no impression of poor-breathing claminess (sign of a quality membrane) plus they look great too.

On a recent fortnight in Algeria - pure dirt biking as opposed to travelling - one guy caught his foot in a deep rut and ripped out his knee ligaments, just as Hopper and Tremens mention. Off road I suspect this type of injury is more common than the much-feared alloy box-edge/boxer cylinder head snapping the shin.
Those of us in ankle boots couldn’t help wondering if his full-clamp MX boot may have transferred the torsion directly to the knee, rather than allowing the shins to flex. But then I’ve heard of shins snapping this way too.
On the same trip another rider had the usual low-speed bike-landing-on-foot deal and would have broken something without the solid MX-style foot casing. Ride long enough and once in a while you'll get got ;-(

As said by MDog, along with image, price and so on, what you choose to wear ought to depend on how and where you ride. It won’t be the same for all, but these days the choice is greater than ever.

PS: Just remembered that Aerostich Combat Touring Boots are membrane free, and so were by junk-shop Altbergs. Proofed them once a year and never leaked on me. I get the feeling a loose fit helps with this

In my case? boots are like wives, I never seem to get it right?

I am going to try these ones next.

https://s19.postimg.cc/shuucet7n/nav.jpg


https://s19.postimg.cc/pnroz5lyb/nav1.jpg



https://s19.postimg.cc/lemyx0szn/nav2.jpg


Maybe I end up with a good set this time, on my 10th wife now lol

:thumbup1: I feel the same ... and to repeat the above, lots depends what sort of riding terrain, which bike, length of trip and rider experience/aggressiveness. Most going on long tours to middle of nowhere ride more conservatively, realizing they may be a long way from help.

Yes, but even Colebatchov has criticized Gore tex boots for this same fault. TAKE FOREVER TO DRY! In Walter's case, may as well just wear Surfer's Wet Suit booties! :smartass:

I prefer some Tibia protection as I have a large Titanium plate in my leg from earlier encounter with Armco barrier. Good foot crush protection is critical too as is walking comfort.

I have Trac Evo TCX boots that provide both decent protection, really good walking comfort, so strike a nice balance for me. This model has closed out. Last copies went for just over $100 per copy! (I paid $170 two years ago)

TCX and Forma now make better ADV boots than this one, but so far mine have done well. Newer ones have all gone UP in price to $250 to $300 range.

https://www.cyclegear.com/gear/tcx-t...MaAvzQEALw_wcB

The TCX shortie boots are great too, can be worn all day, everyday as not only a riding boot but for walking around too.

My TCX Trac Evo's are pretty good in this regard but not as nice as the Shortie Desert ones for pure comfort, ease of ingress/egress.

The twisting issue is real for super stiff motocross boots. Pros wear knee braces to counteract, not practical for traveling. My TCX Evo's are not too stiff but strong enough to protect foot, ankle most times.

Catching your foot in a rut can cause injury with any boot worn. Keep feet on pegs! :D

sometimes even mx boots are made poorly like this fox comp 5
and guy broke foot wearing them. So he tested them afterwards in various conditions... :)

I just want someone to remanufacture my still worn but well worn Alpinestas 'Rathmells'!