I have medium to narrow feet and found my SIDI Crossfire's just a bit narrow, even for me. Not bad, but I have pretty narrow feet.

Maybe SIDI have different Width's ... and don't tell us? Or ... are they all the same? Generally speaking, Italian footwear is very narrow ... for the Euro foot I guess? My Crossfires are good but I wouldn't want to hike too far in them.
But very comfy riding and no better protection.

Gaerne are also well known for making comfortable boots. I don't own any ATM, but would consider for sure!
I like this one, $213 usd at Competiion Acess, more at Revzilla.
http://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/g...dventure-boots

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-n...00/40754_1.jpg

I recently got a pair of Gaerne SG-10's and absolutely love the fit of them. They fit very similar to my Sidi Disco's, but offer tons of protection. The only downsides seem to be weight and bulkiness. To be fair, no MX boot is going to be a light weight tourer, and the weight hasn't seemed ot bother me so far. Still working out that best compromise between ultimate protection and the light weight of a good touring boot.

Boot choice can be a conundrum for travelers. Depending how you travel, your pace and things you like to do along the way, boots can either help or hinder.

This relates to off the bike walking around. Ideally, you get to your days destination, check into Hotel or make camp, change out of riding gear ... then you go out exploring ... leaving your riding boots behind and switching to sandals or trainers.

But sometimes you want to explore mid ride and don't want to have to change out of your boots, then back again when back on the bike. It's nice to have boots that are good for some reasonable time on your feet, walking around. Maybe check out a market or museum, maybe stop at a bike shop or deal with some govt. agency. Often times changing boots is a pain, so you just end up walking in your riding boots. Can you realistically do it?

Boot comfort is a subjective area ...but most agree full-on Moto Cross boots aren't the best walking around off the bike for any length of time. You certainly don't want your boots dictating WHERE and HOW you travel. At the same time ... you don't want to sacrifice protection either. Foot, ankle and Tibia injuries are some of the most common for riders.

Everyone deals with this differently: Nathan Milward wore red trainers from Oz to the EU, riding his Australian 90cc Honda "Postie" bike.

IMHO, some of the "compromise" dual sport boots listed in this thread approach a workable solution, combining "reasonable" protection with decent comfort.

In Asia, everyone rides in flip-flops ... and emergency rooms or FULL of mangled riders. (Been there, seen it). Tourists fall into this trap and often ride with no protection.

So what is everyone's opinion on this ... and how do you deal with boots?

After all of that doh

I was quite close to get Gaernes, but inability to test them made me go back to a model I knew.
Thanks to internet shopping, stores carry very limited number of boot brands and models...

Full motocross boots are for short duration off road track rides. The only ones suitable for travel are the more expensive ones that are comfortable, have some flex in the sole and an ankle pivot so you can walk a bit.

My solution is risk management:

Riding off road and long trips: Gaerne 10s. Great protection, comfort and you can walk in them. Well walk for shopping etc, but not hike distance. Bike landed on my foot many times and not even a bruise.


Light off road and tar long distance: my Forma GTs, can easily walk, very thick leather, flexible, some protection but not like a motocross boot

Highway local: BMW all around. Light leather boot. Suitable to go into a meeting.

Commute and town for work: normal veldskoen, which is a leather short boot. Ja not really protection but you cant go to clients looking like a biker. A clean textile jacket gloves and helmet is enough. Normal office pants.

All my falls have been on gravel. So I never do gravel without full kit.

Gaerne G-Midland
 

I have wore these boots probably 7 days and the stitches are letting go the boot is disintegrating on me. Probably not waterproof anymore. Very bad purchase and built quality. The most expensive boots ever 43$ per day! :ban:

Send them back. You have the right to have your money returned.
If you wait too long ... this will no longer be possible ... so do it NOW!

In most countries if a product "falls to pieces" in 30 days or less you are entitled to FULL REFUND.

Good luck. beer

Next time I go to London I will get myself a pair of Altbergs as I have drooled over them for years.

I've got some sturdy Alpha hiking boots with Goretex that I like to use, but also have various motorcycle boots, including Enduro boots from BMW (can't rememeber the name). Motorcycle boots are better for riding... but not for walking. Two pairs of boots simply take up too much space. What I end up wearing depends on the type of trip I embark on. My last trip on Iceland it was motorcycle boots all the way, and some compact sneakers for once i arrived at my destination. It was all riding without stop all day.

On my african trips I've preferred the hilimng boots as my day's ride would often include some stops which envolved walking or hanging about. One problem with hiking boots are that they offer poor protection. I've dropped a bike on my foot parked, and I was limping for a week. With a proper boot I would have been much better off.

One thing to keep in mind, as I just saw it happen to someone a few days ago. Tuck your shoelaces inside the boot as they can snag on the bike. Poor fellow got a shoelace snagged on his footrest or something, coming to a stop. He leaned to put is foot down coming to a stand still, but ended up tipping over as he struggled getting his foot firmly planted in time to hold the bike up.

Good advice about the laces Wheelie, I found that you can't always tuck the laces inside your boots so I double tie the loops and sometimes triple them which means there is no significant loop left to catch anything, the single loose ends can just hang as they wont catch on anything, hope you enjoy your Altbergs, I had a pair and loved them.

+1 for Gaerne SG10s.

There's a stiff metal plate in the sole. My toe hit a rock which pushed the boot into the pannier which then shifted the back end of the bike round. No problem with my foot. My confidence was shaken a bit though!

Cheers,

Ian

After several weeks riding in my SG10's I won't ever go back to Adventure or Road boots. Comfortable, lot's of protection and waterproof (I sno-sealed the stitching on mine).

So, I purchased latest version of Alpinestars Toucan.
These boots lasted a bit over 2 months...
After one month of light use, one of the buckles came off (hinge part) when threads failed.
Once I got back from Alaska, I noticed that the seams on both boots started to fail!
I returned them to Alpinestars and now I will get new ones under warranty.

I wonder what has happened at Alpinestars? New factory somewhere?

Oh, maaannnn I had them on my list for my next pair of boots. I currently have TCX Infinity which started leaking after 7 months (ok, ok, I don't really look after them....), but still. So I tried a pari of Toucan which I liked, but if they goto pieces after 2 months...

Thanks,
Casper

How about rain/water ... do they leak, or do one need sealskinz socks ?