Sidi adventure boots
 

Note: I bought mine used, nothing more than cosmetic damage but the wear and tear had begun before I started testing these out.

The good -

Armor is everywhere it needs to be, these boots saved me from many a scrape on the road throughout the last 15 months of riding through the best and worst of the Americas. I dropped the bike on pavement once and all that happened was I stretched my achilles tendon.

Comfortable as hell. Once these are worn in I could wear them all day (and frequently must)

Easy on and off, adjust once and you're done.

The Bad:

Durability. At $500 bucks new I would expect these boots to last longer, but perhaps they're just not expected to endure this kind of punishment.

They are no longer water resistant as they were when I purchased them - the leather is separating at the seams where the toe cap ends. Got them sewn back together but still leaky, no rainy riding for me anymore. They do still seem to be watertight when I am trying to get the water OUT, however...

Protection - the ankle bone protection is great but the articulated heel is a weak point I'd say. Personally I put this in the good for how comfortable it makes the boot, but after crashing 200km from the nearest city and having my foot bent so far I had to use my heel to shift, I think I'd go for fixed heel boots in the future.

Warmth - In rain the boots soak up water and even if it doesn't transfer to your socks, it will chill your feet as the wind passes over the boots.

Would I buy again?

For $200 used in good condition, sure. New? I think there should be tougher options out there.

See also: Sidi adventure boots - ADVrider

I can't believe how fast the soles wore out on my Sidi Adventures! Just bought a pair of Alpinestar Toucans(Shite Name!) and are a far better boot and completely waterproof...........so far! Cost me £240 from Germany

W2 Adventure boots.

£140, say no more. They're outlasting and outperforming some of my boots that cost double.

http://www.biker-bits.co.uk/ekmps/sh...boot-828-p.jpg

I tried a pair of the W2's on and loved them. Nicer to walk in than my hiking boots plus I like the look of them as they are not obvious as being motorbike boots when under jeans etc.

I didn't buy them as I had difficulty reconciling whether they had sufficient protection *for me* (definitely a personal thing). For maximum protection I would have bought Alpinestar Tech 3's as they are not much more expensive. However, I considered these too extreme for my usage and settled on what I determined was the middle ground - the Sidi Adventure, although quite expensive.

I wore the Sidi's pretty much all day every day over 4 months and 20,000klm over various road qualities (I have owned them for at least 1 year and 5,000klm more) and the sole of mine looks like new, they are incredibly comfortable and remain waterproof. The only obvious signs of wear is on the toes, possibly from stones being thrown up from the front wheel? I have heard of the sole issue before, but no problems with mine. I would be disappointed if I had sole issues on a boot at this price point!

The only disappointment is the "infamous" squeek that drives me insane :stormy:

I also have tech 3s which I've worn for two long trips. Great protection but impossible to walk in and a slick sole which is too slippy..... The W2s have decent protection too but probably not as much as the sidis. With any boot, if you have toothed grippy pegs, you're going to Chew the soul. A pair of flip flops will last a rtw if you have a rubber footed peg.

I'm running wide, grippy, toothed pegs and I expected a chewed sole. As there is there is hardly a mark on the sole, I can only gather that I either wasn't standing enough, the wider than standard pegs helped with weight distribution on the sole when standing (ie no pressure point) or weighing in at 75kg kitted up, I wasn't putting as much pressure on the soles as some others?

I'm both relieved and happy that the Sidis are still in reasonably good order. :thumbup1:

Just checked the toes though, I reckon this will be my main area of concern for longevity and waterproofness (I thinking I'm making words up now)....

Do they have replaceable soles ?

If you are talking about the Sidi's? Then no, they do not have their SRS (sole replacement system?). They do look like your garden variety glue/stitched sole which probably means that a decent cobbler/bootmaker may be able to sort something out?

hmmm. That ain't good for boots of that cost and supposed application..

If there is an isue I guess people could contact Sidi and complain. They might fob you off but if you persue it,then they might do something out of good will.

As for that dreaded squeak, I recommend some furniture polish spray. They have a wax it that will lubricate the moving parts and stop the squeak.

It's worked on all my squeaky boots down the years.

I used the Sidi boots last year for 8 weeks solid and 18000kms, they were very comfortable and water proof (well at the beginning but I never cleaned them or polished them so that probably didnt help). They did develop a squeek, will have to do some oiling of them. The soles are hardly worn, wonder if they had some issues with a batch?

Been wearing Sidi Adventure Rain (Gore Tex) boots for 3 years, 30,000 kms + still looking good, had plenty of falls in them, including a high side at 80 mph, some wear on toe caps and on leather on sides, but other than that they have been excellent, plenty of tread left, they have been are still are 100% waterproof and are super comfy riding or walking. They get cleaned and polished a couple of times a year.

Oh Yeah, Im wearing them to my friends wedding on Saturday - id better clean them :cool4:

All footwear has its compromises, I cant walk far in my motocross boots and I need better ankle/heel protection than a high leg hiking boot. Unless a Leather boot has a (good quality) waterproof membrane they will never be 100% waterproof, despite what anyone says, you can seam seal the stitching and us a shed load of dubbin, leather impregnation cream etc but at the end of the day leather breathes and will eventually let water through as the polish/cream/coating wears off from the outside and dissipates from the heat generated by your feet.

Ted, those W2's look pretty good, but how stiff are they around the ankle/heel ? Id definitely wear them on short rides around town or locally, but for a longer dirt trip (for me) I need somethining with an external brace/armour on ankle

Spare soles for the Sidi's are available here. It is a german store but they deliver world wide.

Greetings
Dominik

Thanks Dominik, good to know!

I must say having just looking at the Toucans mentioned by Harty, they look quite a bit more substantial with better external armour than the Sidi's how are they to walk in ?

I looked at these then bought Alt berg boots instead.

The sidi boots just don`t seem durable for the cash.