Adventure Bike Rider Forum

Whatever you do, try before you buy.

I remember, years ago, being very tempted by a boot advertised in Trail Bike Magazine...but I thought I'd wait until the Dirt Bike Show.

Well, my 'dream boots' were on sale there, and I tried them on. Guess what...they were horribly uncomfortable. I found a much more comfortable pair on another trader's stand.

Just had a thought ...another option...trials boots...still off-road suitable but more flexible than MX. Trials riders 'walk' sections before they ride them, so you can go rock climbing in them!

https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/sid ... ero1-boots

MudFing wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2019 2:38 pm

OB1 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2019 2:11 pm Hmm... food for thought, Herman. A trip like that would indeed make my feet sweat!

My mate, who is doing the trip with me, suggested the Forma Adventure Boot: https://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorc ... lcQAvD_BwE

I did almost 30,000 miles in a set of these, India, Alaska, Asia, Iceland etc - Now 8 years old and I still use them as my trail riding boots, missing a buckle but I love them, best £150 ish I've ever spent.

I note sportbike shop says the soles are too soft for use with metal footpegs or kickstart...it's that comfort v protection thing again...

Top tip for breaking in new boots...plastic carrier bag over your sock, then put boot on.

I tested the W2 as part of a group test of adventure boots for RiDE mag a few years ago. They were okay. Middle of the road. My pick of them all were the Gaerne All Terrain. A trials boot really but for an on and off bike adventure where you need comfort, support and waterproofing they were my pick of the lot, preferable to Sidi Adventures and Forma Adventures just because they're less clunky. £240 for the Gore Tex versions I believe.

Thanks, Nathan.

That's a bargain for Gore-Tex!

Gaerne are the business, but do you really need full extreme off-road protection levels? Depends what you'll end up doing in the back of beyond. Perhaps consider more comfort and walkability plus medium protection. The low version of the Forma ADV boots look like you could even hike in them a bit.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Forma-Adven ... ctupt=true

Richard Simpson Mark II wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2019 3:55 pm

MudFing wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2019 2:38 pm

OB1 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2019 2:11 pm Hmm... food for thought, Herman. A trip like that would indeed make my feet sweat!

My mate, who is doing the trip with me, suggested the Forma Adventure Boot: https://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorc ... lcQAvD_BwE

I did almost 30,000 miles in a set of these, India, Alaska, Asia, Iceland etc - Now 8 years old and I still use them as my trail riding boots, missing a buckle but I love them, best £150 ish I've ever spent.

I note sportbike shop says the soles are too soft for use with metal footpegs or kickstart...it's that comfort v protection thing again...

Intetesting, maybe they're just covering themselves.. Ive never had a bike with anything but metal footpegs and used the formas to kick high compression xr650r/wr450 engines many times. Plus theyve been submerged in snow/ice/mud/deserts... In fact on one occasion we found a bear/coyote had nicked one and left it around 100m from the tent.

They were our only shoes for about 8 months, did everything from hiking to detifoss waterfall to eating in swanky restaurants in vancouver in them.

The protection isn't quite up there with mx boots, we did have one crash where a pannier bolt went clean through the boot but on another occasion they deffinitely saved my ankle in a pretty hard prang... Id happily have another set for a similar trip.

Overall i wouldn't worry too much about the gear, we spent ages researching helmets etc before we left but we ended up replacing half our gear after it got stolen/lost/broken/crashed/mouldy - it was all much of a muchness and we ended up riding in shorts/t shirts for large sections of the trip... I always felt a bit of a twat with my klim jacket and fullface surrounded by locals in sandals/vests!

Youll have an awesome time even if your wearing old rigger boots and an mx lid!

My W2 4 dirt have been brilliant.
All day comfortable - I wore them for the 2 weeks in India when riding.
Don’t get any water through on such water crossings as I’ve done nor have they leaked in heavy rain.
Maybe I’ve just been lucky?

The Forma look almost identical to the W2 but maybe a tad trimmer.

MudFing wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2019 5:30 pmIn fact on one occasion we found a bear/coyote had nicked one and left it around 100m from the tent.

Your feet must smell tasty!

www.dirtbikexpress.co.uk have some good deals in boots