Wearing MX boots on a trike, I dont know how I lived before!

[Kintore]

Hey guys,

Just to start off heres a lil history lesson. TF 05 and before I rode with normal shoes. K swiss ultra lite POS shoes. Blew them apart in no time.
TF06 I used a mountian biking shoe. Still a little better but no where near the support I needed. Foot starts bending over footpegs and that hurts
TF07 I went to work boots. A much improvement but still lacked the upper support over the ankle and the foot still bent over the pegs causing hurtness.

Well as of today, I bought a pair of riding boots. For 200 CAD I bought Alpinestar Tech 3's. I wore them around the house a bit, put some shine n seal on them took em out for a spin.

HOLY CRAP! The now bending foot issue is forever resolved. The support is intense and I havent even fully broke them in yet! I wear orthoughtics (sp?) and theses a quite comfy still.

Heres a few pics and one has Edogs wife in it! :drool:

im telling ya guys, If you think you cant wear em. Change it, made one helluva difference I feel like superman riding around. Please note I did have to move the shifter one notch up.

[oldskool83]

TECH 3'S...Must be new. i got a free pair of new tech 8's a few years ago, now those are really nice. i have axo RC5's now.

i dont know why people dont wear the correct gear for riding...so many learn the hard way, help your feet out and wear boots. just looks like people are poor when they got a nice machine, all the other gear and wear street shoes haha.

[jeffatc250r]

I have tried to wear riding boots, i had no luck with them at all, so its work boots for me!

[Dammit!]

My biggest problem with riding boots is I can never find any that fit right. They're either way too loose or too tight. I just bought some Thor 50/50's recently and they fit length wise but they're too tight width wise. The next size up was still too skinny. I'm hoping they'll loosen up a little as they get broke in but I doubt it.

The other thing is most of them are a lot taller than they need to be in toe area which makes shifting awkward. You can raise your shifter which is fine for upshifting but then you have to pick your foot up to downshift.

And the last issue is a lot of them are too damn stiff. I'll gladly give up some of the protection for a little more flexibility in the ankle area.

The Thor 50/50's address the toe height and the stiffness problem but they still fit like crap for me. It's like they're made for a girls foot or something. Too skinny.

I don't know why nobody seems to be able to get it right. How hard is it to make freakin' half sizes? Use a softer leather around the ankle for increased flexibility. Make the toe height reasonable. That's all it would take for everybody that hates riding boots like me to finally be comfortable in them and whoever figures it out first will have a big seller on their hands once word gets out about them.

[tecat-z]

Dammit, thats the problem with all of these boots. They don't use REAL leather anymore. None of them, no matter what the price! And they haven't for many years. Sadly about 8 years ago i gave away my favorite pair of riding boots ever which were probably 87-88 year boots with steel shin guard and and all leather construction, not el cheapo plastic. And they did break in like a pair of old nikes from back in the day. Plastic doesn't break in, it just cracks in time, and never feels quite right. It's frustrating for me as well, but the tradoff for safety is still worth the hassle. Think it's time to start looking for old riding boots made of leather. The toe area NEVER ust to be so frickin' huge!

[oldskool83]

hi-point makes real leather boots yet...they look like the late 70's early 80's MX boots yet.

[atctim]

Not only do riding boots offer better comfort and protection while jumping (well - actually landing) but it is virtually painless to kick over those high compression machines. I don't dare try to start my 350X when it is hot or my 500R without the riding boots.

They take some getting used to - but once broke in - they are great. I could wear my Gaerne boots all day long. I don't know how I ever rode without them. And it seems when guys switch from work boots to riding boots - they always say the same thing - "Wow - how did I ride before without these".

[NINJA]

I've been using my blue tech 3s for prolly 4 years now for snowcross and my trike, I love them and they seemed to break in just fine. Alpinestars still uses leather. I really love my tech 8s i use for my bike, simply an awesome boot. The only shifting problems I ever had was with my banshees. I am planning on getting a pair of tech 2s this year for riding motorcycle, but i'll try them on my trike just to see.

[Kintore]

Cant seem to take the damn things off! lol

[Dirtcrasher]

I just loooove my GAERNE's...

Your lower leg feels like it's one long steel bar, gives me much more confidence.

The day one of you guys who doesn't wear boots and your pop off the foot peg or it breaks, you'll buy yourself some boots real soon....

[SYKO]

I have a much worn set of thor quadrants, and I love them, I cant ride without boots, I feal almost stupid, I miss shifts i slip off the pegs I jsut plain suck, but when I got boots on its time to RACE AND RIDE!! everybody bitches and moans about boots, but its just like a helmet, if you do serious riding you need both of them! pluss it looks cool!

[ccdhowell]

I've been wearing a pair of my old boots from when I was in the army. They're not regular issue combat boots, these are Danner Go Devil boots, 12 inches tall, full leather, laces from almost the toes to the top of the boots. I love these boots, but they're getting pretty old, 17 years, and it;s getting time to get a real pair of riding boots, but these have served me well.

[Russell 350X]

Well, I have been riding with steel toe work boots for years, and I still prefer them. I did go and buy a pair of those Tech 3's, but they slip off my foot pegs constantly when I jump. I had them at TF 07, but only wore them for a few minuted before I got sick of them, I just cant get used to them and stay on the pegs, so I prefer my work boots. I might break out those Tech 3's next time I go riding tho, mabey I can get used to them.

[scooterroo]

well i for one am the guy who knows i should wear them, have a nice scar on my shin just below the knee where the bones popped thru, after the footpeg went thru the inside of my calf and ripped about a 6 inch gash thru the muscle and snapped my bones. pant leg got caught in the chain and turned my foot totally around the opposite direction breaking it in 7 spots. ouchy, was laid up for 6 months because of that. i would like to wear riding boots, but the stiffness is so uncomfortable that my foot cramps up bad. someday i will find a set i like, but for now i take it easy and wear steel toe boots that come up to my lower calfs.

[Kintore]

Just gotta break em in guys, ive been wearing mine non stop for the last 2 days. And I can already tell they are better! hell I wore them to school lol

I find riding does the most help in the breaking in department, but ill say this now. ill never ride without em!

[ceaserthethird]

My boots feel very Stiff & Heavy - Tech 6's

I had few times were my foot slip , or close tip overs where i had to kick of rocks or trees & dirt to pre-vent the tip over

Best for the Ruff Trails ...

[kwbyfrmhell]

lol I usually where flip flops.....occasionaly my All Stars when its cold