The "ADV" Boot Scam That Broke My Foot (Buy These Instead)

I broke my foot.

I was wearing Forma Adventure boots,

which are a complete farce. Um, market

analysts know that anything labeled

"adventure" will sell by the GS load,

but it's more nefarious than that. Take

a look at the website.

>> Designed to deliver maximum protection,

comfort, and durability on and off the

road.

>> This is a straight-up lie, and people

are getting hurt because of it. The fact

of the matter is, if your adventure

entails going beyond the Starbucks, then

you have absolutely zero business

wearing an adventure boot, whether it's

a Forma or otherwise. For all intents

and purposes, when you lose traction

off-road and your half-ton twin comes

crashing down on your foot, [music]

you're about as well off in a pair of

these as a pair of common gum boots.

And I'm not alone. Literally hundreds of

people have believed the marketing,

ignored their common sense, and gotten

foot injuries from simple crashes in

adventure boots. So, here's [music] what

to get instead.

When I broke my foot last month, I chose

not to go to the hospital straight away.

I figured it must have just been a bad

sprain, [music] which is true, but it

was also much more than that, as I came

to learn after limping through life for

2 weeks. I would have gotten

professional help sooner if it wasn't

such a lengthy

>> [music]

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True off-road boots fit nicely into

four-tiered

categories. At the bottom, we've got the

entry-level boots, like Fox Comps, Leatt

3.5s, or Alpinestars Tech 3s. Except the

term entry-level is also a bit of a

farce. There isn't really an entry-level

to foot protection. You either have a

broken foot or not.

Tier four boots are typically thick

synthetic leather with injection-molded

TPU plastic panels for rigidity and

support. Except the panels are

simultaneously too soft to provide great

protection, yet hard enough to be

difficult to ride you fighting the

plastic the entire time. On the upside,

these do typically have a steel shank

and a pretty reinforced toe box.

So if this really is all you can afford,

they're much better than a sneaker, a

work boot, or an adventure boot. But for

not a lot more money, we can get into

tier three.

The hinge. This is how you know you've

graduated. An ankle hinge provides

reinforcement where extending or flexing

your ankle past its safe limit becomes

restricted. This is a huge improvement

over tier four boots, not just in safety

but functionality as well. Because you

can move your foot more freely within

its safe range, you can more easily

press on the brake or shift gears.

Beyond that, the buckles are improved

over tier four and the steel shanks and

toe boxes get better as we go up the

tiers. Both things that would have been

very welcome in this situation.

Two top choices for this category are

the Alpinestars Tech 5 and the Leatt

4.5. For my money, the Leatt gets the

win though thanks to its dual mechanical

hinge on both sides of the ankle,

whereas the Tech 5 just has it on one

side.

Other considerations are that Leatt has

a slightly wider toe box and a nicer

seal at the top thanks to its

unidirectional slide lock Velcro.

Welcome to tier two, arguably the sweet

spot where you get 90% of the protection

of a top tier boot without the $900

price tag. Back again are Alpinestars

and Leatt, except this time like Han

Alpinestars shoots first with their Tech

7. Now this is arguably the best-selling

dirt bike boot on the planet and they

just remodeled it a couple years ago so

it comes with a double-sided ankle hinge

now as well as the best buckles on any

of the boots I will be reviewing today.

These steel spears find their way

perfectly and positively every single

time.

Along with that, the toe box is quite

slim so shifting is very slick. They

make two versions to consider so watch

that. If you are a motocrosser then you

want the regular Tech 7s with the flat

sole for kicking it out in corners. But

if you're a woods warrior like myself,

then you want the Enduro version with

[music] the textured sole when you're

pushing your bike up the hill. What's

pretty neat as well is this is the

Drystar variant which makes it

waterproof from here down. A nice

alternative to those waterproof

adventure boots, and ironically, not

much more expensive than those

overpriced leather gum boots anyways.

Leatt's response to Alpinestars is the

5.5, and this is the safer boot. It uses

a really interesting and unique system

that sort of mimics the human anatomy.

There's an Achilles tendon style torsion

blade on the back that protects your

ankle from hyperflexion as well as

extension. Meanwhile, a secondary hinge

protects it from hyperinversion or

eversion.

>> [music]

>> The flex lock system, as they call it,

claims to reduce forces on your ankle by

up to 37% and your knee by 35 compared

to the other brands, which is [music]

quite a claim and impressive. Very nice.

This is intended as their de facto

Enduro boot, and Jonny [music] Walker

even helped design it.

Oh.

Not this one?

>> [snorts]

>> There is a flat sole motocross version

two if you prefer that, and it's worth

noting that the toe box is wider than a

Tech 7 [music] and more reinforced as

well.

My only recommendation for tier one is

neither Leatt nor A-stars, but rather

Sidi Crossfire 3 SRS boots.

SRS stands for sole replacement system.

So, when you wear your sole out, you can

actually unbolt it and stick a new one

on. They're available in MX and Enduro

varieties depending on your [music]

preference. But, the rebuildability

doesn't stop there. No, shin plates,

calf plates, buckles, the entire upper

boot, and more can be unbolted and

replaced. It helps justify the $900

price tag because these really are a buy

once,

>> [music]

>> cry once solution that can last decades.

But, how's the safety? Well, Sidi takes

that traditional uh ankle hinge design

that we saw on the Tech 7s and the Leatt

4.5s and builds it up into this

hyperextension block with these

dedicated lockout points. Except, I

can't help but feel after experiencing

the Leatt boots that the more

traditional ankle hinge design is

inferior to the more anatomical

direction that these boots have. The

Italian boots have a narrower profile

than other brands, but if you fit them,

then slimmer is preferable to a big

cloud hopper. In my experience, the toe

box is big enough, but I don't like the

way the boots squeeze my ankle bones.

What I do like, however, is the shank

and toe box. I'm pretty sure you could

drop a GS engine on your foot and

attempt to get up and not even break a

bone.

Hey, did you see this?

I also like the adjustable calf plate

that accommodates a variety of calf

sizes or knee braces. I was expecting

the Sidi Crossfires to be my favorite,

and they are the nicest boot of the ones

on display here, but after trying the

Leatt 5.5s, I have my top

recommendation. These are more

comfortable. They're equally protective

as far as can be measured, and they're

over $200 cheaper. Yes, these are my

favorite of the bunch, and after

experiencing the joys of a broken foot,

I'm going to be investing in a pair.

But, what if you aren't planning on

going off-road? Well, first of all,

that's totally fine. These big ADV bikes

make marvelous touring [music] machines,

and for many, the risks of hitting the

dirt do not outweigh the benefits.

Besides, [music] no matter how safe the

boot is, nothing can provide complete

invulnerability to injury.

So, what boot is right for you?

>> [music]

>> Ironically, adventure boots. Because

it's significantly less likely you'll be

dropping your bike on your foot on road,

I think this style boot makes a lot of

sense. They are comfortable to walk in.

They are waterproof. They are sufficient

at protecting you from road debris, and

they will slide well because they are

genuine leather. Just don't get fooled

like I was. I got away with wearing

these off-road so many times that I

trusted them. Don't make the same

mistake. It's not worth it.

Thanks for watching.

>> Watch them in the yard [singing]

and wonder [music]

how

>> [singing and music]

>> That was a good one.

>> [music]

[music and singing]

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