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O/k I'm donkey deep with planning for our Birdsville Track Trip in mid-May and had to face the face that riding in my trusty shoes wouldn't meet the required standard. Neither is this the time to discuss my little slow-speed off in November last year when I badly (very badly) gashed my shin down to the bone and any sort of boot protection would have saved a lot of personal pain (not to mention the embarrasment) :icon_frown:

I hadn't previously purchased boots because I didn't want pure motorcross boots or straight road boots - I wanted dual-sport boots. Looking around the local Melbourne shops while everyone was happy to get boots to order there didn't seem to be any real range actually stocked. As this was expected to be a relatively expensive purchase I did really want to try before I brought !!!

A friend suggest that I try Bike Mart in Ringwood - so off I trudged (actually I drove but that doesn't sound nearly as interesting).

What a motherload - actually in stock and in my approximately size (11) were TCX Infinity, Gaerne Explorer (both old and new versions) and suprisingly the Sidi Adventure (suprising because the Australian Sidi distributer had indicated that they were not going to import them). The Sidi's were the European version with the Gortex liner system and so they are the waterproof.

I couldn't squeeze into the TCX's and they didn't have a bigger size so ... onto the Gaerne which felt good but a little tight - especially across the top of the foot so ... slipped on the Sidi's. They felt fantastic (size 47) so probably just a little more room to move - leather, Sidi angle hinge and seemed to provide appropriate ankle protection. Damn they were the most expensive :toothy11:

Thought hard for a while and then negotiated a price of $590 (on the road :001:).

I wore them for a couple of nights around home to start the break-in process and found them to be great with a pair of woollen cool socks. But at around 1.5kgs each you know you have them on.

First ride was on Saturday (Melbourne to Daylesford and back, together with a short forest ride - 4.5 hours all up). First impressions are good - much better support than my trusty shoes :001: comfortable riding either sitting or standing and encountered 100kms of medium / heavy rain on the way home with no problems. Still getting used to the buckles and will have to adjust the gear change for a more comfortable and reliable control.

Conclusion: Sidi Adventure boots certainly do the job albeit a little bit expensively. Well made and a good fit for me. However I feel that they are probably a little bit over the top for round town so I'm looking a simple road boot as well.

More to come but I'm also happy to answer any questions you may have.