Thanks mate. You've pretty much confirmed what I suspected - that the stuff that makes them a great road boot doesn't help with off-road.

As an off-road beginner I don't want to be "all the gear and no idea" but at the same time now is when I'm likely to end up under the bike in dumb situations, so I want good protection.

I guess I'll go back to looking at the TCX X-Mud (because I like TCX and it's an old model so reduced in price) and the Alpinestars Tech 3.