Skip to main content

Which Supermoto Boots?


Hey.... over here...: One of the most common questions amongst supermoto racers and die hard supermotard street riders. What boots?

If you're a street rider, you know full well if some one made a specialized type of underwear and named them with a "SM" in front of it, you'd be sporting your S-Moto Boxer Briefs every time you swung a leg over. Same generally goes for Boots, but boots, like boxers I suppose, are all not made equal.

The basic demands for a true Supermoto Boot are the following:


  • Replaceable sliders on the sole of the boot.
  • The best protection possible.
  • Lightest weight possible.
  • Great feel on the shifter and brake.
  • Availability of said product and replacement parts.
  • Reasonable price for the boot and parts.


A few manufacturers have tried to tackle the problem in various ways and not all of them have really done much to supply the Supermoto rider with a real reason for buying into the Supermoto boot domain.

The distinguishing factor of an SM boot vs. any other motorcycle boot is the attempt to make the sole of the boot more capable of sliding on asphalt vs. dirt- Virtually every Supermoto boot out there is an adapted MX boot with some type of replaceable and slidable sole system. No boot maker has made a ground-up Supermoto boot and so the person in the market for an SM boot really also has to consider that there is a full range of MX boot technology out there and it really ranges from crap on one side to over engineered art on the other.

One thing to consider is that you can build a boot with replaceable sliders and that solves one minor problem, but in Supermoto the entire boot takes such a beating that in the end sliders really don't help offset the cost factor of sliders vs. resoling or a new boot.

The other issue is, you can slap a great, cheap removable slider system on any boot, but if the boot itself isn't up to snuff, where's that gotten you? It could get you a broken ankle, if the boot itself isn't offering some good protection.

In 2009, Alpinestars finally released their entry to the Supermoto Boot world. We are biased to the Alpinestars line. Full specs of the boot can be found here and on the Motostrano web site. The Alpinestars Supermoto Boot is based on the Alpinestars Tech 7 Boot. It looks and fits the same and features the same protection specs as the MX Tech 7 that replaced the Tech 6 a few years ago. The Alpinestars Tech 7 Sm features removable soles that screw on with allen head screws. The Alpinestars Supermoto Boot soles sell for $34.95

Gaerne has been making a Supermoto Boot for many years. Uses a Vibram sole. Great boot.

Sidi Boots. One of the most popular "SM" boot in use would be the Sidi model. Sidi does a great job of satisfying all of the above criteria, except perhaps the price category. At $500, that's a lot of boot that is going to get ground down, slapped on the asphalt and run over. The replaceable slider design of the Sidi is good and readily available. Sliders are relatively inexpensive and the factor of good ankle, toe and shin protection is all there. For most folks though the price is just too much boot to melt on the pavement.

The other players include Oxtar, AXO (which is really no longer made), a few others- even Fly Racing had a kind of Supermoto boot on the market.

By far the most dominant actual Boot used in Supermoto today would have to be the Alpinestars Tech 8. Look at any starting grid and that's the boot you'll see on the track most. Not an SM boot at all and there's not even an after market slider system available, the Tech 8's been the dominant boot in motocross for quite some time. The Tech 8 is reasonably priced and it protects your feet, period. Plus, for not much more than the cost of most slider systems, every Tech 8 boot sole is resolable. Same goes for the Tech 10, as well as the 3 and 7.

A few notable racers and a lot of street riders go with sportbike boots. A lot more comfortable, light weight and offering great feel of the controls, Sportbike boots just don't cut it in terms of the specific kind of protection needed for supermoto. Sportbike boots aren't designed for riding with a leg out and off the bike and they're not designed for the sharp pegs on an MX bike. They'll work and they'll protect to a degree, but only MX boots provide the kind of protection to the whole foot and bones inside - a real foot brace - where a sportbike boot is more designed for a high speed impact and slide scenario.

Update: We blogged about the Alpinestars Supermoto boot recently which are available NOW.

Comments

Anonymous said…
You forgot one very, very good pair of supermoto boots taht offer all of the above. I know, I wear them :-)

The Oxtar TCX Supermotards.

http://www.btosports.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000007/Oxtar_TCX_Supermoto.jpg
motostrano said…
eh, actually, not forgotten. intentionally left out. there are a few other brands of supermoto boots out there, but these are the ones we recommend. through personal and customer experience with the oxtar/tcx brand and boots, our opinion of them isn't very high as far as actual protection goes.
JW
Anonymous said…
I love the fit of the Gaerne Supermoto boot, but the quality control is sub par. The first time I used them half of the screws fell out. I went to loctite the remaining screws only to find out the inserts are rotating or stripped. I haven't looked into it to find out which yet as I was too disgusted with my new $300 boots...
Anonymous said…
i use the sidi crossfires srs, and i have to say that yes they are a little more money, but you get what you pay for. quality and durability are outstanding and the best part is that 90% of the boot is replaceable.
motostrano said…
Alpinestars has released their Supermoto Tech 7 boots and we blogged about them here:

http://motostrano.blogspot.com/2008/11/alpinestars-supermoto-boot-specs.html

Purchase them here:
http://www.motostrano.com/alsubote7sm.html
Ash Green said…
Awesome! No words. You always go one step beyond.

There is so much great, useful information here. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Read our guide if you wish.
themotorbiker

Thanks again :)

Popular posts from this blog

Hardware: Supermoto Wheels Explained

Supermoto wheels are a big investment, when you factor that your 2-3 year old dirt bike may have a resale value in dirt form in the $4-5K range, if that. We get calls from guys all the time who say "well, I'm not really racing or nothing, so I'm just looking for the cheapest wheels you have to convert to Supermoto". Well, the real reply there is that there really isn't a cheap way to get into Supermoto unless you're going to go Sportsman about it and ride on knobbies or some type of dual-sport tire. Quality 17-inch supermoto wheels that will last are going to set you back between $800 and $2000 depending on how deep you're going to go at this and whether you want quality and performance or just a good price. Motostrano is a full scale supermoto specialist and we've been involved in Supermoto since it's re-birth in the United States in 2002. We offer complete supermoto wheels made from the finest materials and built by experience wheel builders

Riding the Moustache Samedi 27 2X Tandem Electric Bike

I love riding with my partner and riding by tandem is one of my favorite ways to get around on a Sunday. Touring by tandem is literally twice as fun as riding solo,when you are on a bike with the one you love and the one that loves you. But tandem bikes are rare and excellent electric tandem bikes are even rarer, so I wanted to give you a fresh impression of our ride yesterday on the 2018 MOUSTACHE Samedi 27 X2 tandem . Moustache is a French company, making some of the most innovative ebikes in the world. Their tandem is no exception. This bike comes in two build types, either a smooth tire touring type or a knobby tire off-road type, but the frames, motors and other specs are pretty much the same.  I've ridden tandems for the past few years on road and off road. Yesterday we did a Meet-Up ride with other fellow ebikers in the Sonoma area. Naturally we were the only tandem riders, with others riding solo on their Haibikes, KTM, Giant, Felt and Blix bikes. Out and

Bust Your Commute at Motostrano.com

If you live in the Bay Area, "getting around" is a constant thing to be reconciled with in your daily life. But, unlike other parts of the country where cars dominate completely and your only choice is to grin and bear it, you have countless alternate transportation solutions to help you differentiate from the crowd, go against the stream instead of with it, get un-stuck from traffic and benefit from health upsides as a result. Never before has there been such a wide variety of commuter-focused "personal transportation devices" available to you and the Bay Area is as usual a testing ground for all kinds of creative solutions to help you get from A to B.  Motostrano is the store at the center of all these alternative commuting solutions and we have been for almost 20 years now. Since 2002, a big part of Motostrano's focus has been about busting your commute. In the beginning it was motorcycles and in 2009 we migrated to bicycles and specifically  electric bicy