After riding dirt bikes for 20 odd years I finally picked up an old 2001 Beta Rev 3 to try this trials stuff. So far a fun way to spend a couple hours and hopefully learning some new skills and open my eyes to a new endeavor. I've got a question on gear. I've been wearing my Gaerne SG10's for a bit now. Great for protection but they do feel bloody clumsy on this tiny bike and scampering down rock bands that i crash on. Soooooo long story short what boots can I A) get away with if trying to do it on the cheap to see if I want to commit to the sport, or B) if I go whole hog what are the two most popular brands/model; of trials boots out there people are using? Thanks inc advance.
Gaerne make the best trials boot also, not cheap unless you find used. I love my Balance Oiled trials boots.
Wulfsport, not bad for the buck about 225.00 retail Will get you what you need, and save the 100.00 to boot ( No Pun )
Alpinestar nostops SIDI trials boot (just got) Novagar (my last boot) Hebo Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
I started wearing hiking boots when I first bought a trials bike 15 years ago. Still wear them today. Works for me.
Not a best boot choice long term, however a good cheap option for me was to use my BMW adventure street boots for my first few months. They had a heal witch wasn't the best but being a bit like the SIDI discovery rain boot where more flexible then MX/enduro boots and gave me much better controle of the bike to start with. In the end I found a good pair of the AlpineStairs Nostops and love them.
Gaerne Balance Oiled make a great touring / general boot as well, so if you are into that kind of riding they transfer well to other uses should trials not be your long term thing. Good for hiking around off the bike as well. I thought the same way and started with the softest boots I had around, Aerostich Combat Lite made by Sidi. They worked fine but a sole ripped from grinding on the sharp pegs. Gaps in shin coverage could be an area to think about too. My knee / shin guards overlap with the boots (now) after learning that the pegs, bike and rocks offer lots of hard pointy places to land.
Thanks gents. Picked up a pair of Gaerne Balanced Oil boots. WOW!!!!Waaaaàay different than my Gaerne SG 10S mx boots. I cannot beleive they are put together by the same manufacturer even.
People refuse to realize that Where I have posted that my trials boots are actually more comfortable than medium priced brand name tennis shoes... In fact I kind of tell them, they are like a heavy leather, higher than high top basketball shoes, when broken in, the oiled ones break in quickly. at a trials even I seldom even take them off to put on tennis or hiking boots, because they are comfortable... when tired and really hot, then maybe. after a shower, I put on my tennis shoes, lol.
No Stops work great for trials but are way to flimsy for dual sport or off road. For that stuff I break out the Tech 10s.
How did sizing compare? I have a pair of gaerne gx-1 in size 13, my merrill hiking boots are 12, my saucony running shoes 11.5 Looking forward to the wide toe box on the oiled balance...
I guess my search engine must be different than yours. I came up with at least a dozen threads in the last two years that, where people are discussing what type of trials boot to buy, have bought and whether they like them or not.
http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/gaerne-balance-oiled-boots.600428/#post-13491137 Been looking for five years! Since the Garne oiled boot has been around almost twenty years, I`ll give you my two cents. They are a good comfortable boot. Originally they were sized on the big side. But as the company has changed from sewing machines to the computerized machines the sizing has become tighter. Nothing worse than a tight boot. I`d go with a larger fit and at the worst wear the old style mx socks.
The only water proof boot. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...gclid=CJ7PhIDPhccCFQiNaQodqdMMBg&gclsrc=aw.ds
