Selecting the right pair of riding boots can be a complex matter. While many riders prefer to buzz around wearing whatever footwear they happen to have on when they decide to fire up their rides, experience (and emergency room visits) has taught us that protective footwear is a non-negotiable item.
Unfortunately, some folks- me included- have odd-sized feet. This requires some creative thinking when it comes to finding riding boots that are both comfortable enough for all-day rides and designed to protect the lower extremities from anything and everything the roadways throw in our path.
My personal favorite boots are made by Italy’s Alpinestars, a well-known and highly-regarded global brand favored by top motorcycle racers of all disciplines. The only problem with A-Star’s incredibly well-engineered footwear is their decidedly European style: their boots tend to run on the narrow side and their website even suggests that customers order items in a size or two larger than usual to ensure a pain-free (and blister-free) fit.
Witha size 14 extra wide size, even the largest Alpinestars boots are a tight fit, making a long day aboard a motorbike a fiarly uncomfortable experience. Until now, that is.
While viewing a UK broadcast of a Moto GP race last fall, the announcers introduced a segment on the riding gar suppliers to the grid full of 225-MPH speed demons. Their frequent impacts with the onrushing pavement results in riders changing protective gear sometimes several times during a grueling two-race weekend. The individual rider garages are well-stocked with multiple sets of identical racing leathers, along with boots, gloves and other consumables.
It turns out the race coverage revealed that Alpinestars and other leather suppliers employ a clever piece of low-tech ingenuity to prepare the new, un-worn gear for riders in the form of an inflatable rubber bladder. The devices resemble the ordinary inner-tubes for motorcycle tires and they’re inserted into boots and leathers that are not yet broken in; after being inflated to a high pressure state the bladders immediately begin stretching the garments in a manner that would take many hours of consistent wear to replicate.
The whole process takes only a few hours and is so incredibly original, that we had to try it ourselves on a brand-new pair of Alpinestars boots of our own.
For our experiment, we purchased a small, 12″ inner tube for a Vespa scooter which fit inside a boot quite easily before being pumped up with a compressor. In a matter of five days, the boots had stretched so well they fit my oversized clogs quite easily.
We’re next trying the air-puffed stretching process on a much sturdier pair of racing boots, which always arrive stiffer than a turtle’s shell due their advanced ankle and shin protection. Leave it to the racing paddock to create smart, easy solutions to what’s been a longstanding problem facing riders of all shoe sizes.
