Alpinestars Ridge Waterproof Boot

These are a short leather boot, with tooled grooves on the upper surface, reinforced toe caps and heels with Velcro calf and bridge adjusters. Image and short review can be found at http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/Products/productsresults/Boots/2010/February/feb1010-review-alpinestars-ridge-waterproof-boots/ . Price: £120 approx.

I found them to be very comfortable on and off the bike and the restrained tooling and style makes them ideal for wearing into town, social visits etc. when you might want to walk a fair bit and not look like you just left the paddock. In the very cold winter of 2010 my feet stayed warm and in the summer rarely got uncomfortably hot.

When teamed up with leathers they wrapped around the leg bottoms neatly and the tops are svelt enough to fit inside textile, zipped pant bottoms (used with Weise NRG Waterproof trousers which have been criticised for having slightly narrow bottoms).

They're waterproof up to a point. They began to leak when the leather started to split (at about 6 months old) along the natural folds and off the ends of the tooled grooves in the top surface of the foot. To Alpinestars credit they replaced them as faulty without any fuss and the shop said they'd sold loads with no returns so far. I'll try to remember to to report back in a few months with an update.

Would I recommend them? Yes, if the replacements stay waterproof. An ideal commute boot and should be good for touring too.