The Northwest Rider

Sidi, an italian company founded by Dino Signori over 40 years ago and now operated by his son, Daniele and daughter, Rosella has become the gold standard with regard to innovation in the field of sports footwear, specializing in bicycling and motorcycling shoes and boots.  Their product line for motorcyclists  includes touring, offroad, racing and casual boots within a wide price range.  Riders determined to purchase the finest boot on the market can pay upwards of $550.00 for a pair of top of the line Sidi boots.

What Sidi delivers within every price range though is top quality for the money.  The Sidi Sport Rain is a perfect example.  This boot retails for about $200 per pair.  Not inexpensive, but not out of line with what you’d expect to pay for a good quality boot.  Billed as an all-weather touring model, this boot delivers comfort and protection day after week after month after year.  It’s full water-resistant liner will keep your feet dry (and warm) under all but the most extreme conditions while it’s composite footbed, internal padded ankle protection and reinforced heel-cup and toe-box provide excellent comfort and safety.

The Sidi Sport Rain is not the sexiest boot on the market.  Its leather toe shift pad, vibram style hiking tread and fold-over side panels give the boot a plain, utilitarian appearance.  But the trade off, in this case for longer wear, better traction and higher water resistance, is well worth the fact that these boots probably won’t win you many beauty pageants.

So, OK.  You’ve spent your hard earned cash, fastened your new boots and now you’re riding, satisfied with the price and the boots’ performance.  But the 200 dollar question, really, is “how long will a 200 dollar pair of boots last and how long will it be before they have to be repaired or replaced.”  Let’s get down to durability.

I have owned a pair of Sidi Sport Rain boots for over 3 years.  Worn as my primary, all-season boot, my Sidis have traveled over 25,000 miles in every imaginable condition.  These boots have been exposed to blistering sun, heavy downpour and sub freezing temperatures on pavement as well as in the dirt and mud.  They have taken beating after beating and, though scarred and showing signs of heavy wear, they continue to serve faithfully.  Though the leather is scraped and worn, the zippers, velcro fastened fold-over side panels and boot stitching (Sidi double stitches the boots in high stress areas) still operate in like-new condition.

The point of greatest wear, as experienced riders would anticipate, is at the soles.  Both toes are significantly worn and the left sole at the ball of the foot is ground away from repeated stops in traffic.  My only regret, discovered recently as I contemplated repair or replacement, is that the soles, because they are bonded to the boot in order to assure a complete water-resistant enclosure, cannot be removed or replaced.  During my research I also discovered that, if they could be repaired, the cobbler would have charged me more than the original cost of the boots to do so.

In spite of their apparent wear and tear, I am confident that these boots have a lot of miles left in them and that they will continue to serve throughout the coming season, probably until the toes begin to wear completely through and the boots no longer protect my feet from the rain and cold.  When I do finally retire them, it will be with complete satisfaction that I got my money’s worth from the original purchase, and it will be with a brand new pair of Sidi Sport Rain touring boots.