Sidi's innovative adjustable calf system, this is not a gimick, it works!

Replacement Toe Cups

Replacement Shin Guards

Replacement Calf System (also serves as heat shield)


Click images for larger view.


Class Leading Ankle Support!




The SRS features a user-replaceable sole.

Sidi Force SRS Boot Review
Price (msrp): $290.00
FlexForce Review (standard sole)
Same boot with the standard sewn-on sole.
FlexForce SRS Review (Thump)

What follows is a "Normal Joe" review, not the typical SoCal pro that writes a paragraph for a SoCal mag, as if you can make an educated buy decision based on; "Nice Boot".. Keep in mind, the boot manufactures/distributors in this review are not advertisers on DRN and if their boots are below par, they may never be, we'll call it like we see it.

General Information Provided By MotoNation:

Rich's Review

For decades Sidi has been the premier footwear in the two-wheeled world. All the great riders wore Sidi, and everything else was considered substandard by comparison. There was only one problem for dirt riders, it was the wrong two-wheeled world. Sidi rules the bicycle racing shoe world but has barely been a blip on the radar in the motorcycle world. TILL NOW. Enter Motonation (www.motonation.com), an all-new company with a whole new vision for motorcycle accessory sales in America. Motonation has joined forces with Sidi in an exclusive arrangement that will see Motonation take firm control of the Sidi's image in the USA, Canada and Mexico. With the help of Motonation, Sidi should prove to be a force in the MX market.

Having spent countless hours zooming around the Northbrook velodrome I was already a huge fan of Sidi's bicycle shoes so I was excited to try their Flex Force SRS MX boots.

Right out of the box you can't help but notice the attention to detail and the quality of the materials used in the boots. They scream high tech and protective with hard plastic panels in the high impact areas like the shins, along with a mechanical ankle hinge and a soft internal (non-removeable) booty. The plastic parts are replaceable and by purchasing extra plastic you can mix and match colors for a custom look. They have a good clean intuitive buckle that is easy to adjust quickly. An adjustable gator system at the top of the booty closes things off and keeps dirt, water and small animals from ending up in the boot. As part of the trick SRS system, Sidi (www.motonation.com) makes a $20 bolt on SuperMotard slider kit for the sole. This can be used in place of a steel shoe for flattrack or SuperTT use. Very cool.

In the past I have always avoided the stiffer super protective boots like these in favor of old school flexible boots. Hi Point GPs have been my boot of choice for the last few years so going to a full-on SX style boot like the Flex Force SRS was a big leap of faith for me. Make no mistake these are SX boots, so the soles are very stiff. If you aren't used to stiff boots this might put you off. Because I usually wear Hi Point GP I couldn't help but notice this right away. The design of the mechanical ankle hinge allows your foot to pivot correctly without compromising the stiffness of the sole. I don't have a whole lot of ankle flexibility anyway so it only took a few rides and some time spent with the boots excellent adjustments around the house to get used to it. The extra support in a boot this comfortable seemed worth dealing with the stiffness. The upside is if I had these boots a few years ago I wouldn't have broken my foot landing from a jump. The AXO boots I was wearing at the time folded at the sole and snapped my foot. OUCH!! Woods riders might be better served by the less stiff NON-SRS Flex Force. The extra stiffness might be a liability in the woods.

The soles are super grippy and should make slipping off the pegs a thing of the past. The sole seems very elastic and in spite of it's grip it doesn't seem to get ground up easily. We'll watch this long term and see how it holds up. The best part is the SRS sole can be replaced with an electric screwdriver in under 1 MINUTE!! I timed myself at 57 seconds per sole.

The key to this boot seems to be adjusting it properly. Initially I just buckled them up tight top to bottom and had a tough time shifting, but a quick look at the Motonation website FAQ showed the proper way to buckle the boot. Loose at the top and tight at the bottom allowed the ankle hinge to work correctly and made shifting and braking easier. This leads me to my love/hate relationship with this boot. Sidi did a wonderful job of engineering an adjustable calf system so the boot can be custom tailored to individual riders. The combination of the calf adjustment system and good range in the buckles makes for a boot that will fit a wide variety of riders, except ME. I have a small foot (8.5-9 ) coupled with a short but wide calf (18.25" without MX pants) so I figured I would have to modify the calf adjustment system with a pattern file to fit me. The good part is modifying the calf system for a wider range of adjustment is quick, easy, and it should work great. The problem for me is even with the mods I don't have anywhere near enough room to fit my CTI Edge brace in there. Okie is a big guy but he didn't have any problems fitting his Asterisk braces in the non-SRS Flex Force model, so this problem seems isolated to my weird physical dimensions.

I really like this boot so I resigned myself to modifying the calf adjustment and using them when I could get away without wearing braces. Unfortunately what I found was that even with the mods I wasn't going to get the calf adjusted to the point where I could get the ankle hinge to work to my satisfaction even without the brace. I tried riding around with the upper buckles removed and found the sweet spot. Excellent comfort and shifting. So I took some safety wire and extended the range of the calf adjustment well beyond the amount I could modify the current setup and put the buckles back on. I got this to work but the problem is this looks to be beyond the range that I could modify the calf attachment points without major effort.

So this really great boot doesn't look like it's going to work for me. For someone with more conventional body parts I'd highly recommend this boot. Overall these are incredibly well made boots with an ultra trick sole system that I would recommend to anyone looking for a great looking, super protective boot that doesn't mind a stiff sole. Fit, finish, comfort, and adjustability are first rate, plus they look way cool. For those of you with big calves the search goes on. In the meantime I'll go back to duct taping the tops of my Hi Points closed and searching for the ultimate boot.

So we can do a good long-term test of these boots I'll be handing them off to Pokie so he can evaluate them and put them through their paces.

Likes:

Dislikes:

FlexForce Review (Standard Sole)
FlexForce SRS Review (Rich Rorich)


Contacts:
MotoNation: http://www.motonation.com
MotoNation Dealer Locator: http://www.motonation.com/ourdealers.html

Questions or Comments? Post them in the Review thread found here: DRN Tested