The Ton-Up Times

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Long-term Review: Sidi ST Air boots 

$395 US MSRP

These were sort of the “high standard” for street/sport boots in terms of protection and performance at the time of purchase. They were one step/$100 down from Sidi’s pro-level race boot Vortice which is worn by some MotoGP riders. 

I also previously owned a non-perforated version of the same model (not “Air”) so I can also give some comparisons to that.

Construction: These gunboats are precision gunboats. Surprisingly, they are made in Italy. The cutting, stitching, gluing, molding, nuts and bolts - of which there are many - are assembled flawlessly. Maybe this precision stems from Sidi’s experience in pro-level bicycling clogs. Anyway, these are near perfect. I know for a fact that Dainese is not made in Italy anymore, and the Astars boots I have are made in Croatia. 

Materials: A lot of the top brands are pushing their synthetic leathers as having advantages over real hide, and the ST is no exception. Personally I’m skeptical of the long-term viability of pleather, but here we are. I don’t know of any pro-level boot made of leather except for Daytona or Kushitani. At least I can say that after a year, the upper shows no sign of degradation with one exception: the pleather piping around the collar rubs on the plastic armor and the finish of the collar has rubbed away. I will monitor this closely and make sure to report of the material fails.

Comfort/Fit: Comfort is highly subjective - if the shoe doesn’t fit, it will not be comfortable. People have a WIDE variety of foot shapes, no pun intended. However, I can tell you I have very ‘average’ shaped feet, with a high arch but not a high instep, medium to slightly wide forefoot. These are comfortably for me but they aren’t exactly a custom fit. Notably, there is no adjustment at all on below the ankle area and the instep is correspondingly voluminous. This is probably intentional - the Vortice features the fussy piano-wire adjustment system that runs all the way down the foot. In order to simplify entry/exit, there is no adjustment here. Still, these have been fine for me for light walking and as much as I would expect from a sporty boot.

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Earplug Review: Howard Leight Max Lite NRR30

This is an appropriate earplug review to start with - the Max Lite is one of the only “smaller” size plugs commonly available on the market. The trademark green color and flared shape are easy to spot in the wild. I’ve seen this given out in loud factory tours and SAT exams - they are that common.

Specs - NRR: 30 Length: 28 mm Expansion Rate: 41 seconds L-R NRR33 Comparison: indistinguishable Durability: high

After years of rubbery drugstore earplugs, this was the first earplug that I was able to easily insert on the first attempt, no fussing. They expand slowly and smush down nice. The length is 28mm but due to the substantial 8mm or so flare section, it made no threat to my eardrum. I’ve used these for weeks with no visible degradation. The only drawback I can think of is the NRR30 rating, but as the comparison to Moldex shows, I could not tell a difference.

Verdict: RECOMMENDED

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Ultimately, this is the goal. Once I get 10k or 20k (or 30k) miles on the 250, I want to own this pure symbol of everything that didn’t suck in 1990.