Tested: Sub-£100 waterproof motorcycle boots

CAN YOU get a set of riding boots for under £100 that are truly waterproof? That’s what we set out to discover.

Online retailer GetGeared sent 13 pairs of boots over to Visordown HQ from: Merlin, Oxford, Held, RST, Spada, Prexport, Probiker and Forma.

We subjected them to four tests to see how well they would stand up against water and to judge what they would be like to live with every day. Each test carried a maximum score of 10, meaning a faultless boot would come away with 40 out of 40.

Test 1: Water Resistance. Can they keep water out when dunked in a full bucket for five minutes? It’s all or nothing on this one, ten points awarded if they last the five minutes, zero points given if not.

Test 2: Quality of leather. How will the boot respond to being submerged underwater for 48 hours?

Test 3: Ease of use. How long do they take to put on, fasten correctly, and then take off with a thick winter glove? Intended to simulate the time it takes to remove boots with numb hands from the cold.

Test 4: A first-look impression rating. An overall look at the boot design, its components, fabric and features.

Here are our results, starting with the Spada Trek in position 10.

Spada Trek

Water Resistance: 0/10

Quality of leather: 4/10

Ease of use: 8/10

First-look impression rating: 7/10

Overall: 19/40

The Spada Trek is the tallest boot of the bunch with a large chunky sole and a design that wouldn't look out of place in the horse riding market. Despite being let down by delicate plastic fasteners the Trek scored 8/10 on our ease of use test, taking only 23 seconds to put on, fasten, unfasten and then take off. However, after being submerged in water for 48 hours the leather was stained badly and all metal clasps had rusted. It lasted only 60 seconds before letting water into the boot too.

Price: £89.99

Spada ST1

Water Resistance: 0/10

Quality of leather: 4/10

Ease of use: 8/10

First-look impression rating: 8/10

Overall: 20/40

One of the sportiest looking of the bunch, the ST1 has toe sliders, protection over the heel, shin and ankle, and a wavey design over the gear shift selector. It lasted only two minutes before leaking heavily and after a 48 hour dip in our water bath the exposed screw on the side of the boot had turned orange and rusted. If you’re desperate to get these, pick a size smaller than usual, they come up large.

Price: £99.99

Prexport San Marco

Water Resistance: 10/10

Quality of leather: 6/10

Ease of use: 4/10

First-look impression rating: 6/10

Overall: 26/40

No zip on this one, just three simple Velcro tab fasteners with neat stitching all round. Like the Spada ST1, it’s worth going down a size as the San Marco’s come up large. They laughed at our waterproof test keeping every droplet of water out for the whole five minutes, and other than a slightly stained rubber sole, the leather remained firm and in good condition after the 48 hour dunk in our water bath. A good boot but lost some points because the Velcro straps are very fiddly; it took 44 seconds per boot to complete Test 3.

Price: £99.99

Merlin Milan

Water Resistance: 10/10

Quality of leather: 7/10

Ease of use: 2/10

First-look impression rating: 7/10

Overall: 26/40

Another tall boot with ankle protection and stretch panels at the rear for better fit and comfort. An archetypal leather motorcycle boot in design, the Milan easily lasted five minutes in our water bath without letting any water in. The boot provides a good fit but lost some points on ease of use due to the huge Velcro tab meaning it took over 50 seconds to put on and take off. Receives the same score as the Prexport San Marco but costs £20 less.

Price: £79.99

Spada X-Street

Water Resistance: 0/10

Quality of leather: 10/10

Ease of use: 8/10

First-look impression rating: 9/10

Overall: 26/40

The only ankle boot in our list, the X-Street ticked all the right boxes up until it was introduced to our water bath, at which point it let in a very small amount of water after three minutes. It’s the sportiest looking boot of the bunch but lacks calf protection and support. It has stretch panels on the front with faux carbon fibre weave, toe sliders, and bags of protection around the heel and ankle. Despite being submerged underwater for 48 hours the boot came out looking brand new.

Price: £99.99

Forma Nero

Water Resistance: 0/10

Quality of leather: 10/10

Ease of use: 9/10

First-look impression rating: 10/10

Overall: 29/40

The Forma Nero would have been our top pick if it weren’t for the fact it let in water after just three minutes. The boot feels just as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. It took only 20 seconds to put on and take off with our thick test winter glove and it came out from its 48 hour dunk underwater looking brand new. The Nero has a reflector on the rear and Cordura flex zones for improved flexibility.

Price: £99.99

RST Adventure

Water Resistance: 10/10

Quality of leather: 8/10

Ease of use: 6/10

First-look impression rating: 7/10

Overall: 31/40

The RST Adventure gets a full 10/10 for keeping the water out and suffered from only very minor watermarks on the leather after completing its 48-hour stint underwater. It has a matt finish on the medial side of the boot, sturdy metal fasteners and a reflector on the rear. The Adventure is only really let down by the poor finish on the sole where bits of rubber from the boot mould haven’t been trimmed off.

Price: £99.99

Oxford Bone Dry

Water Resistance: 10/10

Quality of leather: 8/10

Ease of use: 6/10

First-look impression rating: 7/10

Overall: 31/40

One of the best performers and the cheapest of the bunch at only £34.99. It won’t win any design awards but the Oxford Bone Dry kept our feet just that and came out from the 48 hour water bath with the leather still firm. It’s comfortable and comes with ankle protection and snazzy rubber fins over the gear selector panel. On a less positive note it took almost 40 seconds to put on due to the bulky liner which jams in the zip.

Price: £34.99

Merlin Aragon

Water Resistance: 10/10

Quality of leather: 8/10

Ease of use: 10/10

First-look impression rating: 8/10

Overall: 36/40

The Merlin Aragon could easily pass off as a summer boot with its sporty design and thin sole for excellent feel. It has ankle protection, a rear reflector, and more importantly is completely waterproof. Having been submerged underwater for 48 hours it came out looking almost identical to when it went in. It also scored a perfect 10/10 on our ‘ease of use’ test thanks to its comfortable fit, smooth zip and strong Velcro. Scored the same as our first place finisher but costs £20 more.

Price: £99.99

Prexport Passo

Water Resistance: 10/10

Quality of leather: 9/10

Ease of use: 10/10

First-look impression rating: 7/10

Overall: 36/40

The Prexport Passo is our winner, receiving the highest score and a whole £20 cheaper than the Merlin Aragons which scored the same. Whilst the boots don’t boast a particularly enthralling design, what they do manage is to keep the water out. The Passo came out from its 48-hour dunk looking brand new and asked ‘Is that all you’ve got?’ when we tested if it could hold out water for five minutes. It also only took 17 seconds to put on, fasten, unfasten, and then remove - the fastest of the lot. If waterproof is what you want then look no further than the Passos.

Price: £79.99

Conclusion

Visordown sub-£100 waterproof motorcycle boot test:

This test has been somewhat of an eye-opener at just how badly some 'waterproof' boots can perform. The top four all managed to score over 30 points due to their ease of use, impression of quality and the fact they lived up to their waterproof claims.

If you're looking for a sporty-looking boot that's fully waterproof, comfortable and isn't completely devoid of style then we recommend going with the Merlin Aragon. It's a fantastic boot and scored highly in almost all of our tests.

Want fully waterproof and the best bang for your buck? Go with our test winner - the Prexport Passo.

Finally, some of you eagle-eyed readers may have noticed we were sent 13 boots, not just the 10 displayed in this list. They were tested too… So let's name and shame:

Probiker Street compact: Lasted one minute before letting in water and suffered from very bad staining and loose Velcro after being left in water for 48 hours.

Held Gear: Surprisingly the high-quality Held boots suffered the worse from being left in water over the weekend. Whilst they look good out of the box, they lasted only a minute before letting in water and the zip would continuously jam at the top of its stroke.

RST Raptor 2: The worst of the lot scoring only 13/40. The 48-hour dunk made the leather go extremely soft and left bad staining, they leaked after only two minutes and the zip got jammed multiple times.