As you all are aware, we had been given some pairs of shoes by Orazo for use during this GIR. We were provided with shoes from their entire model range and we've been using them extensively during this ride.
Till date, after using them for over two months and having ridden about 11000kms, we have not faced any major negative issues with the shoes. All our bikes have toe-type gear shifters only and I believe we would have shifted gears about half a million times by now
. But there has been no sign of wear/scouring/denting etc due to gear-shifter pressure on the shoe toe region.
Comfort levels have been good (we've worn the shoes for 15 hrs at a stretch and sometimes more) and the soles did not tend to slip off the pegs even when we put our foot down in muck a couple of times.
Size-fits also do not seem to be an issue. My foot size is somewhere between 9-10 (Euro or 'Bata') and size 9 has fit my foot like a glove.
During the ride, we had given the Orazo people some feedback in respect of making these shoes/boots more specific for motorcycle riding, mainly in terms of extra safety around the ankle area and the need for more 'breathing' in the shoe without compromising on their water-resistance. These changes are more of the 'internal structure' related than being visible externally. (My experience with shoe-manufacturing as I have produced certain shoe components over almost a decade during the 90's came in handy here
) Kudos to the seriousness of Orazo, they produced a few more pairs, as prototypes, with those mods and sent them to us in Hyderabad.
We have been using these 'new' boots extensively since then and find them to be really good now. These boots are not 'pure' riding boots(in the sense that they do not have that rigidity and extensive 'hard' protection measures built around them. (All that costs the sky and riding boots as such are not comfortable to walk around in.) They are more of the 'multi-purpose' type foot-wear with a good level of foot protection built in keeping motorcycling in mind.
We have another 4000-odd kms to go and this ride has really put all our equipment, which includes the foot-wear, to its maximum usage. Will keep you all informed about how these shoes have fared over these 75 days. As of now, they are a great deal better than the usual 'metal-toed' trekking boots that end up as riding boots. And I see no reason why they won't remain a 'better' deal in days to come.
Ride long and safe...
Old Fox