These boots are made for riding. I purchased these boots almost a year ago during the ‘closing down’ sale at Hein Gericke when the UK arm of the company went into administration. As such they were heavily reduced at cost me around £60. Consider this a long-term review of how they have fared as I’ve worn them 5 days a week for 12 months during my daily commute.
I was initially drawn to these boots as I was looking for something I could wear during the day at work without looking too obvious as motorcycle boots. The discreet black leather design fits this bill well. The Sheltex layer promised to provide waterproof protection and reinforced sole for impact protection. I took a size 11, but do have narrow feet. The fit of the boots was pretty good, but a little wide, so did necessitate yanking the strap pretty tight. The next size down was too cramped on my toes.
So how did hold up? Overall, pretty well, but hampered by a couple of niggles. First the positives: they’ve never leaked, and my feet have always remained dry (I do pull my waterproof trousers over the top of the calves mind). They’re comfortable, no problems wearing them on my commute to/from work and during my working day on all but the hottest days. No problems feeling and using gear/brake levers either. Throughout the winter they’ve been adequately warm, with no numb toes, even when riding in sub-zero temperatures. Robustness has been good, with no holes worn through, and no stitching coming apart. As you can see from the photos they are holding together well, with just a few rub marks on top from gear chaining. I’ve had a couple of low speeds off’s and found my foot stuck between the bike and the road, in both instances the boots protected me well, walking away with just a small bruise on my ankle.
Now for the negatives: on the sole, there was a little round detail in yellow rubber that became unstuck quite early on. Purely cosmetic, but annoying when it was half stuck on and flapping about. Secondly, the Velcro straps don’t always hold down well. I quite often find them coming loose, flapping about and leaving me with a very loose-fitting boot. Often I need to stop and just refasten them. This has definitely gotten worse as the Velcro has aged.
To sum up, the Hein Gerick Bullson boots are decent quality, and pretty much live up to what they promise. For me though, the Velcro strap coming loose is really annoying, were it not for this I’d certainly buy another pair when they do finally wear out. But because of this issue and considering the current new price of £110, I find it hard to give a strong recommendation for these boots.
