Pre-wear boot review/database.

[DarrenOHooligan]

I thought I'd start this post for people who have seen/tried on new boots and want to give opinions. Kind of like a pre-wear boot review/database. It might be interesting to see peoples pre-use thoughts, than compare them to the boot review/database... anywyas I'll start.

I had some, ok LOTS, of time to kill today, so I went to the 2 soccer shops in town. I spent a lot of time looking at new boots.

Frist was the diadora maximus rtx 14today. My 1st impression of this boot is WOW!! I was a little skeptical about the style of lacing, and the tongue, but when I found a size that fit, it felt really good. The sides for the lacing are really close together and in person, look odd. The leather on these boots is amazingly soft. Softer than the legends, and the studs are spring loaded, and apparently can only be felt on a big impact because I couldn't tell. The fit seemed ok, I just didn't feel any comfort right off the back, and i'm sure that would change with some wear.

Second boot was the Puma Konstruct. I'm going to eat my words, I am VERY impressed with this boot as well. Again very soft, and fit me perfect. I don't care for the tongue all that much, so I tucked it under the laces, and that looked much better, although i didn't get to kick a ball around so i don't know how it would work. I also don't like the shape of the toe/front of the shoe. The nice thing is it makes for plenty of room for your toes, without feeling too wide in the toebox. They felt amazingly light in hand, and great on.

Thrid is the Lotto zhero evolution. Once again the zhero line continues to impress me. I like the original zheros, and the zhero+ were impressive as well. This boot is as impressive. Great feeling synthetic, simple fit, they seem a tad wide, but not that bad, I just think the normal 9 might not fit me after some stretching.

Fourth, Lotto vento KL. When I picked this boot up, I swear i was holding a $200 boot. Everything about this boot screams quality. The leather, even the laces were nice!! The gluing of the soles seem solid.

Fifth, umbro x300. Now, I'm a huge fan of synthetic so this might be biased, but again Umbro impresses with a fantastic substitute for the x-boot line, and fans of synthetic boot fans. the only thing about these boots is that they seem to be getting wider and wider...

sixth, Umbro xai mkv. These boots always struck me as plain... amazingly enough... And these do nothing for me. The leather on the xai, similar to the x-boot is not as soft as the maximus or the legends, and seems like there would be some break in time to get it soft. The fit is slightly wide, and stud config and soleplate is the same as the x-boot II. Not a bad boot, but I don't think i'd pick them up at full price. Half off i'd think about it...

That's it for now. More to come tomorrow....

[metropolis2k]

Cool idea! We could also mention sizing suggestions so people know roughly what size they'd be looking to try on. All sizes I mentioned are UK sizes.

In the past few days I've tried on a few boots. I guess the best comparison for me is the Pulses because I own a couple of pairs and they fit my feet absolutely perfectly.

Nike Legends
The white and blue ones looked so cool I thought I'd try some on. I can't actually remember if I tried a 9 or an 8 but they were slightly too long for me (and tight enough width-wise) so I knew they wouldn't be right. I like my boots to be snug all round (with maybe a tiny gap at the toes so they don't rub) but the Legends were too long for me.

The leather felt very nice and I imagine it's an excellent kicking surface. I was also impressed by the FG studs - there was no pressure at all walking on a hard floor.

Puma Execs
I tried these on in an 8 and a 9. The 9 felt really comfortable width-wise but too long. The 8 were very snug across the middle but perfect for length. As the Execs stretch a lot I would imagine this size would be perfect for me. The boots were very soft and comfortable so they are definitely on my 'maybe' list. I'd probably be more interested in the FG version than the SG because of personal preference to do with the studs.

Adidas Absolutes
Now I was really interested in trying these since I'm such a huge fan of the Pulse. They only had the white/blue ones in a 9 so I tried them and I liked them. I wasn't a huge fan of the amount of plastic around them but it didn't matter too much when they're on and the softer leather is a nice improvement. The felt a little bit tight across the middle of my foot but I'd imagine they will stretch nicely. Length wise they were pretty much perfect and they were quite comfortable too.