Review: Dainese Visoke D-WP Boots

I’ve ridden these boots about 20,000 miles – wore them on the Boston to Ushuaia trip, every day, for four months straight. Aside from some minor quibbles, which Dainese resolved for me, I’ve gotta say that I LOVE these boots. So today’s review is the Dainese Visoke D-WP Boots. Summary: definitely recommend!

Background: Boot Acquisition

I’ve got big calves. I’m big in general, so I have a hard time finding gear that fits me (big girls don’t ride bikes, apparently – or at least don’t buy gear, because the manufacturers don’t make them) and boots were no exception. I have a very hard time finding tall boots that will fit over my calves, so when we started the Boston to Ushuaia trip, I was wearing a pair of REV’IT! Rival H2O Boots. I had called RevZilla and spent 40 minutes on the phone with one of their guys in September 2010, and he literally went around measuring the boots for me trying to find one that would fit my calves. If my foot size was one or two sizes larger, it would have been a lot easier to find the fit – but it was the only one I could find at that point so I ordered it and wore it around.

Fast forward to November, and I play in the mud in the Rev’It! boots. Mud dries on the boots. Dirt embeds itself in the fine teeth of the zipper, and the boot zipper starts to fall apart. On Day 2 of our Boston to Ushuaia trip, the boot zipper gets stuck and I decide it has to be dealt with. Luckily, our route has us passing not too far from Philadelphia, so we call up RevZilla, find out they’ll be open, and we drop into their showroom for an unplanned stop. I talk with Patrick, who helps me try on practically every boot in the place – the Dainese Visoke D-WP Boots are the only waterproof boots of any decent height that fit around my calves. (Patrick also explained that this is a common fit issue, as women have bigger calves than men – apparently this is an issue in ski boots, too. Made me feel a little better.)

The Dainese boots were a bit more than I wanted to spend at that point, but they fit – so we went with it. RevZilla took my Rev’It boots and sent them back to Rev’It for repair, since we were on the road and unable to deal with that ourselves. I still can’t say enough good things about the guys at RevZilla – if you need gear, check them out.

Ride off into the afternoon in ~30 degree temps in my new (tall) boots – and I was a happy rider for at least 10,000 miles. I fell in love with these boots. Even when they let me down, I still loved them.

The Good: Why Dainese Visoke D-WP Boots are Awesome

These boots are awesome for a lot of reasons.

1. The sole is thick, which gives me a bit more height and makes the bike slightly easier to handle.
2. They’re comfortable enough for walking around in – I did a couple of ruins hikes in them, and while my feet got hot, I could still move around freely enough.
3. They feel GREAT on the bike.
4. They keep my feet warm in the winter down to about ~20, or up to highway speeds. Eventually my right foot always gets cold, but an extra pair of socks helps with that.
5. They breathe decently. Could be slightly more breathable, but probably not with this level of protection.
6. They’re good, PROTECTIVE boots. I had a variety of offs in which my feet and ankles were never touched. My motorcycle pants got ripped in an off, and the boot got scuffed – my leg got bruised a couple of times, but the protection keeps my feet and legs intact.
7. NO ZIPPERS! After seeing how easily the zippers failed in the Rev’It! boots, I will never again buy boots for dual-sport or off-road riding that have zippers. These boots use adjustable ratchet closures that stay closed, and velcro around the top which gives the calf some adjustability.
8. They’re mostly waterproof. They’re waterproof for a long time, but with enough wear, or with certain circumstances, that could be compromised.
9. Dainese stands behind their products (at least with RevZilla’s prodding) so if they stop being waterproof, you can send them back for replacement.
10. They break in like a dream and I will keep wearing them forever. After 20k miles, aside from the waterproofing issue, the ankles had a little extra flex from bending when I walk/shift, but the boots were still good, protective, solid and comfortable.

The Bad: When Waterproof Boots Stop Being Waterproof

One of the big selling points for me on these boots was their waterproofing. After riding around a handful of times with wet feet, I decided I *really* didn’t like it. It makes me feel miserable. I don’t mind riding in the rain at all – as long as I can keep my feet dry. So I was thrilled when I rode through miserable downpours where the rest of me was soaked (more about that whenever I get around to reviewing my Rev’It riding gear and their ridiculous “hydratex” liner) but my feet were dry in the Dainese Visoke D-WP Boots.

Until Colombia, that is.

In Colombia, my right foot got a little wet in a downpour on the way to Cali. And then again, in every subsequent rain storm. By the time we got to Bolivia, it was so bad that when I got off the bike, I could literally turn my boot upside down and watch the water run out of it. It became nearly impossible to get them to dry out by the time I had to put them on again the next day, so I rode for days at a time with wet feet in cold temps (~30s to ~50s). Needless to say, I was not a happy camper. I rode with plastic bags in the boots. I rode with extra socks. I found some waterproofing spray near Ushuaia and attempted to regain their waterproofing with spray, but that really just killed the breathability of the boots without fixing the leak.

When I got home from the trip, I contacted RevZilla and asked if they could help resolve this issue with the boots. They contacted Dainese for me, and then they issued a warranty return for the boots – I shipped them back to RevZilla and RevZilla dealt with Dainese for me. To this day, I have no idea whether Dainese made it right or whether RevZilla did, but when I emailed RevZilla to follow up, I got a new pair of boots shipped out to me. New pair is waterproof just like the old ones were when I got them, and a couple of thousand miles later – they’re still waterproof and now they’re just as comfy as the old ones were.

Lesson: buy from a reputable dealer (like RevZilla!) who can help you resolve warranty issues, and the Dainese Visoke D-WP Boots are a motorcyclist’s dream.