Stylmartin Rocket Boots

18th March 2016

Biker boots | Italian | Leather | Urban footwear

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Here's one of those products that you start out liking, but end up not really liking. Stylmartin Rocket Boots. They've just been released, and they're aimed at cafe racer motorcycle urbanites. In other words, guys who like to stand beside cool looking bikes, but don't actually ride 'em very far or very often. Not that we've got a problem with that. In this life, you need to get your rocks off wherever you can. But the point is, these boots are designed for bikers (of a sort), but they're not the kind of thing you might want for any more serious motorcycling.

They're Italian made and are a mix of brown full grain leather (uppers) and anti-slip, antistatic oil-resistant rubber soles. They're said to have a waterproof and breathable lining, but you can probably take that with a pinch of road salt. They're said to have ankle protection on both sides. But it doesn't look like anything you'd want to test in any kind of spill.

The leather is treated in some technical way to mark up nicely. That's intended to help develop the cool aged look when you're standing around on street corners looking cool outside the local coffee bar or whatever. Both boots are equipped with a gear change protector.

Clearly, these boots are designed to emulate the early 20th century military officer look, hence the laces and the leg straps. And to some extent, Stylmartin has carried it off.

But then it all goes downhill for us. To begin with there's a zipper down the inside of each boot. We're advised that it's actually a pretty good zipper. But it kills the authenticity. So okay, the laces actually work. But that ain't the point.

Then there's the Velcro on the leg strap. The buckle works too, so you can adjust these. Velcro is fine for astronauts, but it's pretty naff stuff to sew onto clobber that's supposed to be cool.

What it all adds up to is fakey military boots, with fakey ageing, fakey fastening for guys who want to fake their biking cred, largely with fakey cafe racers. Or is that too cruel?

We don't think so. But then, we haven't see 'em up close, so we haven't tried 'em on or had a good old pose in 'em. So maybe we're missing something. However, we ain't gonna get to find out. We'd rather splash the cash on something more authentic.

If you feel differently, shop around the internet. You'll find these Stylmartin Rocket Boots advertised here and there. The UK price is currently around £150 - £180.

UPDATE: We've since tested a pair of (broadly similar) TCX Hero boots and have moderated our views a little. In fact, we think we've been unfair on these Stylmartins. Factor that into whatever decision you make.

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