Forma Dominator Comp Boots

When my first set of Forma boots arrived on my doorstep, I was pretty stoked; they looked cool, felt light and made me want to ride. The stars aligned (for once) that weekend, and I found myself at the local MX track with nothing to do but ride. I pounded a few laps in order to get comfortable with the track, came in to the pits and pulled out my new Forma Dominator Comp boots. Visually, they look pretty sweet and comparable to most other boots in their lower $300 price range; the chrome and gold accents looked a bit blingin’, but overall they’re good-looking boots. Everything from the leather and synthetic material upper to the steel toecap and suede leather heat protector looked top-notch.

My initial concern was whether the adjustable aluminum buckles and Forma's "Skywalk" anti-slip, oil rubber sole would hold up. Both the soles and buckles are replaceable, but most sport quad footpegs are notoriously rough on soles and "oil rubber" didn't sound too tough. The inner boot is gel padded, has an air pump system (which I never tested) and are quite comfortable. The boot wears well right out of the box. Within a few laps of riding, the boots felt broken in and seemed to stretch out in all of the right places. Unfortunately, within the next two days of riding they stretched in most of the wrong places as well. The figurative, and literal, unraveling of the Dominator Comp boot began just below the second buckle, where the plastic and leather pieces stitch together, and spread from there. Within three weeks' time, the boots pretty much fell apart and were duct taped back together for the sake of further testing. The aluminum buckles eventually confirmed my initial fear as did the soles, by snapping and wearing out respectively. Within a month, the Formas were retired completely. -Mike Calabro

Forma USA www.formaboots.com; 413/736-0999 Price: $329.99

||||---|---| | +| Stylish and functional| | -| Stitching wears out too quickly| | =| Looks better than they held up| Rating: 2/5