Whoa! That brings back some memories... The way current boots are mostly plastic, it's not as big a jump as it was in 1975... Given that, they look pretty burly; I remember a friend had them in the late 70s and said it was difficult to "feel" when shifting.
I had a pair of those red scotts boots back in 84? They were given to me buy the guy I bought my KDX 240 from, tried them once, once and dropped them back off at his house. Felt like a skiboot, only worse. These look goofy but probably arent bad, you know they wont get weird if put away wet,,
Steve
If its as stiff as it looks, its a knee injury waiting to happen. I can see a molded toe box for crush protection, but the rest of the boot must flex a bit.
...On the original battlestar gallactica series - they wore hi-points.
I looked at the website - it says they have designed the braking and shifting points on the boot to better transfer pressure to the rider for enhanced "feel". On the downside - I can't imagine these things being very nice in real hot weather.
For those of you not in tune with Scott. Scott has aligned themselves with another clothing mfg company (the name is escaping me now, it might be Reima) and is clearly going after the high end product range. That being said, I suspect that this allows them to design and sell the product as intended w/o making big compromises due to cost cutting, as was the case with the original Scott (and other plastic boots of the '80s). I suspect that the new boots are made of some nylon type material that may actually be safer than leather because it may not be a prone to memory (as in the hard creases and folds that develop in leather).
I rode with Vendramini plastic boots in the 80's (think they were Italian).
I loved them.
Brake & gear lever feel was the down side to them but I took some big hits to the lower leg from logs, sticks etc and also in some crashes and never had an injury.
It's 25 years later and significant improvements have been made in all types of manufacturing, I see no reason these can't be a good thing.
I am looking forward to seeing some real reviews from people who have used them and not opinions based on a photo.
I wouldn't mind trying them out. I had a pair of Heckel plastic boots back in
'75,in fact I still have the Heckels. I liked them then and had no problem with them. I cannot bring myself to spend more than $250 on a pair of boots, any pair of boots. If I remember right, I believe I paid $85 for the Heckels.
There's a plastic flap that covers the toe area that can snag foot pegs or roots. The flap is not secured on the edges where it meets the sole of the boot.
Also, the strap openings will channel water into the boot.