Fast Lane Boots By Bates
Fast Lane boots by Bates
CYCLE WORLD EVALUATION
To be fair, this evaluation is premature. Boots, like tires, eventually wear out, and a fair evaluation could only be written after these boots have worn out. That way, we could
give you a good idea how well they hold up.
As it turns out, our Fast Lane boots from Bates aren’t worn out. We don’t know how long they will last. But at this point it looks like they will last long enough that we should print something. Fair enough?
Bates’ Fast Lane boots are a normal-enough zip-up style motorcycle boot. The tops are 12 inches high, the zipper goes up the back of the boot, and there are oil and slip resistant rubber soles and heels. Extra protective patches on the tops of the boots keep shift levers from wearing through the boots, even if you ride a righthandshift motorcycle. Ankle pads are built into both sides of the boots. On bikes where the rider’s ankle rubs up against a clutch or engine case, the pad protects the ankle. The pad on the outside of the ankle offers protection in case of a crash.
The boots have a foam inner lining. This makes them much warmer for cold
weather riding, though it doesn’t make the boots uncomfortably warm in hot weather. The leather is soft, which works well enough on zip-up boots. They fit snugly enough that the foot provides shape, not the boots. This makes for hardly any breakin time before the boots feel as comfy as your old ones.
For the record, sizes 8 to 12 are available for $ 115 in black, brown, chocolate and tan. Custom sizes and colors are available at additional
cost from Bates Industries, P.O. Box 240, Long Beach, Calif. 90801.
Back to the durability question. Every day now, for a little over half a year, our faithful but slightly clumsy test rider has pulled on his Fast Lane boots and ridden to work. He’s also ridden on trips and occasionally off on dirt trails and the rest of the time, well he still wears them. The zippers still zip, the soles have barely noticeable wear and the tops are thoroughly scuffed up. Everything is holding up well.
If anything ever does wear out, Bates can resole or repair the boots. At this rate, it doesn’t look like the boots will ever need new soles. The rider reports the boots are
comfortable and easy to put on, but he has found the slipresistant soles to offer more traction than he is used to. He trips on the carpet in his office with the Fast Lane boots on. He also disliked hearing the jingle of the pull tabs on the zippers, so he removed them. Other than that, no problem.
