Should Motorcycle Boots Have Steel Toes?

Indeed your motorbike boots are the only safety gear that can protect your feet from any unfortunate situation. Now the question arises, should motorcycle boots have steel toes?

Some experts believe steel-toe motorcycle boots protect your toes from being crushed in an accident. However, riders don’t recommend it because of its low support ankle protection. They may cut your toes off if a car goes over them. In easier words, motorcycle boots shouldn’t have steel toes.

Let’s look at what it means for you and what you can do about it.

In this post, I leave no stone unturned, so you can get all the crucial information about motorcycle boots in the most straightforward words. 

Should Motorcycle Boots Have Steel Toes? 

No doubt that steel-toe motorcycle boots protect your toes from being crushed if something like a heavy motorbike or car goes over them. 

Although, the manufacturer’s intention was right when they were researching and developing this type of boots. 

But unfortunately, things don’t seem to go right as they expected.

Generally, steel-toe motorcycle boots have excellent toe protection but don’t come with excellent ankle support. It means you may experience an ankle sprain while wearing steel boots. 

If you want to protect your toes from being crushed, you should definitely choose to wear steel-toe motorcycle boots. 

But if you want complete protection, I won’t recommend it. 

Do Steel Toes Motorcycle Boots Make any Difference? 

Steel toe motorcycle boots surely save your toes from being crushed. Now the question is, do steel toe motorcycle boots make any difference? 

According to some experts, the steel toe motorcycle boots can only protect your finger from being crushed by a car. 

In practical life, steel-toe boots don’t make any difference; even good-quality leather boots can protect your feet better than steel-toe motorcycle boots. 

Why Should You Avoid Steel Toes Motorcycle Boots? 

Although it’s not a good idea to avoid motorcycle boots, it’s a good idea to avoid them when it’s about your safety. 

Generally, steel boots don’t come with a great ankle support system which leaves your ankle unprotected. Sometimes riders suffer significant toe cuts when steel gets folded inside, and a car goes over it. In easier words, you can’t rely on motorbike boots for your safety. 

Ankle support is indeed the most crucial component of your motorbike boots as it protects your ankle from a sprain. 

And the biggest flaw of steel motorbike boots is, that they don’t come with excellent ankle protection. Even many riders believe steel boots are the only primary reason behind their ankle injuries. 

The second reason most riders hate steel boots is that they experienced significant toe cuts because of folded steel and when something like a car goes over it.  

You can choose boots with steel toes only when you want to protect your toes from being crushed.

Are There Any Alternatives to Steel-toe Boots? 

So far, you understand why you should avoid boots with steel toes; now the question arises: What is the best alternative to steel toe boots?

According to some experts, the best alternative to steel boots is leather boots. As leather boots don’t come with steel and won’t cause any harm to your toes. Also, the leather boots offer you 360-degree feet protection, which you won’t get with steel-toe boots. 

Just like other expert riders, I also recommend you to go with leather boots. 

It’s because, with the leather boots, you’ll get 360-degree protection against any unfortunate situation which you won’t get in steel-toe boots. 

The second reason is that leather boots don’t come with any steel, which may injure you.  

How to Size Motorcycle Boots Properly: 

Although there are many ways through which you can measure your feet size for motorbike boots. 

But I’ve always focused on measuring feet size on a ruler, which I think can be found in every household. 

You just have to follow these three simple steps. 

Steps Name:	Details:
Preparation	Take a blank, clean white paper, marker, and ruler. Overall, be prepared with all tools you need while meaning feet size.
Placing the Feet	Now place your feet on the blank paper and mark through a marker on paper.
Measurement	Now place the ruler and measure the distance between both markings (M1 and M2).

Step 1: Preparation: 

In the very first step, you’ve to take a blank and clean white paper. And don’t forget to take a marker and ruler too. 

Please avoid taking small-sized white paper; I think A4 size paper would be large enough for you. Unless you’ve giant feet.  

Step 2:Placing the Feet: 

Now you’ve all the materials that you need to measure your feet size in centimeters. 

Now place your feet on the blank paper and mark through a marker on paper where your toes and heel are.

Give a name to the toe mark as M1 and heel mark M2.

Avoid wearing any kind of socks while doing this step. 

Step 3: Measuring: 

Measuring your foot’s size is the last step, and it’s probably the most crucial step too.

Now place the ruler and measure the distance between both markings (M1 and M2). 

Make sure you place the ruler straight. 

Now you have got the marking and the distance between M1 and M2 in centimeters and inches. And you can use the markings while buying boots.

I always advise people to buy boots one inch bigger than their actual size for better fitting. 

Things to Know While Measuring your Feet Size: 

There’re many things that I think you need to know before measuring your foot size. 

Things to Know While Measuring Your Feet Size:

Consider your regular socks while messing up your feet size.

Do at least some movement when trying new boots.

Make sure the internal pads are removable.

Socks Size: 

Earlier experts recommended wearing only thick knee-length socks, but nowadays, motorcycle boots are made from adaptive highway material. 

The adaptive material helps you to maximize your feet’ movement. Even nowadays you can wear simple cotton socks under the boots. 

However, I always recommend sticking to your socks habit. For example, if you generally wear thick knee socks, consider your thick socks while measuring your feet size. 

And that’s why it’s always better to consider your feet one inch larger than the actual size. 

Do Regular Movements: 

To avoid buying too tight or too lose boots, it’s always recommended to wear boots at least once. 

I personally recommend wearing new boots and doing regular movements that you do while riding a motorbike. 

Or you can take a small walk wearing new boots, this will show you how boots fit your feet. 

Internal Pads: 

No doubt, internal pads are essential and comfortable too. However, while choosing boots, you should also pay attention to internal pads. And Make sure the internal pads are removable. 

Also, read my previous post where ‘ve discussed how motorbike gears save lives and what motorbike gear you should include in your wishlist. Click here to read.

Final Verdict: 

Should motorcycle boots have steel toes? Some experts believe steel-toe motorcycle boots protect your toes from being crushed in an accident. 

However, riders don’t recommend it because of its low support ankle protection. They may cut your toes off if a car goes over them. In easier words, motorcycle boots shouldn’t have steel toes.

I’ve mentioned the proper way of measuring your foot size to choose well-fitted motorbike boots. 

Make sure to consider your feet size an inch larger than your actual feet size. 

Frequently Asked Questions:

Here are Some of My Favorite Riding Gears: 

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you found it helpful as you build your riding journey successfully. 

Here are some riding gears I use as a rider that I hope you’ll also find helpful.

These are affiliate links, so I’ll earn a commission if you decide to use any of them. But in all honesty, these are the same riding gears that I use and recommend to everyone, even my own family.

Motorbike Riding Pants:

For getting started, I like Scorpion EXO Covert Jeans for men (check the latest price on Amazon.com) and Indigo Protective Riding Jeans for women (check the latest price on Tobacco Motorwear).

These riding pants are comfortable so you can use these pants in summer, and these pants have a lot of space for using knee guards. 

Motorbike Riding Helmet:

Throughout my riding life, I used several helmets, and almost all helmets protect your head well. Still, I personally prefer YM- 929 Yema helmets as it comes with Bluetooth and aerodynamic ABS shells (check the latest price on Amazon.com).

And suppose you want an eye-appealing and yet effective helmet. In that case, you can go with Icon Airform Sacrosanct Helmet (check the latest price on Revzilla). 

Motorbike Riding Jacket:

Jackets are crucial to protect your upper body. Honestly, every rider has a dream to have an affordable yet best riding jacket. And that’s why I personally recommend the Alpinestars T faster motorbike jacket because of the protection and comfort it offers (check the latest price on Amazon.com). 

Motorbike Riding Gloves:

Almost all riding gloves perform well by protecting your hands from sunburn and cool nights. And if you’re a serious rider, then you should go with Alpinestars SMX-1 Air v2 Glove, which is lightweight and offers you excellent protection. (check the latest price on Revzilla).