Tried and tested: Richa Blade review

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These Richa Blade WP waterproof sports boots have served me will so far this year. Together we’ve weathered some impressive weather; most notably massive thunderstorms, both on road and on track. I can confirm Richa’s claim that they’re 100% waterproof. At one point I found myself standing in the pitlane at Brands Hatch with water sloshing over my feet as it ran down the pitlane. Not a drop made it inside.

There’s bracing for your calf, armour for your shin and both for your heel, plus removable toe sliders (that I’ve touched down a few times while working on body positioning on track) and an extra padded patch for shifting gear, which was welcome given the quickshifter on my R7 needs a bit of a kick to operate at times.

Despite their racey looks, they’re pretty flexible for use off the bike (although none of my riding jeans fit around them so I’ve had some weird looks when pulling up at work – but they do go over my leathers for track use) and they’re well ventilated too via small mesh metal panels in the heel and shin, which helped in the blazing sunshine at Donington Park in June.

I’ve sweated rather a lot into these boots during the year, and they still smell brand new. That’s presumably thanks to the breathable Hipora waterproof membrane. The soles have treaded rubber grip, which helps on the pegs and the ground. Plus in this colour scheme they match Yamaha’s 60^th Anniversary Edition Speed Block livery my R7 sports. You’ve got a choice of four other hues if this one doesn’t work.

My only criticism of these boots is that they’re fairly tight around my calves and ankles, and while they remain solidly constructed to date, with lovely double stitching all around the boot to secure the leather, I’m a little concerned the fastening zip is getting a hard time as I put pressure on it to do the boots up.

And the liner gets trapped in the zip fastening occasionally, and coupled with the force I need to get them on in the first place, it feels like this could lead to a point of failure in future. But with that said, right now my Richa Blade WP performing flawlessly and I’m a happy camper.

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