Fox Instinct Boot Review: Accelerated Break-In, Maximum Comfort

When it comes to boots, there’s a common misconception that comfort and protection have an inverse relationship. Boot feels like a ton of bricks strapped to your foot? Protection must be off the charts! On the other side of the coin- Boots feel like a comfortable gym shoe? Might as well be riding in flip-flops.

Fox Racing, no stranger to the rigors of off-roading has decided to end that misconception once and for all and it is called the Instinct. In development since 2009, Fox didn’t want to bring just another moto boot to an already flooded market and targeted the idea of an internal hinge to virtually eliminate the biggest concern for boots boots of any brand: break in time.

The chunk of rubber typically chewed up by footpegs is replaceable for roughly $50 and the boots make use of a 4-buckle latching system.

In testing these high-end boots, the first (and seemingly only) question on everyone’s mind was whether or not Fox managed to make good on its claim to eliminate break-in. Chalk it up to the fact that the hype made it so that we could think of little else if you must, but we wouldn’t go quite as far as to say break in time was eliminated entirely. Rather, that ridiculously stiff sensation with virtually zero ankle-flex on the first day of riding is much, much more forgiving here.

The first thing a rider familiar with offerings from just about any other brand will notice with the Instinct is a heightened sense of feedback to the feet. The exact position of the foot on the peg, the pressured of the gear shifter, even the much lighter resistance offered by the right-side brake pedal is felt with alarming clarity. In comparison, most other boots feel quite numbing by comparison.

However, concerns that too much feedback could spell trouble when landing from a large jump or blasting through a set of whoops are null thanks to that 5-layer sole we mentioned above. Shock absorption is impressive, but not really an improvement over other top tier boot options from the likes of Alpinestars. Stiffness is spot on as well.

What is unique to the Instinct for a boot of this price-point is the elimination of the bulky inner booty to achieve ankle support. In fact, not only is there no booty to worry about, there isn’t even a standard Velcro closure at the top to secure the gaiter. When we say 4-fastners, we mean a total of 4 fasteners. Despite our initial concerns, mud and water protection wasn’t compromised by the elimination of this closure.

While quality rarely comes cheap, we were a little taken aback by the $549 MSRP of these boots. A decade ago, this would have been an expected price of admission but with manufacturers doing all they can to encourage spending of late, the Instinct will likely be reserved for those few who demand the absolute highest level of footwear performance and professional racers.

More information can be found here.