Oboz Bridger 10″ Insulated Boots Mid Term Review

A year ago, we published our initial thoughts about the Oboz Bridger Insulated Boots. I’ve got a full winter of riding in on these bad boys. These have been my go-to pair of ride-boots for the last year in temps between 16F to 35F. I thought that it would be interesting to share a mid-term report on how these boots have (literally) weathered the storm(s).

The boots have held up quite well in my opinion. The outer shell of the Bridgers may be dirty, but they’re not showing much sign of wear or coming unglued. Even the little metal badges for the B-Dry waterproof breathable membrane are still intact. In past boot tests with other brands, the little metal badges were the first thing to get destroyed. The photo below clearly shows the current level of wear.

The soles of the boots have held up quite well. There’s a small amount of wear, but the tread of the boots seems relatively unscathed by the metal pins of the RaceFace Chester platform pedals that I run. I’ve got no complaints about the way that these boots grip my pedals or the earth. I did a bunch of frozen swamp riding on the ice over the past winter and I never felt compelled to install a few grip studs into the Oboz. It probably would have been a good idea though.

I’ve worn the Oboz with a myriad of sock combinations and with neoprene toe bras and sometimes chemical toe warmers. I’ve also recently done some back-to-back riding to compare the Oboz with Columbia’s Bugaboots. The Oboz comes with 400g of insulation and the Columbia boots have 600g. Both boots are good for a couple of hours in normal ‘lower 48’ winter temps. My warmth test was sort of inconclusive. I would rate these boots to be in the same category as the boots from Columbia, Keen, and Sorel that I’ve worn and reviewed over the years. It’s a good two-hour boot for ‘lower 48’ winter riding. The biggest insight that came out of the back-to-back testing was how much I like the fit and the speed laces on the Oboz (compared to the Bugaboots).

The reason that I chose the Oboz brand was the promise of a boot that fits more comfortably than anything else out there. From the first time that I slipped these boots on to the sloppy Spring snow ride that I did yesterday these boots have been very comfortable. The Bridgers possess all-day comfort. One of the reasons for that is Oboz’ O FIT System. The insoles are molded to match the specific shape and construction of every pair of Oboz. I think that when you purchase a good pair of boots, they should come with a good set of insoles, and these boots delivered just that. After a year of wear, it probably makes sense to replace the O Fit insoles with a fresh pair of insoles to keep these boots going for another cold-weather season. It’ll be interesting to see what the boots look like at the end of their second year of service.

Most of the boots that we review end up looking pretty beat after two full winters. I’ll do my best to beat these boots into submission over the next year and I’ll report back with a long-term review somewhere around the two-year mark. If you’d like to take a look at more winter boot reviews click here – https://fat-bike.com/category/apparel/footwear/

For more information about Oboz visit – https://obozfootwear.com/