I had a pair of elements when I first got back into riding. They're better than no boots, but the padding stinks, the toe is big, and they're kinda awkward to ride in...I was in the same boat, didn't want to spend a bunch of $$$, from there I went to the Thor T-30, my buddy likes and wears them, but they made my toes go numb...Now I wear Astar vector boots and love them...moral is, you can spend $70 here, $130 there trying to find a good boot for cheap, but when you add it up, you might as well of bought a good boot to begin with.