 Gidei, how are you going? Welcome back to Brutalosophy, my channel reviewing boots and boot related things. If you haven't been here before, my name is Tech. I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands that I live and work on, the Wajik people of Nungabuja. Today I'm taking a look at these Italian made Chelsea boots. The Bitflex boot from Italian brand Astorflex. This is Italian boot maker Astorflex's Chelsea boot called the Bitflex. Let me tell you from the start that these are probably the most comfortable boot I've ever tried on. But I get ahead of myself. It was provided for me to review by Huckberry who sell this boot through their website. I've put a link to the website below. Now just let me say that while this was provided to me to review, there were no agreements or commitments about what I could and will say. I'm going to provide my usual unbiased review. Okay, so this boot. This is a Chelsea boot with a low to standard height shaft that's about 5 inches from the top of the heel. If you want to know about the surprising story about the invention of the Chelsea boot, I'll talk about it in my review of the RM Williams craftsman in Tobacco Suede that you can check out up here. This Bitflex Chelsea is set on top of a soft natural rubber crepe sole with a low heel of a little over half a centimetre about half an inch. This low profile along with this soft stone coloured suede combines to create a relaxed casual Italian fashion conscious look. The dark goreng panels surprise at first because they're a strong contrast of that light suede. But after you wear it a few times you get to like it for the contrast. It's a very pretty boot and if any boot can look Italian fashionable, this does. And looking at its style, it's obviously a casual boot so casual gear is the gore. I've worn it with slim jeans and a sloppy cable knit jumper and I find the light stone colour can look great with the dark of the indigo and the dark jumper. That dark and light look also works with faded black jeans, a black t-shirt and a tan jacket. I braid this next look pretending to be in summer but the soft suede and light colour would be a great pairing with a summery shirt and light wash denim. Look it's a neutral colour so really it will go with any neutral coloured casual outfit from brown leather jackets to relaxed white or sand coloured linen anything in black, blue, brown, green or tan. It's such a relaxed and laid back design that you just need to make sure your clothes stay in that relaxed Italian La Dolce Vita lifestyle. The Bitflex is made by Italian company Astor Flex. The naming of their products seem to always include the Suffix Flex. I've previously reviewed the lace up six inch boot called the Bootflex which you can see by clicking the link up here. I'm also going to review the Chaka boot later, the one called Brownflex. They also make a loafer called the Patnoflex. Each of their designs come in a variety of leathers, mostly relaxed make-ups like suede or newbuck and most of them come on the crepe rubber sole. The company was started in the late 19th century. Fernando Trevanzoli started the company in Northern Italy. It was called Fratelli Trevanzoli then. After the First World War they began to expand their products and grew from a small family run workshop into an industrialised factory setup. They have long used the traditional stitch down method of construction which I'll talk about later and in time Fernando handed the company over to his son Danielle who in turn handed the reins to his sons Alfredo and Bettino and now it's owned by Alfredo's son Fabio. With family still working in Astaflex I believe it's now in sixth generation. On top of that they own a family restaurant right across the factory. How about that? The current family owners embrace the eco-conscious greening of their boots using veg tent leathers, water-based dyes, non-solvent glues and natural rubber soles. They describe their product as 100% ecological. So with that let's turn to the construction of these Bitflex Chelsea boots. As usual I'll start from the bottom and then go up. Right at the bottom the outsole is a crepe rubber outsole. When I say crepe rubber I don't mean like the red-wing mock-toe Christy wage sole which many people call crepe rubber. It isn't really. Crepe rubber is raw coagulated rubber processed by adding assets to the liquid rubber tapped from rubber trees and then run through rollers called crepiers. It's a French word because the French were instrumental in industrializing rubber from plantations in the China and Malaysia. What results is this thin spongy and sticky raw rubber that's cut into sheets? If you've owned or seen an original Clark's Desert boot you'll have seen this before. The heel is also made of the same crepe rubber glued onto the outsole. Now the advantages of crepe rubber as an outsole is that it's cheap and biodegradable. It's also very soft and so incredibly shock absorbing and it's very grippy on pretty much all surfaces. If you remember your high school physics it has a high drag coefficient and really grips well. The downside is that it is sticky. It picks up everything from leaves to carpet fibers to human hair, sand, insects and even any small dead animal that's smaller than a cow. As a result when well worn it can be pretty ugly when you kick back and everyone can see the bottom of your shoes. It's attached to the midsole with non-solvent glue. Lack of solvents means lack of petroleum products so you can appreciate the greenness. Nothing wrong with it though. The soles on my original lace up boot flex a couple of years old now haven't moved or come apart and these look very secure. The midsole itself is a three to four millimeter thick piece of fiberboard that's loose pieces of scrap leather that's been chipped into small pieces and then mixed with glue and pressed into a board like piece of recycled leather. Think of it as a leather version of wood chip timber. Yeah some people will be didactic about it and say oh no no no it isn't real leather. No it isn't but it's part of what makes this boot fit into this price point. The midsole is sewn to the uppers using a 360 degree stitch down construction. The uppers are sewn and lasted into the shape of the boot and the bottom of the uppers are flat out and then sewn onto the midsole. The stitching is with very thick threads that go all the way around the boot hence 360 degrees. On the inside of the boot the midsole and stitches which if exposed can be uncomfortable is covered with a felt slip sole glued on top. Then they insert a removable veg tanned leather comfort insole with a foam backing for comfort. The hole inside of the boot is also leather lined and this helps make slipping the boot on really easy and comfortable. The uppers are an Italian tanned suede. It's described as premium suede but I don't know which tanner it's from. It's a very soft leather not particularly thick and combined with the lining it's overall a little over 4mm thick enough I suppose as a relaxed casual boot and on the plus side it means that it's soft on your foot. The nap is nice but I have to say not to the quality of really premium suede like that from Charles Evstead in England where the nap is longer and softer but again you know price point. The stitching is really really good. The stitch down stitch using really thick thread is neat and very even The stitching on the uppers panels is also straight and uniform double stitching on the front vat to the rear quarters and single stitching on the single piece backstay. The goring panels are a rougher weave elastic material securely sewn though, elastic enough but I get the feeling that from stretching it in time it might get flabby faster than those you get in the tighter weave goring panels elsewhere. The lining of the heel is very clever. The lining leather is cut so it exposes a suede piece to grip your sock. I'm guessing the very light heel counter is internal sandwiched between the outside suede and the inside suede lining. It's very light and I'm guessing because of their eco-consciousness it's not a thermoplastic and I think it feels like leather board. The toe box is also lightly structured. Again I guess with leather board. All in all the materials suit the casual boot and the price point and for this type of boot you can't complain about the QC. As for the caring of this suede you know, I'd say none is needed. Firstly it's suede and seriously you shouldn't be slapping condition all over it. On a finer suede you might invest in some Sophia suede conditioner spray but this feels and looks like it should be something you wear without care that you wear it and it gets stained and flattens and it looks good doing it. At best I use a suede brush and brush the nap every now and then. If you really want to keep it clean and I grant you there are other boots with a fine suede in light colours that you'd want to do that. In this case though I just use a suede eraser to spot clean any marks and then use the suede brush to raise the nap. I've got some affiliate Amazon links to suede cleaning products deep down in the description below if you want to take a look. Otherwise I intend to wear these as totally casual boots to relax in and if they get stained and scruffy I honestly think that adds to the look. As for sizing these were supplied by American retailer Huckbury so they actually sized in the US 8. I measure a US 8.5 in the average or D width. In most American boots I size a half down into an 8 in D width. These are size 8 and they fit perfectly. Take note though they don't come in half sizes and they don't come in different widths. I suspect that if you have wider feet you should size up but the best thing to do is to check with Huckbury's customer service. For my UK, Australian and European viewers the inside of the boot is stamped with a European size 41 which again is usually what I wear. To compare I take Thursday captains and parkers boots in size 8 Grandstone and Whiteson 8D and Oak Street bootmakers on the Elston last in 8.5. I also take Bordeaux boots in 41 as well as the Indonesian boots that I have. In English boots though I usually go through to size at 7.5 in average width and that applies to Cheney, Crockett and Jones but in Granson I go with size 7. As for comfort obviously the right sizing helps but anyway these are probably the most comfortable boots I've ever slipped on. Finally I can say these feel like slippers without mentally adding if slippers were made of tough leather wrapped around your whole foot and up your ankle initially digging into all of your sore spots. No really these do really feel like slipping on slippers. The last is not wide but it's cut enough not to be tight anywhere. If I had to say I'd say it was less than snug even and yet it feels secure in my foot even without the laces. My toes are not manipulated into the last shape in any way my little pinkies are squealing with happiness. The soft suede is just perfect for a pair of casual boots and the softness underfoot is a revelation. Even my boot flex made the same way with the same materials just doesn't feel as comfortable as this one. As for value these show up on the Hubberry website at US$215. They're the most expensive in the Astor Flex range carried the Chaka and Lofa sell for under US$200. I'm not sure why other than perhaps this model has more leather square area which I guess would have a knock-on effect on other materials used as well as labour. Anyway $215 they compare pretty well to other lower to mid-range Chelsea boots. The rugged variety like Bordon's Isidro is over that price but they're sturdily built and don't look like RM's which are now a high fashion priced boot. Compared to the work casual Chelsea's like Blunstone and Redwing these are comparable and better quality materials than the Blunnies. The pros for that price are comfort, reasonable QC and Italian 60s coolness. Think of Marcello Mastriani sipping his espresso in the piazza. Another pro is their green credentials if you care about that which often has a slightly higher premium for green materials. On the downside the used crepe soles would look like crap and they too wear quicker than hard compounds. And while technically resoldable I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a willing high street cobbler who'd be game enough to do it. So you'd probably have to send it to a specialist who does heritage stuff. Overall would I buy them again? Yeah they are so comfy and cool. When I wear these out I'd see if it's worth resolding them with a similar soft outsole and if not I'd buy another pair for sure. So there's my review of these Italian really cool looking comfortable Chelsea boots. There's a link below to where you can get them. For my feet and lifestyle definitely worth a look and you're doing something for the environment. Hey if you like my review don't forget to click on the like button below and while you're down there if you're not subscribed please click on the subscribe button. I won't be sending you any spam scammy emails it just lets YouTube inform you of my newly released videos as I release them. I'm going to put out a lot more boot reviews and other related videos so look out for them. Until then take care and I'll see you soon.