Protective footwear, such as a motorcycle or motocross boot, can have a supple, leather boot feel. Disclosed footwear can have a hinged coupling between a foot engagement structure and a lower-leg engagement structure to promote anatomically correct flexion in a wearer's ankle. The lower-leg engagement portion can define a ledge having a lowermost face configured to abut and matingly urge against an uppermost face of a ledge of the foot engagement portion to limit an extent of pivoting of the hinged coupling. The hinged coupling, in some instances, can include a pair of opposed bushings, each defining an internal thread configured to matingly engage a corresponding outer thread on a stud. The stud can retain the lower-leg engagement portion and the foot engagement portion in a pivotable relationship to each other. The opposed bushings can be keyed to matingly engage either a lateral portion of the foot engagement portion or a medial portion of the foot engagement portion.

Protective footwear, such as a motorcycle or motocross boot, can have a supple, leather boot feel. Disclosed footwear can have a hinged coupling between a foot-engagement structure and a lower-leg engagement structure to promote anatomically correct flexion in a wearer's ankle. The lower-leg engagement portion can define a ledge having a lowermost face configured to abut and matingly urge against an uppermost face of a ledge of the foot-engagement portion to limit an extent of pivoting of the hinged coupling. The hinged coupling, in some instances, can include a pair of opposed bushings, each defining an internal thread configured to matingly engage a corresponding outer thread on a stud. The stud can retain the lower-leg engagement portion and the foot-engagement portion in a pivotable relationship to each other. The opposed bushings can be keyed to matingly engage either a lateral portion of the foot-engagement portion or a medial portion of the foot-engagement portion.

A ski boot comprising a sole designed to accommodate a boot of a skier and a connecting device having a fastening member to be fastened to the leg of the skier, which ski boot has: a lever part that is fastened to the sole via a pivot connection, the fastening member being movable relative to the lever part, a connecting rod that is connected at a first point to one of the sole and the lever part via a first pivot connection and at a second point to the other of the sole and the lever part via a second connection enabling the second point to be moved, and a deformable member that is arranged to prevent the second point from moving relative to a rest position.

Device for connecting the lower leg of a skier, with a foot and an ankle axis, to a ski binding mounted on a ski board, comprising a footwear assembly, a tibial connection with at least one rigid rod, where the at least one rigid rod comprises an upper end securely attached to the lower leg, and a lower end which is pivoting with respect to the footwear assembly.