Leading off our awards announcements is the top "Boot of the Year."  Lotto, Diadora and adidas all produced top flight footwear worthy of an award, but there can be only one winner.

We selected the winner of the Best Boot with a combination of reader comments, staff and tester opinion, and objective criteria.  The winner needs to be comfortable, durable, a good value and desirable.

The solid favorite and last year's winner, is the adidas Predator.  The Predator is improved this year to add dynamic weighting.  It is still one of the best boots on the market.  The kangaroo upper is very soft and supple, yet very durable.  Still, they are $200 and the incremental improvement is not enough to keep them on top.

Just missing the top spot, the Diadora Maracana is absolutely the value boot of the year.  At under $90 you can have one in each color for less than either of the other nominees.  The Maracana is comfortable and provides great grip on the pitch.  Without the big drop in street price of our winner, the Maracana would have walked away with the award.

Finally, our winner... The Lotto Zhero Gravity was the third most read article of the year.  The "Ferrari" of cleats was definitely the most popular entry with our readers, but the $300+ list price put it out of running on value.  As always, the AVID Soccer research team reviewed the current street price for the model we tested.  Most sites only offer the Due (2nd generation) boot, but the few that still carry the original for about $100.  At that price, it is the clear winner.

The AVID Soccer Equipment Review's Best Boot Winner - Lotto Zhero Gravity