Few Questions:

1) What is the shank on this shoe made of? Is it a crappy nylon/plastic shank, or metal?
2) The asolo website makes some fuss about its "duo asoflex" insole "technology". Is there any reason to believe that the insole is not worthless?
3) to those who live in NYC: I'd like to purchase these for daily stompers in NYC. Is the gore-tex lining going to make them unbearable in NYC heat? Not having to care about nasty puddles of suspicious fluids is a plus, in my opinion, though.

Over a year later, this still blows my mind. Steel shank boots for casual wear in NYC? If it's important you display an Asolo logo, they make some light hikers and trail runners which would be more appropriate for daily urban use.

I would like to add to AC's comments, the basic insole is worthless, it never made it out of the store. Also the heat isn't an issue, I wore these every day during an internship for a construction company. The project was on a sand covered army base where the temperature was 90 daily and humidity was 90%. They did great, the key is wearing wicking socks.

The shank is polyurethane. Walking around NYC in steel shanked boots not only is overkill but would likely be unconfortable as the boot won't be able to flex at all with your gait. A steel shank is more useful for walking on snow/ice or endless talus. I believe the "duo asoflex" thing is talking about the construction between the insole and the rubber outer sole. No stock insole is going to be terribly fancy or it wouldn't fit the majority of peoples' feet. If you find it helps you can add a superfoot or similar insole. To your last question I never find that you overheat with a non-insulated boot, gore-tex or otherwise, as long as you aren't wearing super heavy socks. The boot will probably insulate you a bit more from really hot pavement than a thin tennis shoe would.