Hey Dan, I see that you got your fave boots, but I'm still gonna opine.
I've owned Daytona Ladystars, Gaerne GX-1's, Aerostich Combat Tourers, and now Forma Adventures.
Daytonas: Beautifully made, solidly waterproof, not remotely dual sporty. Protection: reinforced shin plate (but they are only mid-shin height), thin plastic reinforcement on the inside of the ankle. No torsion control. Grand street boots, and I wore them on my cross-country trip. All-day comfy.
Gaerne GX-1s: They're a non-waterproof dirtbike boot, with supposed torsion control as well as shin, ankle and foot reinforcement. However, mine failed me radically after losing a wheelie, and the footpeg of my DR350 punched the Gaerne's and destroyed my foot right through them. I'll avoid Gaernes in the future.
Aerostich Combat Tourers (made by Sidi): Extremely well-made boots but very tough to break in. I bought them used, wore them extensively, poured warm water into them and wore them around all day (a popular break-in technique for these) and they were still barely broken in. I did wear them to Alaska and back, and they performed admirably--and then they were finally broken in. They do require a lace pull as well as buckling to get on. They're resolable--I had a local cobbler put on Vibram soles for the AK trip. However this means that the stitch holes around the foot are too large to be waterproof--I tried to seal them with shoe seal to no avail. Ended up wearing waterproof socks on rainy days. Nota Bene: they have no torsion control, and no malleolus reinforcement. The shin is padded. There are many tales on ADVrider of folks busting an ankle on gravel or dirt in these; I'd classify them as a butch-looking street boot or mild dual-sport boot. Adventure boot technology has surpassed these old-schoolers a bit, I'd say.
Forma Adventures: After smashing my foot, I desperately needed boots that were comfy and wide enough to fit my lumpy metatarsals. These did the trick; I went into Scuderia, bought the Formas, swapped out the insoles for Superfeets, and took off on a 10-day trip up the Oregon Coast the next day. It was exactly the sort of thing that you're not supposed to do, but worked out great in terms of comfort. They remain quite waterproof, and comfy. Not resolable as they have a shaped, contemporary hiking-boot style sole. Like the Aerostich boots, these look butch and off-roady (tall, reinforced shin, 3-buckle closure) but do not have true torsion control. I'd wear them for mellow gravel-road stuff but not gnarlier dirt. They have malleolus reinforcement, plastic cups on both the inside and outside of the ankle, and shifter pads on the foot.
A note on Forma's customer service: Termagant was so impressed with these that she bought a pair as well...but hers leaked on a rainy overnight tour. I contacted Forma, told them the problem, and shipped her boots back for inspection. Couple of weeks later, they shipped her a completely new pair. I was impressed--way to stand by your product, Forma!
I totally get the compromise thing, but my personal criteria have changed.