My MTB shoes that I wear with my gravel bike are a little long in the tooth, plus I hate the long laces that I have to Velcro to keep them out of my chainring. So,,,,,,,,I'm looking for recommendations.
Any advice will be appreciated. my riding is about 50/50 road and forest service roads.
+1 for the Shimano RX8s, although shoes are very individual. Previously wore Northwaves as well and liked them. I went from laces to a BOA system a couple years ago though, and will never go back. Yes, a BOA can break, but way easier and comfy.
As was stated shoes are a very personal thing so you’ll get a lot of answers. I like Shimano shoes. One thing I do love are boa closures, I can’t go back to Velcro or laces after using them. Boas are easy to use and adjust while riding and my shoes fit so much better.
thekenoshakid wrote:I have narrowish heals and wide-ish feet and Shimanos are the only brand that seem to work. Got a great deal on the xc9s and they're simply fantastic.
Good to know. Need to try a pair. My Ride Concepts fit pretty well, but could use a bit more room in the toe box.
thekenoshakid wrote:I have narrowish heals and wide-ish feet and Shimanos are the only brand that seem to work. Got a great deal on the xc9s and they're simply fantastic.
The S-Works 6 did it for me in that dept very well. Though you'll find a number of comments online by users who found the heel too tight. Recon has fixed that I think.
S-Works has a more rounded-out front than Shimano which tends to still have that bit of cut-back shape around the outer/side toe box.
ljsmith wrote:One thing I do love are boa closures, I can’t go back to Velcro or laces after using them. Boas are easy to use and adjust while riding and my shoes fit so much better.
I'm not sure what your priorities are, or price range. I splurged and bought some high end (road) race shoes (on a deep discount) in their Cyclocross configuration (SPD + tread), and with the low rotating weight, stiff midsole, and snug fit (2x boa) they are very nice. Still anything that fits your foot well and has a Boa closure would work great.
I have Shimano XC9 , RX8, SIDI Tigers, Nothwave extreme, Bontrager XXX and S-works Recon shoes.
The most comfortable one for anything over 60 miles is the XC9 for me. No hot spots. I figured the RX8 should be good, but they tried to shave weight at the wrong spot, the tongue of the shoe. Same thing with the S-works Recon, pressure at the tongue.
For pure out speed and sprinting, the SIDI Tigers wins hands down.
Lake shoes work best for me. I have carbon soled cyclocross models I use for road, unpaved, and some mtb rides. Generally not thrilled with BOA closures. The two BOA dials on my CX shoes are OK. On My single BOA shoes it is literally a pain in the foot and I haven’t used them in years because of it.
Thank you for all the suggestions. I'll definitely look for BOA ones when I get somewhere that has shoes I can try on. I live in Bandon, Oregon and the closest place that has any variety of shoes would be Eugene @2:45 away.
Recommendations are highly personal but will also depend on the trails we chose to ride. I’ve found some shoes I like to ride in are fairly brutal on long hike-a-bike sections where a softer sole, decent heal cup and more space around the toes may be desirable. Then there’s whether you’ll be riding in cold and wet or the heat.
I like Shimano XC5s as a light comfortable and adequately stiff shoe that drains well and dries quickly but they’re less good for hiking.
Flylow70 wrote:My MTB shoes that I wear with my gravel bike are a little long in the tooth, plus I hate the long laces that I have to Velcro to keep them out of my chainring. So,,,,,,,,I'm looking for recommendations.
Any advice will be appreciated. my riding is about 50/50 road and forest service roads.
Tip: trim your laces, tie knots in the end of them, keeps them from fraying and coming untied when tied in a bow.
Platform pedals here, as I started in BMX went to MTB now converted to drop bar trail/gravel mixed surface adventure riding. I have never been a road rider, clipped in, don't race so I don't care about opinions about efficiency on the up stroke... (-:
I run Speedplay Drillium or Specialized Bennies platform pedals & Five Ten's Freerider model MTB shoe's.
