My Shimano XC61 shoes are dying. They were great. The carbon sole was stiff from the heel to the cleat, the clear area was stiff enough to not need a platform, with a flexible toe to allow walking/running. I've tried a few shoes on, but all the lightweight, stiff shoes have an infinitely stiff toe, meaning the heel slides up and down if you're trying to walk. This is stupid. Who makes a decent 2 hole cleat shoe that's flexible north of the cleat? Not looking for big hiking shoe, just a trim XC/ CX. Also, no laces, not all black.
look at Pearl Izumi I have used their X Alp Summit Shoe and it was one of the best for putting power down but still having good walk-ability. Also the Specialized 2FO Clip light do a good job but I will most most likely go back to Pearl Izumi when my current pair dies.
Sorry and thanks, but all those shoes are ugly and bulky. :-( I'm looking for a trim, walkable, stiff, breathable, road shoe / barely a MTB shoe without laces that is easy to clean. Shimano has their XC5, which has laces and a boxy form. The Fizik X5 & X3 look promising. The current XC7 looks to be somewhat rigid. I found a pair of NOS XC61s in my size (45), which will work, but I was hoping for more current options and a color choice.
It looks like people confuse the ability to flex your toes UP with the whole shoe being a flexy mess, so reviews are useless. :-( I get wanting to be able to take a rock impact and using the sole as that protection, but with the exception of smaller shoes sizes , the whole rigid past the cleat thing is flat out stupid for non-road shoes (road shoes it wouldn't matter because of the cleat). I get that "Gravel" shoes are an eye rolling proposition, but just call them CX shoes to be more palatable.
Anyway, if you're shopping for a shoe that's super stiff but still walkable/runnable for non-road, backpacking, CX, one-shoe for everything, etc, Shimano XC61 shoes have my vote. :-)
