downhill rubber: shoes

[dhkid]

So what works these days? I've been on a pair of sam hill impacts for a the past year or so and haven't been getting along with them at all. I've tried longer pins on my pedals but still have problems with my feet rolling off the pedals. After discussing it with a few of my friends I've realised its due to the stiffness of the shoes sole. I went back to my old impact 2s and instantly was riding better and how I'm used to, main reason being I was able to feel the pedal through the shoe which I was unable to do so on the sam hill impacts.

So keeping that in mind what shoes would you guys recomend? I would love to just go back to a pair of impacts 2s but I've heard that they have been changed and are as stiff as the sam hill impacts. Could anyone back that up? Seems like the best option out there at the moment is the 5-10 freeriders.

[William42]

freeriders.

[Udi]

Not sure if you realise this, but they definitely lose grip over time and eventually stop sticking like they do when new. I haven't ridden the sam hill impacts, but I can't imagine they'd be hugely different to the impact 2, it's probably more likely that your two sets of shoes are in different stages of wear and grip.

I don't think it's always visually noticeable either, I've had sets lose grip faster in different conditions. I could be entirely wrong on all those counts but I bet you'd be happy if you just bought a brand new set of whichever 510's you prefer riding.

[gemini2k]

If your feet are rolling off you might want to try thinner pedals too. What are you running now?

[Da Peach]

The freerider pros are pretty.

Take a pic of your broken bike and you could win some Tevas like Bizutch. That jerk...

[dilzy]

I run the hi-tops and frankly, am very gratefull for the stiffness. Nothing worse than floppy dh shoes.

[iRider]

Just solve the problem this way:

[staike]

I'm running Baron's with Straitline pedals. Works really good!

[worship_mud]

impact 2 low + wahwah pedals

[ICEBALL585]

I'm running a the wah wah pedals and a pair of skate shoes that I got on clearence for $20.

I cant stand those stiffer bike shoes cause you can't feel the pedal very well. I'm sure some of those 5-10 shoes are great but I can't justify dropping over $100 on a pair of shoes I'll wear maybe once a week.

[Sandwich]

5/10 rennie's with impact blacks before that. Same shoe, different height (and size, for me, to prevent turf toe). Perfect shoe.


Think you could re-sand the sole and get better traction? Maybe you need a smaller size if your feet are rolling off the pedal?

[SthFRider]

I think the impacts are far more stickier than the freeriders. I prefer the impacts for the more gnarly trails. The freerider are sticky don't get me wrong but they do allow you to move your foot around on the pedals a little more than impacts do. The freeriders are far less bulkier than the impacts which is nice. I usually ride with freeriders but if i know things are going get rowdy i'll put the impacts on.

[dhkid]

Udi, funny thing is that my old worn out pair of shoes work better for me, my relatively new sam hills don't grip as well as they don't mold to the pedal and offer much feel.

I'm on deity LT pedals so they are pretty thin and they aren't the problem, even have 10mm pins on them which work amazing with the worn out 5-10s. maybe they are too long and aren't able to dig in on the newer pair?

iRider, i was on clips for two months because of this whole dilemma. Happy that i did, now i can choose to go on clips for the pedaly tracks but at the end of the day im still a flat pedal rider at heart.

[dhkid]

my feet have been rolling off the pedals forwards not backwards and i've narrowed that down to the lack of feel through the pedals. When i dont feel/able to curl my feet slightly over the pedals i dont really know/feel how much pressure is being put on them. Kinda like riding gloveless if you get what i mean. Thats when i start rolling my feet of the pedals.

no one else been having similar trouble?

[englertracing]

Steel toe redwing work boots