I’ve been riding SPDs virtually since I’ve taken up MTBing about 5 years ago and want to improve my skills by going to flats.

I’ve ordered some pedals but don’t want to go and spend a whole load of money on shoes till I think that I’m sure that I’ll actually take to riding with flats.

Can anyone recommend me any cheap alternatives to flat specific shoes that won’t break the bank?

Ta

There are none really, just get some skate shoes from sports direct or something bit they won’t be as good.

My first thought would be some skate trainers with a solid sole for a cheap option. Giro have shoes at around £55 but if you are spending that much you may as well go for 5-10s. It’s worth considering that decent shoes designed for use with flats make a difference. Using shit shoes and shit flat pedals will probably feel a bit shitty. Sorry for the over use of the words shit and shitty.

teva often go for little money on ebay

Teva Links for £42.50 – excellent shoes, on my second pair.

Edit – link always useful.

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/teva-links-shoe-black-id68373.html?gclid=CK2M88aKu74CFYJ02wodMnkAww

Tevas as above or shimano am41 or sombrio if you can find them. They all have plenty enough grip.

You’l get away with the Teva as a casual shoe if you don’t take to flats – you won’t with the Shimano. They come with extra non-garish laces as well as the garish ones too.

Sorry to hijack but whats the sizing like with the tevas, do you size up/down from everyday shoes?
thanks.

Emerica do some nice ones. Got a pair in black with green soles for £35. Very grippy too.

Tevas fir me like any other skate shoe, take the same 10 in all of them.

You can wear pretty much anything with a thickish sole on flats, tbh.

The thicker soled Karrimors at Sports Direct last well.

Mrs S wears some Northwave and Spesh spd shoes without the cleat.
They’re fine and always cheap somewhere.

Ta very much!

Any decent soled skate shoe will do fine. Yeah 5 10’s are sticky but it’s more to do with you, how you position your foot and use your weight.

I’ve used Etnies for years with no problems, now gone back to spd’s (AM45’s), but have recently been using some Element shoes on the HT, which still has flats, and they are really good. Sole is quite stiff and waffely pattern.

Check out Sombrio. Just as grippy as 5/10. I’ve had both, Sombrio are significantly cheaper.

5:10s are noticeably better, but I used to ride with a variety of skate style shoes and most of them were decent enough. In general I think a gum-coloured sole is an indication of a nice soft texture that grips well. Airwalks from Sports Direct are cack as the sole compound is far too plasticy (on the ones I had at least).

The trouble with skate shoes is you never really know how they’ll work. I’ve had some Vans that i loved on the bike, and some that are awful, frinstance.

The Sombrios were ace, almost impossible to find new now 🙁

It’s also not all about the sole. For actual mountain biking, you want shoes that won’t get sodden with water, are lightweight yet won’t fall apart, will allow you to hike-a-bike when necessary, have a stiff sole, will fit well and have a reliable way of tightening.

Vans are fine for sole grip most of the time but they fall flat on most of the other counts.

No one seems to make a proper riding shoe with all the above features sans cleats. Even 5:10s are heavy and absorbent. Whilst my AM41s admittedly aren’t as grippy and haven’t lasted me very well, I think they’re better than 5:10s for a lot of that list.

I’m a uk 9 to 9.5 in most stuff, my Tevas are are a 10 and fit well, they do come up a little narrow, but then I have wideish feet.
Most of the folk I ride with have 5-10, but I can honestly say I’ve never had a foot slip off a pedal with my Tevas and keep meaning to order another pair before you can’t get them anymore.

Even 5:10s are heavy and absorbent.

The new Freerider VXi Elements are as light as AM40s and Links and more water resistant and quicker drying than either. The soles are fine on all of them but the 5.10s are grippiest – with new shoes and new Vaults they started out feeling too sticky, was really hard to adjust my feet!

I put up a PSA for Teva Links a little while, they were cheap on ebay. Offers finished now

I bought a pair and have been wearing them for all MTBing ever since. I’m a size 11 in most shoes and the 11s in the Tevas were fine

Have worn them for riding in the woods, a skills day I did and the Welsh Ride Thing. Very impressed with them, did a lot of hike a bike in them and they worked well. Walked through a bog in them and they got wet but were still comfy, took a little while to dry. Have shrugged off normal muddy riding fine without wet feet, but wouldn’t say they were in any way waterproof, more like vaguely water resistant

the VXi seem to have a more pronounced curve at the front compared to my old Freeriders. How is everyone finding the curved up front ?

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/teva-links-shoe-black-id68373.html

Just bought a pair of these. Looks good value.

Superficial – Member

Even 5:10s are heavy and absorbent

Even 5:10s? They’re probably the worst offenders.

Sombrio had some great ones, the X-Shazam is the closest I’ve found to a real winter flat shoe. I’d buy 5 pairs if I could but they’re discontinued 🙁

Do 5 10’s still have a cardboard footbed?

Im on some Etnies (marana) on Wellgo flats – work well for me!

Mackem – Member

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/teva-links-shoe-black-id68373.html

Just bought a pair of these. Looks good value.

bought, many many thanks.

I have a pair of the Tevas and Sombrios. The Tevas are ok but don’t grip anything like the Sombrios which are I think as sticky as 5.10s without some of the absorbency problems. I just CRC manage to buy last years stock to sell cheap as a few years ago.

I cant recall my Vans Skink Mid getting sodden in the lovely weather we have over here. In fact they’ve been used regularly for just over 2 years and I’ve only just worn through the sole….so need more. Sadly they’ve stopped the Skink so I might have a look at trying the Teva Links as I like the look of their mid/hightop. I cant ride normal as I like a bit of ankle protection offered by the mid/hightops

Just to say, five10’s and flat pedals are better than clip less, impacts are great, but the new vxi elements are the best. Pay the money, you won’t be sorry

Line Kings are on offer at below £60 at CRC at the moment, Kevin and Abigale have been using them for a couple of years and are a great shoe

Do 5 10’s still have a cardboard footbed?

No, I think they finally got rid of that!

I know I’ve said it already in this thread but I avoided 5.10s for years because of their reputation for acting like soggy sponges – the ‘winterised’ VXi Elements are quicker drying than my Teva Links or Shimano AM40s and keep the wet out for longer too (especially compared to the Tevas).

So if you want something with a sole which is 5.10 grippy and doesn’t have 5.10’s old absorbency problem then get some 5.10 VXi Elements! The normals VXis may be similarly unabsorbent but I don’t know for sure…

Have ordered a pair of the rvm skate shoes , hopefully should be good.
Cheap Etnies

selling some size 10.5’s 5-10’s if interested.