Looking for your views?

I currently have a pair of Impact 2 lows had them for over 18 months and they are starting to wear on the sole.

I like the look of the Vxi’s ? What are the pros and cons of these shoes compared to the impact 2’s

The riding I do is mainly XC and All mountain, from time to time a bit of the techy enduro.

Looking for opinions please.

Do you mean the comparison between the flat smooth finish i.e. No tread vxis as I rated highly my inpact hi tops.

Vxi freeriders are stiff offer no ankle protection and you just try walking in mud on them .

Bloody nightmare.
In fact I’m thinking of selling my nearly new set and wear my cat boots!

I would be meaning these;

http://www.fiveten.com/us/bike/gravity/impact-vxi-team-black

I thought the sole was the same as the Impact 2s?

I replaced my 3yr old impact lows with the impact vxi that your link above showed at the start of this year. They are lighter, less chunky looking, very grippy, comfortable and dry much more quickly than the impact lows. Brilliant riding shoes. They have the knobbly grip pattern all over the soles, no smooth section like the freerider vxi’s.

https://totalguiding.com/2015/04/28/five-ten/
https://totalguiding.com/2015/09/25/five-ten-impact-vxi-review/

A couple of wee write ups I’ve done on mine

I hated the VXIs- for me they’re better made, lighter, more suitable for UK weather, and very grippy. But they have no feel at all, which just made them awful to ride in. Felt much the same as riding in my trailbuilding boots. Not everyone finds this or cares about it, so it doesn’t have to be a dealbreaker for you but for me they were ride-ruiningly bad.

(same reason they had to quickly make an Impact 3 for Sam Hill, they did a Sam Hill Signature VXI and he refused to wear it).

Other less important things… Mine bent weirdly when walking and were a bit uncomfortable, they felt hinged rather than having a normal curve. Maybe they’d have broken in though. And the arch wasn’t in the right place for me either, again that’s a ymmv but they’re pretty much the only shoes I’ve worn where that was a problem…

Went back to my old-model Freeriders which I love, lack of toe protection aside.

Of course it’s all subjective – but the Impact VXi’s are pretty much reviewed as the best flat pedal shoes out there, from multiple sources.

I would tend to agree, I think they are great shoes. The stiffer sole is good thing IMO, the Freeriders I always found to be too flexible & fell apart way too quickly.

The older Impacts had a better sole, ad in it lasted longer than the newer shoes – mine are smashed to bits & the outer layer seems quite thin, but they still seem very grippy.

I see the new ‘Sam Hill’ model is basically a revised old Impact – I don’t know in reality if they have addressed the big issue with them for me – the fact that they weighed a tonne.