Frustratingly my 13yr old, who has ridden cleats since he was 10 or so, has decided he can only now ride with flats.

I of course have no clue about these things, looking online all I’ve seen so far are what appear to be overpriced skate type looking shoes, so please can someone advise and recommend what I should be looking for and some suitable buys?

Usage is trail centres.

Sticky soles, unfortunarely 5.10 rubber is the best – they just aren’t as waterproof as say…Shimanos…who’s soles are a bit crap. The 5.10 Freerider EPS High’s look good, more waterproofed than previous versions and they have the slightly more durable rubber than the ultra sticky VXI’s.

5:10 Freerider Elements with Superstar Nano (or current in stock equivalent) pedals? Should be on budget if you shop around for the shoes.

Just got some five ten freerider ELC from my lbs for £85. Using them with Superstar El Plastique, awesome

Adidas Tera

Shimano am41 are spot on. Cheaper than 5:10. Grip isn’t as good but good enough for trail centres I’d have thunk.

Any trainers he has knocking about and some superstar pedals.

You don’t need anything fancy/special for riding flats, just good technique which at 13 he’ll pick up quickly.

Adidas terrex trail cross
Way better than five tens and use the same rubber

Five ten guide tennie, not marketed as MTB specific, the build quality is far superior to any of the so called mtb shoes and has the same flat stealth sticky sole.

Any skate shoe with a waffle sole, loads of choice the internet for not a lot of cash , vans or similar

Five Tens get my vote, got some 2 years ago in Black Friday sales for about £65. DMR Values are the pedals i have, bought them 2nd hand for about £40.

Vans.

I’ve got five ten freeriders and cheap 20quid vans and the vans are almost as good. Five tens are definitely not worth 60quid more.

Superstar Nanos are great value for money, 25% off this week with code 25K too brings them in at £34.

I’ve got Five Tens Impact Vxi and the grip is amazing, but they are pricey. I managed to get mine for £68 in February, but not seen them that cheap anywhere since.

The pedal itself will be just as important. I used to wear an old pair of skate shoes, which were just ok with a set of DMR v8s (quite a few times when I slipped off the pedal) but worked well with a set of vaults. Then got Five Tens and they’re great, but obviously quite expensive, particularly as he’ll need to replace as he grows. I’d invest in a good set of pedals and just use cheapo vans or similar till his feet stop growing.