New high-end trail shoes from Shimano

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Today, Shimano has launched a new collection of shoes and a couple among them have caught our collective eye (and not just the lace-up road shoes… ahem)

Catchily dubbed the ME7 and ME5 (presumably Mountain Enduro), they bear a family resemblance with the popular M200 but there are a few changes in keeping with the high-end spec. The extra ankle protection of the M200 is replaced with more of a scree-guard for the heel which’ll help foot mobility when walking and keep those annoying little rocks out of your shoes.

ME700-SL_01
That’s a lot of lugs… Enduro blue highlights of course…

Shimano ME5

The M700 gets a much more aggressive sole. Both shoes appear to get a bit more ventilation (one of the nice things about the M200 is that they’re not that vented for UK use.

ME700-SL_03
Michelin has provided the grippy sole tread

The ME7 also gets a speed lace system under the protective flap. The ME5 gets more Velcro. Both models get a carbon shank for stiff pedalling that still allows comfy walking.

ME700-SG_01
The ME7 also comes in a ‘less enduro blue’ grey colour

Shimano ME5

The ME5 shares more in common with the M200 – it has the slightly simplified sole tread (with no Michelin funny business in there) and forgoes the speed laces and lace cover for good ol’ Velcro straps for cinching up purposes.

ME500-L_01
Slightly simpler looking (and £40 cheaper) ME5 shoes
ME500-G_01
Comes in ‘definitely not enduro grey’ too
ME500-L_03
Still enough grip for most folks.

Current (exchange-rate willing) prices are:
ME7 – £149.99 SRP
ME5 – £109.99 SRP
And both models should start to appear in late September/early October

And sandal fans will be pleased to hear that the venerable SPD sandal is still in the range…

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Chipps Chippendale

Singletrackworld's Editor At Large

With 23 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 30 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)

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