My old Mavics lost a bit of sole/tread last week. No shame to them, we've been through a lot together. I'm now looking at replacements and considering the Rockrider 900 from Decathlon so after any feedback from current/previous users.
Also - as a more general point - the pros/cons of laces vs ratchet. I'm happy with the latter on road/touring shoes just wondering if dirt/mud has more of an impact on the choice when riding off-road.
Got BOA on my Shimano XC3's and MW9 winter boots. No issues with mud.
Rockrider are decent shoes, check out Merlin as they have some right bargains on Crono shoes at the moment, I got my lad a pair of the CX3.5's and they're superb, sizing is pretty normal too.
I'd disagree vemently about Rockriders XC shoes!
I have the Rockriders 700 and the problem is the sole seems to be made of the hardest yet slippiest substance known to man and, unless you manage to clip into the pedals first time, 100% of the time, your foot will fly off the pedal. Which is deeply irritating when your trying to keep ahead when starting off from, for example, traffic lights....it's also borderline dangerous.🤔
I'm no SPD virgin having been riding Shimano SPDs of various sorts for about 30 years and these are, by far, the worst shoes I've had.
(When I bought my 700 I also looked at the 900 and that sole appeared very similar so I'd imagine a similar problem.)
It's also worth noting the the toe box is very narrow* so for me they constantly rub. I had hoped the material would give and mould to my foot. It hasn't yet (I've got maybe 100hrs of riding in them but I'm about to give up with them...)
* I don't have wide feet!
EDIT: on the subject of ratchets, Ive two great pairs of MavIc "touring" shoes which had ratchets. Unfortunately, the ratchets failed and I couldn't get replacements so the shoes died prematurely. I try to avoid proprietary parts now and stick with Velcro straps were possible...
I've seen that the Rockriders come with a warning that they're not suitable for longer stretches of walking. Given my usual route choices this us probably a limiting factor.Â
So - something more suitable for HaB??
I like my Specialized Recon 2.0 very much
https://www.cyclingweekly.com/reviews/cycling-shoes/specialized-recon-2-0-shoes
I've got some (in a sale) Spesh Sworks REcons, they have BOAs and work very well as my XC and road shoe. One Boa has got a bit sticky, but not unusable. I have tho ordered a spare Boa for free from Boa and it's sitting in a drawer just in case. Spesh recons seem to get good reviews on here (edit - see above from Bob), and the last works for my feet. Mine not great tho for too much walking as quite stiff. Would probs get something else for touring or HaB - perhaps the Recon 2s instead of Sworks
