What hightops / boots are available for flats?

I have these so far.

Vaude Moab Mid STX
Five Ten Trail Cross Mid
Ride Concepts Vice Mid

I have these so far.

Vaude Moab Mid STX
Five Ten Trail Cross Mid
Ride Concepts Vice Mid

Do these all have stiff soles?
Lots of hi/mid tops are like skate shoes and are soft soleed which hurts my little tootsies, and I don’t think is ideal for MTB.

Five ten mids impacts

Look at the Etnies bike shoes – https://www.stifmtb.com/collections/etnies

I use standard Etnies Maranas at the moment and Michelin sole gives very good grip. The Crank series of shoes are more bike focused and have a stiffer sole I believe

https://www.singletracks.com/mtb-gear/flat-pedal-mountain-bike-shoe-guide-find-the-best-kicks-for-your-riding-style/

As I can’t post a thread I’ll ask on here.
My knee doctor has said that the clipping out motion is not helping my poorly knee.
So have dug out some flats and working my way through my trainer collection.
Trainers with grip place me wherever the pins aren’t and non grip shoes let me go where I want but don’t give me any float.
Is the lack of float something that I’ll have to put up with or do proper shoes have a magic grip?

I’ve got some old Duffs ‘4130’ in a cupboard somewhere, which I bought years ago, they claimed to be Hi-tops specifically for BMX use, they apparently still sell that model.

I found them incredibly hot, and while the sole was good and stiff the grip was at best a bit ‘Meh’.

5-10 Mid FTW I’d have thought, as grip trumps most other features?

Is the lack of float something that I’ll have to put up with or do proper shoes have a magic grip?

there is a lack of float that is noticable at first (or was when I switched from shimano spd)

the odd feeling went away after a few weeks for me – but if you have damaged knees worth asking the knee doctor which is worse, occasional unclipping motion or possibly loads of pedalling with the foot not quite right…

Each case is different, and you should really check that with your doctor, but my personal experience is that my knees actually prefer clips with a good amount of float vs very grippy flat pedals and shoes.

The old Sombrio X-Shazam was good, hard to find now though.

Look at the Etnies bike shoes – https://www.stifmtb.com/collections/etnies

I’d love an spd version of the Etnies, I missed out on the Adidas Velosamba as it was out of stock by the time I found out about them.

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Northwind
Full Member

The old Sombrio X-Shazam was good, hard to find now though.

They were – I’ve still got a pair that I use occasionally in summer, otherwise it’s Vaude Moab STX.