Five Ten launch Maltese Falcon SPD shoes £94.99
After being given a once over in first rides back in November these shoes have been on my feet for every single ride for the past four months. So have they managed to live up to the glowing review that they were given after their first ride?
In a word, yes. If anything I feel that they have got better. They seem to have settled in and fit my feet better than they did on the first couple of rides. This could partly be down to getting the cleats bang on and also that I ran the laces as tight as I had to with my old DX shoes.
While the upper has settled in a bit, the soles remain nice and rigid without feeling uncomfortable off the bike. They may also be the first shoes that I have owned that has not had that familiar clink clink as you walk across hard floors.
On the bike the stiff sole aided by the reinforced strap means power transfer is excellent for a trail shoe, by far the best of all the others that I have used. They give a solid and consistent feeling on even the longest of rides – some other shoes in its class can start to feel almost baggy in comparison after a long day in the saddle. Recovering from more sketchy moments was aided by the sticky rubber, with dabs on the ground and back onto the pedals being consistently surefooted.
One of the biggest criticisms that are often levelled at Five Tens is that they do not do the best job of keeping water out, and once wet would take a considerable time to dry out, making back-to-back winter rides a bit miserable at times. It has to be said that these faired pretty well.
They resist the water for a decent amount of time and once wet would not feel too heavy or uncomfortable. Paired with a pair of waterproof socks they made a warm and comfortable winter setup. As long as you stored them somewhere warm after a ride, they would be dry enough to wear the following day even after a total soaking. After particularly filthy rides I would just hose them down, knowing they would be OK to put on the following day.
So far they have coped with the rigours of winter, coping with a week’s solid riding over Christmas. They have been as happy messing round on the dual track as they have doing full day rides and evening blasts. They don’t mind the cold and are equally comfortable in the warmer weather too. Cleat engagement isn’t quite up there with Shimano’s DX, but is so close that you don’t need to worry about it. It also outperforms the Minaar/Hellcat in this department too.
Verdict
If you’re after a comfortable high performance trail shoe that is as happy doing downhill runs and enduro races as it is tackling long day rides out in the hills, a shoe for all situations and conditions, you will struggle to find a better shoe out there right now.
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