1b Pick for Best All-Around Flat Mountain Bike Shoe

Five Ten has long been something of a gold standard in the world of flat mountain bike shoes. In particular, the Five Ten Freerider lineup is the bar by which all other flat mountain bike shoes are measured. Our favorite Freerider, the Freerider Pro, represents just why that is. It presents a combination of all of the elements that we look for in a mountain bike shoe.

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Grip

Just as the Freerider lineup as a whole is the bar by which other flat mountain bike shoes are measured, Five Ten’s patented Stealth rubber is the rubber compound by which others are judged. When we first tested out Shimano’s new Michelin sole, our first thought was “how does it compare to the Five Ten Stealth sole?”

The truth is, that the Five Ten Stealth rubber compound found on the Five Ten Freerider Pro offers a level of grip that is unmatched and unsurpassed by any sole on the market, save for Five Ten’s own Mi6 rubber compound.

There is a level of grip and confidence that the Stealth rubber compound instills that is just hard to beat. The full dot tread pattern of the Five Ten Freerider Pro also adds to its grip. The pins of your pedals can slot between the dots giving you a more secure feeling on the pedals. The full dot tread pattern does not lock in your feet quite the way that the Michelin sole of the Shimano GR9 does, but it offers a compromise between being fully locked in and being able to more easily adjust your foot on the pedal.

Meanwhile, the Five Ten Freerider Pro is a top performer in hike a bike situations. It does not live up to the aggressive, truck tire like pattern of the Shimano GR9, but still performs very well, with the dots offering traction in mud and slick conditions.

Rigidity and Protection

The Five Ten Freerider Pro offers greatly increased levels of rigidity and power transfer over the basic Freerider. In fact, the Freerider Pro is one of the stiffest soled shoes in our review and naturally offers amazing power transfer. As riders who skew toward loving long days with lots of difficult climbing followed by high-speed descents, we view this as a positive. However, if you spend as much time on pump tracks and sessioning poppy features off the side of the trail as you do climbing and descending, then the basic Five Ten Freerider might be a better choice, as its more flexible sole offers more pedal feedback and allows you to wrap your feet around the pedal in a way that the Five Ten Freerider Pro does not.

The Five Ten Freerider Pro also offers greatly increased protection over the cheaper Freerider. Both the toe box and heel are reinforced, meaning that your feet are likely to survive impacts that might cost you a few months of riding if you took them while wearing the basic Freerider.

Comfort and Breathability

The Five Ten Freerider Pro fits fairly true to size and offers a generous toe box, though not to the same level that the Shimano GR9 does.

As one of the stiffest shoes in our test, the Five Ten Freerider Pro is a shoe that is less comfortable than most at the outset of a ride and while walking, but will leave your feet and calves feeling much less fatigued than softer soled shoes after long days of pedaling.

Finally, the beefy nature of the Five Ten Freerider Pro means that it is not going to be an extremely breathable shoe. On the other hand, its synthetic finish does a solid job at repelling water. Combine this with the Freerider Pro’s Stealth rubber full dot tread pattern, and it is a solid contender for a year around shoe that is serviceable when it is hot and dry as well as when it is cold and damp.

Durability

A mountain bike shoe does not become the most popular and well-known shoe on the market if it falls apart easily. The Five Ten Freerider Pro stays true to the durable nature of the Freerider line. The Stealth rubber full dot sole takes abuse from sharp pins while only showing a tiny pockmark here or there. The uppers meanwhile are just as durable, and there appears to be no issue with delamination between the two.

Additional Features

Like the Shimano GR7, the Five Ten Freerider Pro features an elastic band, behind which you can tuck the laces to keep them out of harm’s way.

While looks are subjective, we think that the Freerider line in general has some of the best-looking mountain bike shoes on the market. This makes the Freerider Pro a great choice if you plan to head into town to grab a beer or coffee after a ride and don’t want to stick your nasty feet back into your street shoes. However, if you plan to wear it around town frequently, we would recommend the softer soled and more comfortable Freerider, over the stiffer and more protective Freerider Pro.

The Bottom Line

The Five Ten Freerider Pro lives up to the Freerider hype and reputation in just about every way. Sure, it is a bit stiffer than some would like, but Five Ten has that crowd covered with the basic Freerider.

Finally, at $150, it is on par with the Shimano GR9 as a premium flat mountain bike shoe that is expensive but not obscenely so, and we feel that it is worth the money if you need the increased rigidity and power transfer that it offers over the cheaper Five Ten Freerider.

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