FiveTen Cubed - three shoes from XC to DH

FiveTen is one of those brands that holds a special place for me. While they were perhaps not the first, taking their climbing shoe-derived sticky rubber and putting it on the bottom of a flat pedal shoe - with the now signature Dotty tread pattern - created what was at the time the best flat pedal shoe on the market by miles. To top it all off, they came in an Intense branded edition, hitting legendary status when Karver took them to the unbelievable Fort Bill victory everyone remembers.

If this all sounds familiar it's probably because I wrote about the impact of this in my FiveTen Trailcross Addendum to Uncle Dave's review. I also wrote about how I'm not big on flat pedals these days and correspondingly haven't ridden a lot of FiveTen shoes in the past decades. But if you look now, the brand offers a solid line of clipless shoes, and even a few that stray from the skate shoe aesthetic their mountain bike line was built on. There’s enough shoes in FiveTen’s catalog now to cover your riding needs all the way from XC to Downhill, and with plenty of versatility in between. We teased this a little while ago, in unusual fashion.

Three bikes, three shoes. Now that I’ve had a few more months in all three, it’s time to wrap it up with some thoughts on each pair. We’ll start with the lightest, stiffest, BOA-iest pair.

Kestrel BOA

After the ritualistic unboxing of all three pairs that arrived (OK, I let my four year old open them all… he loves mail), it was clear in my unbiased mind that these were going to be my favorite. They're lightweight, stiff, and they operate with my favorite closure, BOA. These shoes have seen a full winter of XC/downcountry abuse. They're not the shoes I reach for on the wettest days but they are warm enough. They're also ventilated enough that my feet don't cook if it's toasty out and I'm working hard. The sole lugs are tall but aren't super soft, so while they provide good grip in mud, rider beware of slippery rocks or wood if you’re off the bike.

Overall the Kestrel provides a lot of what I seek for most of my trail riding; relatively lightweight, stiff sole, reasonable to walk in. The well armored toe-box is also a welcome - and somewhat uncommon - addition to a shoe in this class. The only real downside is the Kestrel doesn't quite fit my foot as well as the current reigning champ, fi’z:ik’s Vento Ferrox Carbon. This is a personal nit, and I still pick the Kestrels on days where it’s wet, muddy, colder, or may require more walking. And given my proclivity for stiff shoes, I also occasionally wear them while out on enduro bikes, although the cleat position doesn’t go quite as rearward as I’d prefer for this style of riding.

Fiveten Kestrel Boa

Trailcross CL Pro

After spending some good time in the original Trailcross CL, FiveTen addressed my main gripe. These retain all the same features that should make them a hit - very breathable, very walkable, a good balance of sole stiffness and flex, all in a good looking package but with a BOA closure instead of laces. They’re wider than the Kestrel, and coupled with the additional sole flex, they make for a very comfortable shoe both on and off the bike. As I do on many shoes, I’ve carved out a bit of rubber around the cleat to absolutely ensure clean entrance/exit to my pedals, but this isn’t necessary. They also share the same trait as the version with laces - if it's wet, all that toebox ventilation means water strains right in.

Unless you want a shoe that’s quite stiff, if you’re looking for flat pedals, clipless, laces, or BOA and you have somewhat normal feet like me, I’d say there’s a Trailcross for you. They’re a great all-around shoe for trail/enduro (and in my case of always making shoes bat above their weight class, downhill), or going on a bikepacking adventure. These would be a contender if you put a gun to my head and said I had to pick one shoe for everything - I’ll just need a set of waterproof socks to accompany them in the wet months.

FiveTen Clip-in mountain bike shoes

Hellcat Pro

The Hellcat looks like you’d expect a FiveTen to look. It blends skate shoe aesthetics with a single velcro strap for extra power transfer, lace management, and security. They’re very comfortable on the trail or hanging at the brewery for aprés, and if not for the occasional click of a cleat on hard surfaces, folks might never know you’re a cycling nerd.

Despite all these positive attributes, they’re just not my cup of tea. This probably isn’t a surprise to anyone who’s read the preceding paragraphs, or any of my other shoe reviews. It’s also not an indictment of the shoes themselves - it’s a reflection of my preferences. There are heaps of people out there looking for a shoe just like this, and FiveTen has a storied history of making long lasting footwear just like this. If you’re a traditionalist, want laces, and are looking for a shoe you can pretend to not be a cycling nerd in these might be ticket. But that just ain’t me.

FiveTen Freerider

Conclusions

FiveTen was largely off my radar for quite a while there, but over the past several years they’ve been steadily adding to their clipless line, as well as sewing BOA onto lots of appealing shoes. The ability to basically pick and choose features (laces, GORETEX, mid-rise, etc) from a matrix of SKUs, means the brand covers off a huge amount of riders' needs. I’m happy to recommend both the Kestrel and Trailcross Pro BOA. While the Hellcat doesn’t meet the same acclaim from this reviewer, that’s no fault of the shoe itself. I’d wager if you keep an eye out in future reviews, you’ll catch me in both of the dial-equipped options.