TESTED: Five Ten Kestral Lace

Words: Mike Blewitt Photos: Robert Conroy

Mountain bike shoes have come a long way from looking like football boots. And while performance based shoes for XCO riding are still stripped back with an appearance of something for the football field, the range of shoes has grown as the sport has. And Five Ten, a company with a pedigree in rock climbing, have helped with that progression. They brought their super-tacky Stealth Rubber to shoes for flats, and all-mountain clipless shoes, bringing far better traction for flat pedals, and when off the bike.

Beyond the bulky, skate style shoes of earlier years that took way too long to dry in an all-conditions sport, Five Ten like most brands, have released ‘new age’ all-mountain shoes like the Kestrel, and the Kestrel Lace. These shoes combine socially acceptable styling, stiff performance midsoles for pedalling efficiency, protection for your toes and the shoe’s durability, plus the ever useful off the bike grip.

Onto The Trail
My wide feet slid into the Eu44 shoes perfectly, and I could get the cleats right where I wanted them, with room to go further back if needed. This is a big detail, as getting your cleats back far enough is becoming a preferable set up for many riders, proving to be better at muscle activation and bike control. The cleat pocket is longer than a similar shoe like the Giro Terraduro. It’s not quite as long as the pocket on a Specalized 2FO Cliplite – and the length makes it easier to find the engagement point. Neat guides in the cleat pocket help with your cleat setup, so you can easily get the angles and fore-aft settings right, which is crucial to getting you set up dialled.

The synthetic upper has light perforation and a slightly reinforced toe box – not like the almost work boot cap of some all-mountain shoes, but certainly enough to stop serious damage. The laces help for even pressure across the foot, even if they’re not as fast to put on or take off. But unless you’re running late for work after a ride that shouldn’t be a problem. The lace strap kept the laces free of your drivetrain, and kept my heel in place on or off the bike. If you’re a BOA person, Five Ten have a Kestrel model with the wind up system.

Matched up with both ‘race’ and ‘trail’ pedals during testing, the shoes felt solid and the nylon midsole meant the shoes were excellent under pedalling loads. This is a hard mix to get right, and while carbon fibre will always be stiffer, that’s not so helpful off the bike. The Stealth rubber sole gripped well, even on rocks in the rainforest, and the non-carbon midsole did help with all-day comfort and ease of walking.

That said, the sole design isn’t great at clearing mud. Sandy and clay based mud did jam up in the sole and cleat pocket, but only dedicated XCO shoes with aggressive spikes can help in those conditions. The material didn’t dry exceptionally fast either – but I’ve only owned one pair of shoes that truly dried quickly. But I could never get them to last beyond 10 months.

After well over a month of use the shoes still look great, and feel great. I enjoyed the simplicity of the laces, especially for fine-tuning the fit before a long day on the bike.