TESTED: Ride Concepts Vice
Plush and fatigue-free flat pedal shoes
Ride Concepts hit the market running in Autumn 2018 as a bike specific footwear company with a vision of building the most comfortable, durable and reliable mountain bike footwear available. Hailing from Lake Tahoe, the rider owned and rider designed mountain bike specific shoe company has the ability and skills needed to put their products through extensive testing in extremely technical terrain.
Ride Concept’s latest offering is the Vice, a dirtjump and slopestyle shoe that looks sharp enough for streetwear. But the casual style hides some pretty snazzy design and technical details. The Vice has a durable full suede upper and full gusseted tongue to keep the dirt and debris out of your shoe, along with custom moulded thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) toe box and D3O high impact zone technology built into the insoles to keep your foot safe.
On the trail
Slipping into the Vice’s feels like slipping on your favourite slippers. With quality materials being used throughout the shoe the feeling is super plush. A soft foam cuff surrounds the ankle and the sturdy reinforced heel and toe box can barely be felt when wearing them. The D3O zoned inserts make walking in them or bailing off/stepping off the bike surprisingly soft and less fatiguing.
The plush, soft and compliant nature of the shoe does make it more flexible and climbing efficiency was obviously not the number one priority. That aside, thanks to the amount of trail feel retained and reduction in fatigue over other flat pedal kicks I have used, these have become my favourite shoe to wear on the bike, or even in the workshop. The Rubber Kinetics DST 6.0 High Grip sole is awesome even in the wet and sloppy conditions. I was surprised that pushing back up trail was relatively easy too, with the almost sticky hexagonal treadpattern.
Riders looking for more mid-sole support or climbing prowess may prefer Ride Concept’s Livewire which benefits from more rigidity through the sole of the shoe.
If you are after a high quality, super comfortable shoe that will leave you feeling less fatigued, in control and able to step straight into the pub, grab yourself a pair of Vice!
RRP:
Adult $204.95 Youth $169.95
From: lustyindustries.com
Hits:
– Plenty of protection
– Great trail and pedal feel
– They look good and feel good!
Misses:
– Some will want more rigidity
