Crank Brothers Mallet E Boa Mountain Bike Shoes BLACK-GOLD 12 Review

I struggled to find a mtb shoe that were wide enough. These worked well for me. They are very comfortable with great adjustability and seem high quality. I personally love the rubber sole for walking around and the slight flex in the shoe toe when you need to put your foot down in the gnar. In my opinion, nobody needs a super stiff clip cloppy road shoe on a mountain bike. These were worth the upgrade in pricepoint.

After 4 months of consistent riding on demanding trails (3 rides per week, loose/jagged rock, lots of step outs from the pedals, steep descent and climbing, some hike-a-bike) these shoes are holding up extremely well. The sole and upper show no separation. Minimal to normal wear to the sole. Upper shows no signs of visible wear. These are the most comfortable mtb shoes I have ever owned. Previous shoe was Lake Mx238. The plate is not as stiff as the carbon Lake, but there is not much efficiency loss compared to the Lake. Any loss is well worth it because they are so comfortable to walk in or hike. The carbon Lake was too stiff for walking, and the sole was not grippy enough for step outs. The compound of the rubber sole on the Crank Brothers is grippy on slick rock and roots yet durable. I prefer the upper strap/lower boa of the Crank Brothers over the double boa system. Fits true to size. My foot is a little wide. I wear a slightly wide pair of Lakes. When I first road these Crank Brothers, they were a little narrow. But after about 5 rides they broke in and fit perfect. This will definitely be my next pair of shoes.

These shoes are tremendously comfortable, while still having an ideal amount of stiffness for efficient pedaling. I had been wearing Giro MTB shoes, which worked well with my Mallet pedals. These CB Mallet shoes engage just as well with the pedals, as you might expect, but are far more comfortable; they are the most comfortable MTB shoes I have owned (having has Specialized, Giro, Northwave, and others). I commute to work daily, and I enjoy being able to walk around at work for a while without being to eager to change into my work shoes; because, these mallet shoes are almost as comfortable as my work shoes.These are the first shoes I have owned which have a Boa strap, and I am liking it quite a lot. I am able to fine tune the tightness with it, along with the Velcro strap - perfect fit. I like the silicone dots inside the heel area, which prevent my feet from slipping off at the heel, in addition to the 'dialed in' closure.I rode in these shoes through a North Carolina summer, with some 50+ mile road rides, and 2 hour trail rides, and did not feel as though my feet were too hot - proper socks help with this. In cooler weather, my feet do not become too cold; again, correct socks help with this. These shoes seem to have a great balance of insulation. Even though I purchased some winter cycling boots for very cold rides to work and on trails, I recently purchased some Gore-tex shoe covers to use with these CB Mallet shoes, so that I can ride with them in very cold temps; along with heated socks; and, again, because they are comfortable enough to compel me to ride with them more frequently than with my winter boots.The style of these shoes is also a a very positive aspect of their design. They have an appearance of very nice hiking/walking shoes, and I have worn them at work when I neglected to pack work shoes for my commute one day recently. When I go to the grocery store, or other stores, on my bike, I can walk comfortably, and not look too much like a 'cyclist' (working well with my MTB shorts and tech t-shirts).I am absolutely happy and impressed with these shoes. I am on the bring of going 'car-free,' and will likely buy a second pair of these shoes if that happens, to ensure I have great riding shoes in the event of a cut (on the trail), or some other possible damage. I could certainly ride for a few days or so while waiting for a newly ordered pair if something happened to these, but I would really prefer to have the second pair on hand, and not go on any ride without them.

I'll start with that I've been riding flats (Crankbrothers pedals w/ 5.10 shoes) for several years and decided to make the jump to clipless. This shoe is smaller than my 5.10 equivalent despite they say they're the same size (hence the 4 stars), so there's that, your results may vary. A lot of people say they fit great. For me, there is not a lot of room left in the toe box. But (!) this shoe is comfortable! Lots of padding around the ankle and tongue. The arch feels decent too. The tongue is secured with elastic banding on the inside to keep the tongue centered, this was a massive plus in my book. The shoe fits more snug than the 5.10, feels more secure. A much more comfortable shoe all around, I'm sure once broke-in I'll have another option, which I will share. Think of it this way: it feels like the CB shoe was designed as a comfortable shoe that then was modified to work with clips. The 5.10 was a bike shoe first with comfort as an after thought. (UPDATE) So I just put down 40 miles in this shoe, and I have to say I'm quite enamoured with this clipped in thing. The shoe was great, performed well and was comfortable. The only thing I noticed was the normal sensations associated with new shoes. The break-in takes time. Despite being slightly smaller than my 5.10's, this was still comfortable to wear for several hours. I had to back off the BOA on both shoes, I over tightened them initially. But what was cool about the BOA was I could adjust them on the fly! Definitely cool.This particular shoes is the Enduro model so it has the stiffer sole but can still be walked around in. The rubber on the bottom is as grippy as the Stealth rubber on the 5.10 (UPDATE) I placed the cleats in the forward most position to start with. This put the spindle in front of the ball of my foot, but the sole is so stiff power delivery wasn't an issue. I might adjust them back but I'm digging the fact that less of my foot is hanging off the front of the pedal.This shoe comes with the CB gold cleat installed, 15° engagement, 6° of float, which I believe is a decent cleat for a beginner until I find my perfect fit. I will likely play around with other cleats that offer less degress of engagement and zero float. This is much like buying a saddle, it's a personal thing and you'll end up owning a couple before you find yours. (UPDATE) I was worried that the cleat that came with the shoes would have needed too much foot rotation to exit the pedal but in the real world the rotation needed to exit was pretty good, I was able to quickly release when I needed to, even in a hurry. Then there is the float, this ended up being really nice because I could still move the shoe around slightly on the pedal without releasing. This was nice since I never realized how much I moved my foot around when I rode flats.The BOA system (I've never had a BOA shoe) is a world beyond laces and makes for the perfect fit, where has this been all my life!? No more one shoe fitting more snug than the other or laces coming undone or laces getting caught up in moving parts. Please know, BOA systems have their own faults too, they're cool until they break or you tear the adjustment knob off on an obstacle. Unlike the 5.10 BOA system, you can't back off the CB BOA system if you over tighten it. You have to completely release it and then adjust it again. The 5.10 system can be loosened one click at a time. Not a deal breaker but worth mentioning.Lastly, I chose this brand because 5.10 no longer offers the Kestral BOA in a Enduro style shoe, the Kestral has morphed into a full blown XC shoe, but a really nice one, so if you're leaning that way definitely check it out.I will update again should there be a significant change in the shoes performance. Cheers!

Bought for my husband and then it went on sale. Maybe watch the price of it and catch it low!

Shoe feels really good. Had to send the first pair back as they run one size small compared to the 5 10 kestrel lace.