Chicken soup for the sole: Flat pedal shoe talk

I've tried so many over the years, for sheer performance and ability to walk and be comfortable - Fiveten Freerider Pro

For cost effectiveness (always on sale) amazing grip, but a narrow fit - Specialized 2F0 Roost

It's a combo of pedal and shoe however. If you got a great shoe and a shitty pedal it will never work. 

I was die hard Five Ten Sam Hills while they were still around. Was heartbroken to see them discontinue and wasn't able to stock up in time. With reserve, I tried the Spesh 2F0 DH and was very pleasantly surprised on how grippy they are! Now after going through these, they seem as though they may be getting discontinued with no restocking taking place. I am scared now.............. I don't know what else can meet such a high set bar of all out grip and I need some fresh soon for DH.

Freerider pros have been my go to for trail riding but DH is where I am more concerned

I was a clip-in rider for 20 years with occasional flat usage in bike parks, and just now swapped over to flats for good.  So far, the best combo I have found is 5.10 freerider pro and a select few pedals that I like.  I have a pair of the freeriders, which I find are better for pedal feel and I use them on my dj bike, but they are lacking a bit of sole stiffness and the skate style tongue isn't as comfortable to me after about 3-4 hours on the bike.  I think I pretty much like the freeriders on concave pedals, where as the pro's match well with convex.  

I am not a huge fan of how fast I seem to go through flat pedal shoes compared to clip-in shoes.  I used to be able to get 2-3 years of 4-5 days a week out of clip-in shoes.  I'm finding that a pair of freerider pro's last me about 9-10 months before I have a few pins that have worn all the way through the sole.  Maybe that makes a case for not having the same pedals on every bike... 

Running the Freerider pros and can't really fault them. They also last a lot longer than I expected.

For pedals I've just ordered Deity Flat Trak pedals just out of curiosity because I'm riding trails and not much talk about these particular pedals yet. If I like them but want a little more grip, I can just bump up to the supervillain.

Hoping to land on a favorite combo this upcoming season. 

I have those Specialized shoes, the goofy cheap ones that are only vaguely foot-shaped. I think they’re DH because Roost doesn’t sound familiar. Anyways, I’ve had them for like four years and they haven’t degraded at all. The heel padding maybe. 
I use them when I ride my eeb, its big plastic diety pedals are fused to my cranks. Some pins missing, which is actually kind of nice. Vans are roasted, I can’t even walk in them anymore. Good thing these Specialized ones are going to survive the apocalypse.

This issue seems triple solved. It’ll answer any questions you have about the bike pedals and shoes I wear but really…it blows my mind how much you guys discuss this! 

I haven't been able to ride for more than ten years due to MS. But while I still could I jumped on the Five Ten train and found personally that they had Too much grip with standard, metal pedals. So I used to run cheep plastic pedals so that I could get a Bit of movement. I always used clips for trail riding and flats only for DH. For dirt jumping and street trials I would use standard shoes and metal pedals.

The Spesh 2FO Roosts run a little narrow, but going 1/2 size up solved that little inconvenience for me. I like their stiffer soles better than 510 Freeriders/Pro. OTOH, 510 Impacts are still my go to shoes for DH, 2FO DHs are not as stiff and give me foot cramps after a 1/2 day in a park.

My latest purchase is RC Tallas Mid Boas and I still haven't figured what I would want to use them for. Superb features on paper but the most uncomfortable shoes ever, and way too cold for winter riding compared to every other shoe I own. It's like skiing in way-too-stiff-and-frikking-cold Lange boots all over again.

I found freerider pro's a bit soft, RC Helions are what I have now and I have been happy with them. I don't have the widest foot but they are a little wider than 5-10's which I found a bit narrow.

Not sure if they're even still a thing but Semenucks signature Etnies were pretty cool gripped like vans but had just slightly more support but not so much that they were like the super hard sole shoes for people like me that don't like that option. 

I've settled on the 5.10 TrailCross Mid Pro paired w/ convex pedals; they're the right combo of grippy and walkable and I like the ankle protection. I wish they'd put out a double-Boa version (although I know not everyone likes Boa). 

For winter/wet riding the GoreTex (GTX) version work well (the first pair I had sucked; the soles were almost slippery and would NOT let the pins bite in, took a chance on a new pair and they're great).

As for pedals, I've tried SO many:
DMR Vaults
Chesters 
Stamps
Yoshimura (gen 1)
Nukeproof Horizon (Sam Hill edition natch)
Burgtec Penthouse Mk5
Canfield Ultimate
OneUp Alu
OneUp Wave

Of all of those the OneUp Waves are my favorite, followed by the OneUp Alu, then the Burgtecs and then the Nukeproofs. I liked the Canfields too but they were noisy (the spindle has a little wave washer at the end that's supposed to hold the pedal body against the inboard end of the spindle and that wears out very quickly allowing the pedal to slide along the spindle and make noise).

Worth noting that I have small feet (size 40) and like thin pedals so I'm a little limited for options in that regard.

The short answer is that ideal flat pedal shoes depends hugely on the rider and application.

Long answer:  I've tried most commonly available flat pedal shoe brands at this point.  In terms of rubber grip, there are only 2 that I'd rate 10/10:  Five Ten and Specialized.  The next closest (still quite a bit far behind) would be Fox at like 8/10, and Ride Concepts I'd put at like 7.5.  I have flat feet, so the only brands that fit in terms of width for me are Five Ten (Impact Pros & Freerider Pros - none of the shitty Adidas designs), Fox Union, some of the RC shoes (their fit is all over the place), and Shimano if I size up.  Specialized must have used little fairy ballerinas as a foot model.  If you're riding longer, rougher DH/Enduro style trails, you want a very stiff sole, like the Impact Pro.  Too bad the idiots at Adidas quietly killed it.  Fox Union is somewhere in between a Freerider Pro and Impact Pro in terms of stiffness.  2FO DH is the stiffest flat I've tried.

Pin style:  grub screws work better in softer rubber (Five Ten) - they sink into it and grip with the sides.  Hex/round pins work better at harder rubber (Ride Concepts) where they can cut into it easier than a grub screw.  But smooth pins slide out of soft rubber easier and also wear it down faster.

Pedal shape (convex vs. concave) - largely comes down to where the rider likes to put their foot.  The closer they like to put their foot so that the ball is over the axle or slightly in front of it, the more concave works better.  If they place their foot quite a bit forward, such that the axle is more under their arch, convex works better.

Vital MTB flat pedal roundup is quite accurate in my experience.  https://www.vitalmtb.com/features/Vital-MTB-Face-Off-The-Best-Flat-Peda…

But who’s got the inside scoop on specialized shoes? Are they going to continue making them? I like the 2FO DH but it’s hot for trails. I am hoping they make one similar that is a bit more breathable.  I want a good breathable trail shoe with solid contact. 

I also have the Ride Concepts Tallac and while the fit and shoe breathability is good, the grip and dampness on pedal is lacking for me.  Its doable until I ride some chunky stuff. 

I found that the Specialized fit was too weird for me. They didn't have enough curve, they were too close to being symmetrical or something so it felt like I had the left shoe on the right and vise versa (not to that extent, but...)

Freerider Pro for me. Always come back to it. Everything else grips like shit. I used to destroy five tens way too quickly because I twist my feet when I ride and I'd just tear the soles to bits, but the pros last really well considering. I've also got a pair of Trailcross LTs that I'll use if I'm doing a lot of walking, if I expect to get wet feet, or if it's a super hot day. Those things feel like they run 10 degrees cooler than the Freerider Pro, drain water immediately/completely, and the cuff of the freerider pro agitates just under my ankle bone bit when I walk.

In terms of pedals, I can't decide if I like my Deftraps or my Vaults more. The Deftrap grip and stability is stupid good, but there's something about having a pedal that feels just right... I feel like the shorter back half of the platform of pedals like the Vault jams itself into the sole a little more than the front, rips shoes up a little more but I think that I like the grip to be biased towards the back of the pedal. Or maybe I need to ride my Deftraps more.

Echoes;

The Specialized 2fo has the most similar rubber and sole feel to the best shoes ever, the OG Intense/5.10. Impact/Sam Hill, while being about half the weight and dealing with water much better.

I have a tiny French foot and the Specialized shoe fits better thany anything in the current 5.10 lineup.  

Ride Concept shoes in my size(41) suffer from the same issue as the Teva’s they were originally based on, not enough soft surface area on the bottom of the shoe, the harder compound edges bounce my feet off.

For dry park days, skatepark and pumptrack riding, the best category in the vans lineup right now is pro series skateboard shoes with the ultra-pop midsoles.   

In back to back dh testing with van’s pro series BMX shoes with ultra-pop midsoles, the vibration damping characteristics of the skate shoes(a thicker midsole to fight heel bruises i suppose) does a better job damping high frequency vibrations that may cause your feet to move than the firmer midsoles on the bmx pro models.

(all my testing is with Chromag Dagga pedals)

I tend to doubt specialized is exiting the shoe game.  Their current shoes are really good.  But they also have been on hella clearance for a loooong time now.  My guess is they have an updated version they will release at some point but like the enduro they are in no rush to do so.  But who knows maybe they decided the market is too saturated to be worth the squeeze.  Would be a shame though cause honestly the build quality was much higher than my last few pairs of 510s.

I tried a bunch over the years and now settled on the ION scrub amp as my go to for several years now. It has a great balance of grip, durability, sole stiffness, and toe/inner ankle protection. Frankly, a bit astounded this shoe doesn't get more love.

Ion has them on sale but they want $20 for shipping in the US of A. 🧐

I am coming up on needing to retire my second pair of Ride Concepts Livewires in 8ish years, have had decent luck with durability considering the amount of riding I do and my pedal preference having 40mm pins lol
I like them, they seem to fit my long, flat, wide-ish feet. I have another set of Livewires and a set of Powerlines waiting to be used.

These Under Armours  UA Valsetz RTS 1.5 or my Magnum Tactical boots

I like some ankle support and protection.

Could this rather be flat pedal AND shoe talk? 

Would be wise to just have a combined thread that is of newer times, because resurrecting 10 year old threads just feels a bit off to me. I can't really find a flat pedal thread, so...

I think I posted earlier in this thread that I find I need really stiff flat pedal shoes due to low arches.  I actually recently found a work-around to that.  I put a set of Remind Destin Impact insoles (meant for skateboard shoes) in a pair of Freerider Pros, which normally cause my feet to hurt on rough tracks, and had zero foot pain.  I'm pretty stoked on the insoles - it opens up a lot more shoe options for me (especially with the Impact Pro being discontinued).  With the Remind insoles, I think I slightly prefer the Freerider Pros now, because their slightly softer sole grips even better by conforming to the pedal concavity, but the insole takes care of damping out the chatter.

hmmmmmmm.... I never thought about that! same boat of certain DH models discontinuing. I know you can't directly replace the rest of the shoe construction with insoles but dang... definitely can help in the stiffness department. 

I did a quick search for threads that discussed flat pedals and couldn't really find anything relevant as of 2026. That's why I motioned to you if you would think this thread could be both or not. I can obviously start a new standalone thread just for flat pedals, or I can start a flat pedal AND shoe thread because it is normal to have questions affecting both areas, and other times you may only want to ask about one of the two etc.

The 2FO is hard to beat, great shoe and great price.