The Cyclone shoes from Five Ten gained notoriety when downhiller Danny Hart wore them to victory in the last World Champs.
As soon as we put them on, we found that their added height and padding around the ankle offered enough support for us to ditch our usual ankle support. The combination of the laces and Velcro strap let us cinch them nice and tight without them feeling uncomfortable. It also meant we could make the most of that added height.
The upper is constructed from Action Leather, which does a good job of standing up to the elements and helps stave off the worst of the weather. The sole itself uses Five Ten’s Stealth rubber, which is super-grippy. We found we even had to wind in the grub screw on our CrankBrothers pedals to allow for enough movement to unclip.
There’s enough flexibility in there to let you walk around off the bike normally, yet they’re sufficiently stiff for you get the power down when needed. We think they’re best paired with a platform-style pedal – the cleat recess has enough forwards/backwards movement to get cleat position correct, but we did need to trim the edges of the sole a little to ensure decent clearance.
This article was originally published in Mountain Biking UK magazine, available on Apple Newsstand and Zinio. Issue 277 hits newsagents tomorrow.
