Many of you may have heard of the Intense shoes made known by Kovarik, Hill and co. Most riders believed them to be the ultimate flat pedal shoe giving amazing amounts of grip. A complaint from many riders who used the shoe was that if you put your foot on the pedal in the wrong spot there was no way to move it to where you wanted without taking your foot back off the pedal again. I’d always wanted to try a set because I’m a flat pedal bandit and everyone who has ever used a set raved about them. However there was no way I could ever justify the expense of buying a set.

Many people then found out that the Intense shoes where actually made by a company by the name of Five Ten who produce rock climbing shoes. These were cheaper but still nothing you’d be excited about. Then not too long ago it was found that Five Ten were going to stop producing this line of shoe which indeed was a sad loss for flat pedal users around the world. Then one day I received an email from Michael at For the Riders asking if I’d like to test out a set of Five Ten Mountain Masters.

Initial Impressions

As you can see from the photos* these aren’t the same shoe as the Intense version. However they do feature the stealth rubber technology for the sole of the shoe which is what made the Intense’s  so grippy. The tread pattern is different with a more aggressive pattern and the sole seems thicker.

After putting them on and having a walk around they felt like the ultimate hiking shoe. Really comfy and it felt like you could wear them for hours. The stealth rubber sole was stupidly grippy to say the least, you could hear them sticking to the floor as I walked around the house. A quick ride around gave me mixed results. The sole is thicker than what I’m used to and didn’t give me the same feel on the pedals as my old shoes. I think this may be due to the deep tread pattern the shoes have. Grip wise nothing else I’ve ridden in has come close. Your feet just simply don’t move.

Performance

Well after a few months on the shoes I am one happy rider. Two races plus numerous downhill runs have given me a good chance to really see the strengths of the shoes. The initial worry with the sole being too thick disappeared within a few runs. I could still feel what the bike was doing underneath me and there was no way my shoes were going to slide off the pedals. In fact I did have some of the trouble I mentioned riders had with the Intense shoes. If I put my foot back on in the wrong spot on the pedal I had very little chance of wiggling it back into its correct position because the shoes just didn’t want to move.

The shoes have lasted really well throughout the past two months. Other than looking dirty as you can see from the photos the sole has hardly worn and the rest of shoe hasn’t deteriorated at all. I have been told to be careful if you put them in the washing machine because this can cause problems. Personally I haven’t done this but I believe there’s a simply way to get around the problem. Don’t wash them in the washing machine.

I can’t leave this review without saying how the shoes did when it came to walking back up the hill just because of the shock it gave me. You can walk up anything in them. Walking back up a loose dusty steep chute at one of our local tracks was a walk in the park in the Mountain Masters. I could only just get up this section in my old shoes!

Final Thoughts

I was very impressed with the shoes. They are very comfy and I’ve never had so much grip on a pedal in my life. They performed well throughout the test and so far have lasted really well with no signs of falling apart. If your after a set of shoes to go with your flat pedals then check out the Mountain Masters, they’re well worth a look.

Thanks again to Michael at For the Riders (www.fortheriders.com) for hooking me up with a sweet set of shoes.

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*What’s the point of putting up pictures of brand new shoes. You can see what brand new ones look like on the internet. This is what they look like after two months of riding.