Bontrager Rhythm MTB Shoe 2015
Reviews / Shoes
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At A Glance
With Bontrager claiming these shoes are “ready to handle whatever your technical trail experience can deliver”, they couldn’t have come at a better time, arriving just days before a big trip out to the Alps.
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The Rhythm shoes offer the rigidity and secure closure normally associated with XC or road shoes, thanks to a carbon-reinforced inner sole, matched up with a Tachyon rubber outer sole for a decent amount of grip for the push back up. Thankfully it manages to achieve this without the euro/road styling that normally comes with carbon soles and ratchet closures.
They even come with a GnarGuard, which gives protection to the outside of the shoe and has been added to make them even more durable to handle those gnar moments.
On The Trail
Having ridden heavily padded skate style clips for longer than I care to remember, I wasn’t 100% sure how I’d get on with the Rhythms, but they surprised me in everyway and my initial doubts disappeared.
The Rhythms are a much lighter and less cumbersome shoe, with the ratchet and Velcro straps helping to transfer the power when combined with the stiff sole.
The bright green Tachyon rubber outer sole provided a good level of grip for pushing back up the trail and helped kill some of the trail buzz through the pedals, something supple skate shoes offer, but is normally missing from stiffly soled XC shoes. It was the soles that did however cause the only issues I had with the shoes, and that was a slight lack of clearance around the cleat, the issue was promptly remedied with a quick trim of the Leatherman and I have been happily wearing them ever since with no problems. The Rhythm MTB shoes have stood up to some solid abuse and still look in great condition too, the build quality is excellent.
Overall
These shoes from Bontrager have borrowed from the best of both worlds to produce a very comfy, uncompromised mountain bike shoe. Well built, full of features and with plenty of grip when you are off the bike, they offer a solid choice for the rider looking for stiff-soled performance with a supple feel for improved comfort.
This review was in Issue 32 of IMB.
For more information visit BontragerRelated
By James Cornford
