Five Ten Maltese Falcon: perfect for hike-a-bikes

Here’s a confession: I don’t like spending money on biking gear. Yeah, I know it may seem like a strange thing to say for someone who writes a lot about biking, but it’s the truth. While I like buying new outdoor gear like sunglasses, drifit shirts and shorts, I don’t really buy stuff specific to mountain biking unless I absolutely have to.

Shoes for instance. For the longest time, I resisted getting biking-specific shoes. Instead, I bought trail running shoes. Why? I just didn’t see any point in spending on shoes that I could only use on the bike, when I could have footwear that i could use both on and off the pedals. I also thought that a lot of MTB shoes with their plastic soles looked a bit goofy.

But lately, I’ve been doing a lot of rides that have been quite harsh on my minimalist trail runners, not to mention my ankles and calves. My shoes were getting ripped by the pins on my pedals, while feet and shins were feeling scorched from too many heel-down sessions on technical trails. So last May, I finally relented and got myself some proper biking shoes. I got the Five Ten Maltese Falcon. Read more [+]