Bikester tests:Adidas FiveTen Freerider Pro

 

THE PRACTICAL TEST

I put them through their paces on Portugal’s Monchique enduro trails, as well as closer to home on the EsNos Esslingen, Stuttgart, Woodpecker and Siebenmühlen Tal FOCUS trails. The shoes felt much more comfortable than the old model and they proved pretty rough and ready. There’s no special care needed when wearing them. On the contrary – I wore them whilst riding one of the dustiest trails in the Algarve. Just 2 weeks before, all the forests had burned to the ground in wild fires, so there was an extreme amount of dust and ash kicking about. After the ride, you’d have never recognised the colour as NightNavy. All I had to do was tap and brush them off a bit on the trail, then run them under the shower when I got back – and they looked good as new again. They’d dried in the sun after 4.5 hours and there was none of the colour loss or fading that you'd expect if you exposed cheap materials directly to the sun. In terms of features, this model seems pretty standard. FiveTen uses abrasion-resistant material and Stealth S1 durable rubber for these. I guess these features may explain how they withstood the dust and dirt of the trails so well. The grip offered by combining sharp pins with this grippy sole is absolutely perfect – too perfect in fact. It wasn’t easy to fidget or correct my foot position on the pedal whilst riding. But, obviously, this is just a matter of personal taste. This is also the reason why I decided on a clipless pedal after the test. I need an immediate 100% perfect position on the pedal during fast descents – and I can only achieve this with a clip-in system.