Specialized

Rime Flat Mountain Bike Shoe

All I really need

Familiarity:

I've used it several times

Size Bought:

9.5 US 43 Eur

Great lateral support, 'sricky' on the pedals and fit me very well (a wider foot pad). Doing everything I needed.

Good for narrow feet

Familiarity:

I returned this product before using it

As soon as I put them on I could feel my toes being squeezed together. This would be a problem walking around and hiking downhill, which is half the purpose of the shoe, so I returned them. The toe box is a standard width, i.e. narrow. For comparison, the toe boxes of my Five Ten Freerider Pro shoes are wider and quite comfortable for me. I also like the toe boxes of Altra Lone Peaks and La Sportiva TX4s, but neither of these make a good biking shoe. The sizing runs small. Specialized recommended a 43.5 but a 44 would have been right, however I still think they'd be too narrow (size 43 Freerider Pros have a wider toe box than the 43.5 Rime Flats). If these fit your feet, the good news is they seem like they'd stick well to flat pedals, have decent tread, are flexible enough to be ok for hiking while at the same time have good stiffness for pedaling, and finally look well made. Overall, if these fit they'd be a good shoe for bike packing and touring. If you need something wider, then I'd check out the Five Ten Freerider Pro which is very comparable in function.

It's good (Updated from 12/11/21)

Familiarity:

I've put it through the wringer

The shoe is great. A first I was apprehensive about the support which felt back towards the heal a little bit: this is switching from running shoes which I wear mostly. I almost returned these and then decided to wear them around the house a bit. I still think the support back towards the heal does not fit well with the arch of my foot as I would expect, so for my feet it's something I would use specifically for trail rides: If I had to hike 5 miles after a mechanical, I do not have an answer to that one yet. The shoe keeps growing on me, so that's something. These shoes are really sticky with my RaceFace Chester pedals. These shoes have been a joy to use on the bike so far. Did I mention they are sticky? Update: I really like these shoes and will probably buy them again. 5/5

Sticky, solid, but tiny toe-box

These felt very sturdy and seemed very well constructed. I took them for a ride around my neighborhood and they stuck to my Shimano flat pedals like duct tape. However, the toe-box was way, way too narrow. Based on reviews, I ordered a half-size bigger than normal. Once I received them I felt for my toes and the shoes were definitely about a half-size too big. However, the toe-box was uncomfortably narrow. Sadly (because I love all Specialized stuff), I returned them.