ProView – Ride Concepts Women’s Hellion

Finally – a burly and stylin’ women’s flat mountain bike shoe! The Ride Concepts’ Women’s Helion shoe is an aggressive flat that feels as good as it looks. 

First Impression

These purple shoes are bold, but not overbearing. They also come in a more muted charcoal grey. Aside from the amazing color, the first thing I noticed was the Rubber Kinetics Outsole. My flat shoes in the past have been, well, flat (and soft) underfoot for the pedal pegs to sink into. These soles feature a hexagon pattern and stiffer feel across the entire sole. When I slipped them onto my feet I was delighted – I’m used to the upper of my shoe feeling firm and tight, but these slid on like running sneakers and hugged my feet, rather than strangling them. 

Size

Ride Concepts does not offer half sizes at this time. I typically wear a size 9-9.5 and have very narrow feet. RC recommended that I size up to a women’s 10 and they fit perfectly – this is great for me, but if you typically wear a 9.5 or 10 and/or have wider feet, you may need to bump up to an option in the men’s line.

Performance

As an avid apres work biker, I spend a lot of evenings pushing my endurance and technical skills on local cross country trails or I head to a nearby bike park to practice cornering and getting my bike in the air – I tested these shoes in both settings on dry and hot days that provided dusty, slippery trails and cooler, wetter days on tackier trails.

My greatest compliment to these shoes is their stickiness/ability to grab the pedals. I replaced my pedal pegs last fall and was getting ready to replace them again this Spring because I felt like I was slipping off of my pedals. I’m so glad I didn’t replace them again so quickly because the hexagon design and Rubber Kinetics locked me back on to my pedals. I feel more control cornering and pulling up on table tops and flakes and have stopped losing footing on the landing. After using them for several rides the rubber doesn’t look like it’s ever even touched a peg, unlike others that start to show poc-marks within the first few weeks of riding. I didn’t notice a big difference in efficiency when pedaling uphill on cross-country trails, but they felt much more secure clambering over rocks, around tight corners, and during constant shifting for variable terrain.

Comfort

The comfort factor both during hot laps at the park and on longer rides on the trail is worth noting, too.  Circling back to fit, this shoe actually feels like one you could hang out in all day. Ride Concepts has created a shoe that doesn’t sacrifice comfort or sole stiffness.  They’ve created a shoe that is firm enough underfoot to provide the performance edge I want when cornering and lifting, but I don’t feel like I need to get out of my bike shoes the second I get back to the car.  The shoe also absorbs shock well, so you don’t feel your landings as much in your feet.

Room for Improvement

A friend of mine ordered a pair of Ride Concepts after I recommended them and he reached out to let me know that after two weeks his shoes still hadn’t shipped – it was almost three weeks from order to receiving them. 

I’m usually a 9/9.5 and have really narrow feet and the 10 fits perfectly, so if you have bigger/wider feet, you may be out of luck or have to bump up to the men’s version (which also doesn’t have half sizes).

Final Thoughts

I was skeptical to branch away from my previous shoe brand for a rookie, but after taking these around the block a few times I would wholeheartedly recommend them. They exceeded my expectations in both stick and comfort and offer the bonus of looking great, too. Once Ride Concepts grows enough to dial in their sizing and offer half sizes to better meet the needs of more feet, I think they might be changing the mountain bike shoe game. 

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