I did however have to use my only pair of mountain biking shoes which were clean for indoor cycle training. Well, suffice it to say, they ended up extremely muddy after riding at Watterssmith State Park. It was a beautiful day and I had a chance to try out my new Go Pro HD Hero 2 camera with the handle bar mount. I will follow up with another post reviewing the Go Pro. At any rate, since my shoes were really muddy, I need to clean them before I can ride my indoor bike to train. I totally forgot to clean my shoes over the weekend and Monday I was planning on doing some indoor cycle training. I get home from work, drive into the garage, and look over on the floor and there are my mud caked bike shoes. Ugh! I only have some much time in the evening to train, which takes an hour, and I don't have time to clean these shoes. I decide to do some strength training instead and I also decide that I need a second pair of shoes that I can keep in the house for training.
I determined that I would either buy the same shoes that I have now which are Bontrager RL Mountain's, something dirt cheap, or high end. I went to the new local bike shop that opened up in Shinnston, WV last year, prior to that I had to drive an hour to Morgantown, WV or Buckhannon, WV to get to a bike shop (bought current pair at a bike shop in Buckhannon). Shinnston is a 10 min drive from my office in Clarksburg, so I decided to check the place out on Tuesday during my lunch hour. I asked the bike shop owner to show me the cheapest pair and I would evaluate them and move on up in price. The cheapest pair were $80 and I can't remember what brand they were, so I decided to look at the end of the spectrum, which was the most expensive. The ones he showed me were the Scott Premium MTB shoes. They have a BOA lacing system and carbon fiber outsole and he only had a size 9.5 which is the same size as my Bontragers. The fit is not as snug in the toebox as the Bontrager and the footbed is way more comfortable. It is really easy to get in and out of the shoes and you can make them as tight as you want. Since I am a WVMBA member, he gave me a 15% discount, and I walked out of there with the most expensive shoes I have ever owned. $245 retail WHEW, good lord that is expensive. Well, I got some money to burn from my birthday, well I digress.
Tuesday night I installed the cleats which came with the XT cleats that I bought last year and had them ready for my indoor training session for Wednesday. Well, last night I got to try them out doing the Utah Mountain Biking Power DVD on my spin bike. These shoes are awesome. They are extremely comfortable and I don't know if it is my imagination, but they seemed to make pedaling easier. It may be the fact that they have a stiff carbon outsole and/or the fact that they are somewhat lighter than my Bontragers. In comparing these to the Bontragers, the Bontrager RL aren't as stiff and no matter how much I adjusted the footbeds, they were never all that comfortable. I would typically end up with pain in my left arch most of the time and my toes used to go numb as well. I have only tried these Scott's the one time, but I didn't notice any pain or numbness, so in that regards they are worth the extra money.
My plan now is to use the Scott shoes indoors until racing season starts in April, then I will clean up the Bontragers and use them indoors and use the Scotts during racing and outdoor trail riding. If you are interested in this shoe, here is the website:
http://www.scott-sports.com/us/en/products/2182650001005/shoe-scott-mtb-premium-black-390/
Update May 2012:
After using the shoes in the first race of the season at Mountwood, I found a fundamental flaw in these shoes. The sole being so stiff and the heel cup being so loose resulted in a major problem in steep hike-a-bikes. Near the end of the race, I hit a steep hill in the wrong gear and had to hop off and hoof it up the hill. You basically have to walk on your toes with these shoes since they do not flex. Well, halfway up the hill my hill slipped out of the shoes and almost came off. I pulled a muscle in my foot and had trouble walking afterwards. Luckily the bike shop allowed me to return them for a refund. I do not recommend these shoes if you have to do much walking.
