REASONS TO BUY
Excellent grip
Lots of foot protection
Durability
REASONS TO AVOID
Bulky and heavy
Poor ventilation
Not the best choice for trail riding
Five Ten Impact Pro - Women's Review
These are great for a downhill-specific rider, as they provide tons of foot protection and tenacious grip
Credit: Five Ten
Our Verdict
The Five Ten Impact Pro genuinely lives up to its name. These are some of the heaviest shoes tested weighing in at 986 grams, but provide a tremendous amount of protection. Five Ten uses their signature Stealth S1 rubber on the sole to create unbeatable grip. A continuous dot pattern lines the sole of the shoe with two differences; they made the space in between the dots deeper and varied the sizes of the dots. The weight of the shoe allows for foot adjustment on the pedal (while riding downhill) despite the super sticky rubber and deep dot tread. On the toe box, Five Ten used Poron foam (a shock-absorbing foam) to create even more protection. The upper is a fully synthetic material, which allows for a quick drying time. The downfalls of this shoe is a lack of breathability, versatility, weight, and a high price tag. Our reviewers find this shoe to be very hot on long rides, and the added weight was a disadvantage when having to hike a bike.
Our Analysis and Test Results
These shoes are packed with tons of protection on the toe, heel, ankle, and underneath your foot. They also feature Five Ten's custom Stealth S1 rubber and varied dot pattern, matched with the weight making the grip exceptional. These shoes are not without their faults, however, as they are very heavy, reducing their versatility and pigeon-holing them as a mostly downhill-specific model.
Performance Comparison
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Five Ten Impact Pros weight help us keep our foot on the pedal in the air.
Grip
The lugs on the Impact Pro have varied sizes so that the pins can fit on the pedal nice and neatly. The depth is a change from other models that only have one size lug. The lug depth with Five Ten's signature Stealth S1 rubber makes your foot stick to the pedal like velcro, and we genuinely mean it will not move. For this reason, this is not your all-mountain riding shoe. We tried to do steep technical climbing and found that if your foot gets misplaced at all, you have to stop completely to readjust — not suitable for your uphill momentum.
However, if you are exclusively a downhill or enduro-rider, you will fall involve with the grip this shoe has to offer. When we took it downhill, our foot did not budge, making us feel extremely safe no matter how hard we were sending it.
The varied dot pattern on the soles with the depth of the lugs make for ultimate pedal grip!
Are you new to mountain biking and unsure of what kind of riding you like to do? If so, we recommend starting with a less specific shoe that will hold up on many different types of trails. This will give you time to decide what kind of riding suits your fancy.
Comfort and Protection
Protection is what the Impact Pro is built for, and the reason this shoe is so heavy. The sole of the shoe is large and felt similar to orthopedic shoes when we first put them on. However, after having to run out some falls, we experienced the thick sole's ability to be able to take some impact. The midsole of the shoe is comprised of polyurethane, which provides some flexibility with lots of protection.
Even with excellent grip, it is important to have a shoe with lots of protection for falls like this.
These shoes do run a bit large, and there is plenty of room in the toe box. They felt like they had the most volume inside of any of the shoes we tried. For the type of riding these shoes are made for, having a lot of room is perfect since it is better to wear thick socks to help with impact. We also, found the footbed to be quite comfortable because Five Ten uses Ortholite sock liners.
You can see the volume and padding in these shoes are plentiful.
Rigidity and Power Transfer
The Impact Pros are the most rigid shoes we tested, but the rigidity is purposeful as it is better to have a stiff shoe when exclusively biking downhill.
A more rigid shoe provides more protection, especially if you are landing on your feet, trying something risky. While they are rigid shoes, we didn't feel like they were overly rigid as we could still feel the pedal underfoot. The only time we felt this shoe was too rigid was when we took it on a long cross-country ride.
Impact Pros have a lot of protection without sacrificing flexibility. Making it easy to feel the pedal underfoot.
Breathability
The material on the outside of the Impact Pro is synthetic, weather-resistant, micro-perforated, and closed-cell, resulting in a not-so-breathable shoe. However, the non-breathable material makes these shoes weather-resistant if you are riding in the rain or wet terrain.
We took these shoes on a 20-mile ride in 80-degree weather (just to see what would happen) and found them to be scorching. We preferred a more lightweight shoe for our long cross-country days.
Five Ten Impact Pros after a long hot day of riding!
Durability
At the cost of rigidity, breathability, and weight, Five Ten created an extremely durable shoe, which is what we expect out of a downhill-specific shoe. Hitting trees, rocks, and having the bike fall on you are all common occurrences when mountain biking, and we need a shoe that can withstand a beating. The toe features Poron foam, making it super strong; if you hit the toe with a hammer, it will hardly leave a scratch.
There was slight scarring on the sole from the pegs on the pedal, but this is a reasonable compromise for excellent grip.
See how the Five Ten shoes differ from each other! From left to right Freerider Pro, Impact Pro, Freerider, and Freerider Contact.
Weight
There's no doubt about these being heavy shoes; they are the heaviest we tried, weighing 938 grams. However, the Impact Pros were created to be sleeker and lighter than the original version. And while they are heavy, they are a particular shoe for a specific type of riding.
Value
While the Impact Pros are on the more pricey side of the shoes we tried, the price is worth the protection they offer your feet! These shoes are unlike any that we tried because of their unbeatable grip and protection.
Conclusion
Yes, the Five Ten Impact Pros are the heaviest shoes we tried, but they are also the most durable and protective of the contenders in our review. These are perfect for someone who specifically does downhill or enduro-style riding due to Five Ten's technology for protecting your feet.
—Bo Outland
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