Five Ten Maltese Falcon Bike Shoe

www.fiveten.com; 20 ounces (per pair)
On August 29,2010 while walking my mountain bike through a gnarly section of Oregon’s North Umpqua Trail, I slipped and fell 30 feet over a cliff. At fault, my slippery soled “ballet slipper” bike shoes.  Thanks to the ER crew at Mercy Hospital in Medford, Oregon, I survived, and after two months of recuperation went hunting for some non-ballet slipper bike shoes with truly grippy soles for those walk-around-the-gnar moments. I immediately thought of Five Ten from my days as one of country’s worst rock climbers. (The Five Ten rock shoes worked great on rock. It was the wearer who was the problem.)  I first tried a pair of Five Ten’s Minnaar, SPD-compatible shoes—and wore them for over 2,000 miles of riding. Bottom line: great fit, great feel, tons of grip when walking. But the shoes weighed more than my dog, cat, and wife put together. But they continued to serve me until my tired legs started begging for replacements. A pair of the new Maltese Falcon MTB shoes were purchased and while having the same great fit, snug instep strap, lacing combination, and grippy sole, they weigh a third of the Minnaar. So how do I rate the Maltese Falcons?  8.5 on the 0 (forget about it) to 10 (paradise) scale. My feet are happy, my legs are happy and my rides are better.
—Bob Woodward