Fit really well, good stiff sole.

Sole came unglued on first ride!

I thought this was going to be the shoe to replace my Freeriders. I wanted something that had a slightly stiffer sole, more protection, and heavier build than my Freerider. One ride and I was unhappy with the semi slick sole. I kept bouncing off my pedals on the smallest roots.

This shoe would be better if your rode all downhill, or at least no uphill, shuttle run stuff. I live in Upstate NY where we have to climb up forever to only have a brief downhill. The climbing was horrible. You have to climb standing up to maintain traction on this shoe, and not every climb I want to stand up. Sitting and trying to spin was shin strike after shin strike. I do no get this on my Freeriders. Having those round knobs on the ball of your foot is important for traction. I'll pick my feet up to reposition, that's better than popping off my pedal all the time.

As if the constant pedal slips weren't enough the sole came unglued the very first day.

Impacts now on order.

Similar Products Used:

Five Ten Hellcats, Five Ten Freeriders.

Grip, lighter weight than Impact Low, stiff, fly looks compared to Impact Low

They don't exactly give these shoes away as far as price goes

I have been rocking the Marzocchi badged Impact Low for over 4.5 years and my Impact Lows were on their last legs and starting to fall apart.

With the writing on the wall the question for me turned to what to replace the Impact with.

I tried the Teva Links for several months and while they are lighter than the Impact Low and very comfortable the rubber on the forefoot sole was not going to hold up for more than 6 to 8 months on my pedals (Deity Compound).

So I went back to my Impacts.

I found some Sam Hill Impact Low for a good deal on Amazon and bought them and was disappointed to find out that they were substantially heavier than my Marzocchi Impacts so I sent them back.

After going back and forth I figured I would go for the Freerider VXI as they would be lighter like the Links but hopefully as durable as my Impacts.

I'm not a weight weenie by any stretch of the imagination but weight is important when you have something hanging on the end of your legs and you are not shuttling your bike everywhere.

The Freerider VXI is about 116g lighter per shoe on my unofficial scale over my Impact Low. The combined result is about 3/4 of a pound lighter in the shoe department for both shoes with the Freerider VXI.

I have a wide forefoot and a high arch. When it comes to fit I would say that the Freerider VXI is true to size and a bit narrower than the Impact (Sam Hill or Marzocchi) but similar to the Links.

Looks aren't my primary concern for shoes but I do have to say that the recent Impacts aren't exactly lookers and an all black shoe might be utilitarian but black does tend to absorb heat here in sunny Arizona.

The overall fit verdict is that the Freerider VXI is comfortable and fits true to size. The tongue on the Freerider VXI is less thick than the Impact Low which wasn't a huge deal but is worth mentioning in case you are a big fan of thick tongued shoes for some reason. Stiffness on the Freerider VXI is similar to the Impact Low and higher than the Links.

The materials used to construct the Freerider VXI upper are nice and substantial with good build quality. The Freerider VXI feels cooler than my Impacts when riding and I suspect the mesh in the toe area is the reason. This might be a challenge if you rode in an area with a bunch of water but here in Arizona this isn't much of a concern compared to cooling.

I cannot tell a difference between the Impact and the Freerider VXI when it comes to grip. With the Freerider VXI you are clamped to the pedal essentially when you put pressure on the pedal. Release the pressure slightly and you are free to easily move your foot around on the pedal. This is similar to the process with the Links but with overall more grip in the Freerider VXI.

The net result is a relatively slight motion to rock your foot back slightly and then reposition. Not really a pick up your foot to move sensation that you sometimes get with the Impact. This was pretty easy to adjust to and became second nature very quickly.

One thing that was nice about the Freerider VXI is that it has nice flat laces that stay tied. My Marzocchi Impacts were older and used round laces which I had to double tie to keep them in a tied state. Minor thing overall but a good overall update.

Durability on the Freerider VXI sole so far has been really good. The smooth portion of the sole looks like new after a bunch of rides and at this point I'm feeling like I'm going to get several years out of these shoes.

Similar Products Used:

Five Ten Impact Low (Marzocchi badged), Impact Low Sam Hill, Teva Links