I bought two pairs of shoes for gravity riding recently, Shimano GE7, which I bought out of desperation on vacation, and 45Nrth Ragnarok shorts, which I got for better ankle protection. I like them both a lot. I really like a boot like the 45nrth for park stuff, great for puddles, keeps more crap out of your socks, great all around durability. I found a boot like the old Lake 302 to be very good for DH and these are close. The shimanos are great for more enduro type stuff/casual and I don't regret them at all.

Yes, you want a "platform" style clipless for this kind of riding IME.

 

I'm by no means a downhiller, just an average trail hack.

I definitely like the stiffness of an XC shoe climbing and wonder if the platform style is still good for climbing .

 

All mountain or DH style clip shoes are a little more flexible than the XC style shoes but stiffer than platform shoes like the 5.10 Freeride. With a big cage pedal like the Saint SPD you’d be able to slap your foot down quickly if you came unclipped unexpectedly and the sole will contact the little pins.

 

I agree with the others. Most “trail” pedals don’t actually contact the shoe at all when clipped in. So you want something more stable/supportive you need a dh style pedal that has a proper body around it.
I add a stiffer insole to my more sneaker type spd shoes as I found them too flexible otherwise.

 

As per above. A comfortable flexible shoe is only part of the equation to getting good feel and contact for the pedals.

You might think you need a stiff sole for pedalling efficiency, but with matching pedals (usualy a big/pinned cage) and flexy sole; you will get some of the advantages of a flat pedal but without losing much of the clipless pedal advantage.

Currently, I use Hope DH clipless pedals with Leatt 4.0 shoes to suit my very wide feet. I run them with all the pins and spacers to get maximum contact with the shoes. The spring tension is set fairly high, as I prefer minimal float such as when I was riding flat pedals.

 

CrankBrothers Mallet with a platform clip pedals like Saints or similar would be a good combination.

 

I have a pair of carbon soled XC shoes (Northwave) and a pair of trail...rubber soled shoes (Mavic). I prefer the XC shoes. They just feel better when pedaling and general riding. Doing laps in a bike park...the softer sole is more forgiving and are a bit more comfortable. The other difference is that the XC shoes have a contoured sole...vs a flat sole on the trail shoes.

I've tried various pedals (XTR, XT Trail, Saint, CB Mallet, CB Eggbeater, HT T1) and I don't think the DH style pedals offer any significant advantages over the smaller pedals. I think once you become familiar with your shoes and pedals...clipping back in...in the event of an Oh Snap moment isn't much of an issue. The one thing I didn't like about the clip in DH pedals, are the pins. They don't allow my shoe to rotate and have prevented me from clipping out. I removed the pins and eventually went back to the trail pedals.

My soles of my shoes do contact the pedals. The sides of the shoes contact the pedals in the spindle area for lateral support. I can feel if the shoes do not touch the pedals. The shoes will rock side to side. Crank Brothers pedals have shims to fine tune the contact patch of your shoes.

 

I think dh/fr shoes have a little bit more of a sole for grip while walking up hill.

 

up 50% grades

 

It's totally preferential... some like flex, some like stiff, other like big platforms, etc... When I first switched over to clipless for MTB, I was running Shimano RX8 shoes on my gravel bike. I bought a set of Shimano ME7s and after a couple rides I just couldn't get along. I preferred the flex from flats that I had become accustomed to on the MTB. I got a set of Specialized 2FO cliplites and really liked them. Stiffer than flats (Freerider Pros), but still some give.

Well, after a couple years I went back the ME7s that were sitting around and love them. Go figure...