Endura’s MT500 Bunrner Clipless Waterproof shoe is certainly not for the faint-hearted in this Harvest colour scheme. It is a waterproof clipless trail shoe with full-lace coverage, an extended ankle gaiter for maximum weather protection and a super grippy sole. It's also available in Black for less extrovert riders.
- Shimano GF8 GTX shoe review
- Best mountain bike shoes 2024 - top-rated flat and clipless kicks
- Yeti ASR T3 first ride review
Endura MT500 Burner Clipless Waterproof Shoe - Technical details
The MT500 Burner is described as a waterproof clipless mountain bike shoe for when it is soaking wet out there. It’s not a specialist winter boot and does not feature any extra insulation over the stock Endura Exoshell FW membrane lining. Endura calls it a shoe and not a boot – even though it appears to rise above the ankle. This section is only the wrap-around extended cuff of the ankle gaiter and therefore doesn't fall into the boot category. However you want to call it, it offers serious protection from the elements with its overlapping layers of construction and materials.
There are no traditional laces under that front waterproof covering flap. Instead, there is a simple speed lace setup with three eyelets with a stitched-in tongue behind. The front section of the flap then covers the laced inner area with a large wide section of velcro both on the shoe and the flap allowing plenty of lateral adjustment. The ankle strap is threaded through a large plastic ‘ring’ that helps to provide tension and therefore adjustable security for your foot inside the shoe.
Above the ankle strap is a wrap-around soft flexible neoprene ankle gusset that wraps both ways around the ankle to provide as waterproof a barrier as possible.
The front of the toe box is toughened to cope with direct frontal impact strikes and should save your pinkies if you clip a stump, The heal box is similarly robust in construction to prevent damage from scuffs, stumps and rocks as you squeeze through gaps as carve your way through the rocks and woods.
The sole is made from Endura’s StickyFoot Grip logo patterned compound and features a different grip at the toe and heel section to the remainder of the sole. These sections have a more knobbly patterned rubber design grip called StickyFoot Dura to provide more traction when pushing, climbing up or sliding downhill in the mud.
The slimmer less aggressive central rubber section is designed to be friendlier to clipless trail pedals with their grippier cages allowing for easier engagement and release. Sandwiched between the outer SickyFoot sole and the insole is an EVA midsole offering a shock absorption layer to reduce fatigue and impacts passing from the pedals through to your feet.
The MT500 Burner is supplied with bolt-on cleat box covers so you could feasibly use these with your fat pedals, but as the shoe is designed primarily as a clipless shoe, so I'll be testing it as one.
Endura’s EGM insole is worth a deeper look as it's far from the basic humdrum of insoles being the result of a partnership between Endura and Phil Burt, the ex-head Physio for British Cycling and Team Sky and a man who knows a thing or two about making cyclists more comfortable in the saddle. There’s a lot of science going on with the footbed so if you want to know every detail please feel free to follow the links to Endura’s EGM page and ScienceDirect for more detailed info.
What’s important for everyone to know is that the insole features three structures to help improve power transfer and comfort as well as allowing you to ride longer and harder. There is the Metatarsal button designed to prevent unwanted scrunching of your toes, a collection of little raised dots that improve proprioception which is the same sense that allows us to touch our elbow without looking at it (yes, really), and a raised Arch support which improves power transfer and comfort.
Other than this insanely bright orange or ‘Harvest’ coloured pair which would be hard to miss in broad daylight, reflectively for nighttime commuting is not high on the agenda for the Burner but a very small nod has been given to safety with a small reflective logo on the tongue strap should you choose to use them to commute. There’s no heal reflectivity.
I’m testing UK size 10 which weighs in at just over a kilo at 1103g for the pair. Available in UK sizes 5 to 12 with half sizes from 6.5 to 10.5. Also available in Black.
Endura MT500 Burner Clipless Waterproof Shoe - Performance
Installing the cleats was more difficult than I was expecting. After removing the blanking rubber plate, the cleat box is marked with fore and after numbers and lines enabling you to get the same set-up on each foot with ease. Well, it would if you could move the cleat plate inside the shoe.
Sliding the plate back and forth on either shoe was extremely difficult. I ended up putting a cleat in place and tapping the cleat with a little hammer to get the plates to move. One is now sliding freely, the other is still reluctant to move even after I made several adjustments. There must be some form of glue from the construction or excess material in the way. However, with repeated tapping, I did get the cleat in the right place and at least it shouldn’t move around.
It’s worth mentioning that Endura has the usual 90-day satisfaction guarantee so you can try them on around the home and see what size fits best and if the cleat plate doesn’t slide properly – the team will sort you out.
Putting these shoes on can be a little bit of a challenge with the Velcro getting very friendly with your socks –especially if you’re wearing woollen ones. Still, loosening everything off and turning the shoe sideways seems to be the easiest way of getting in. There are two pull tags to help here, the one on the rear of the ankle works well, and the one on the front is too small and less useful. You can just grip it but it would have been better if it was either longer so you could put a finger through it, or with a stitched end or both.
Once in, doing them up is easy enough with a small tug and slide of the plastic buckle on the speed laces, followed by covering up the laces with the covering flap followed by threading of the ankle strap (which I found was easier to leave undone when getting in) and tightening it to hold your foot down and back in the shoe for best heel grip. Finally, do up the ankle Velcro gaiter flaps in opposite directions for a snug fit – no flappy ankle cuffs in sight here.
The fit is a little on the voluminous side. No, not the length, that is pretty much spot on but the amount of space at the front in these size 10 shoes is designed for someone with a taller and fatter foot than me. When doing up the mini inner lace section I can pretty much pull the lace eyelets together without doing them super tight. Using a thicker winter sock such as Woolie Boolie helps but there is still a little too much height in the upper for me.
Using a spare flat insert under the special EGM footbed is one option which works pretty well in my case but it might not be the answer for you. You might be able to drop a size, so it’s worth trying a few on to make sure you get the closest fit. Conversely, you might find the fit is spot on; everybody’s feet are different.
Once on, the StickyFoot Grip sole holds on extremely well with either of my Time Trail SP12 pedals or the MX Enduro pedals I am testing the shoe with. Clipping in is easy regardless of the pins on the SP12 pedal due to the wide and extra-long cleat box and the fit is very secure and clamped flat to the pedal.
One of the advantages of the Time ATAC system is that you can normally move your foot around a little on the pedal and enjoy a small amount of lateral float. With the StickyFoot Grip sole, the grip between the shoe and pedal pins is extremely strong on the SP12 pedal and it's quite a challenge to move the shoe around on the pedal. I’d say that lateral movement is pretty much nonexistent with this combination of shoe and pedal. The grip from MT Burner with this pedal combo is super impressive and the feeling of connection, solidity and control is spot on.
Release is not an issue but you do need to put a little more effort in than you’d normally need with an XC pedal. Using the shoes with the Time’s MX Enduro pedal which doesn’t have any pins allowed a little more lateral movement but still gripped the resign body pedals tenaciously and provided plenty of support
Using the MT500 Burners with cross country style XC8 pedals the feel was not such a positive result. The shoe, with nothing to grip but the cleat of the mini body, seems to have a fair amount of rock around the cleat which is something I’ve not experienced before. It makes the combination of this shoe and pedal feel a little precarious and there is not a great feeling of stability. I suspect the large extended cleat box is to blame as there is less immediate grip around the cleat than with XC shoes.
That extra space around the cleat box and its extended length is designed to offer a wide range of cleat positions from a traditional XC racing position (with pedal axle approximately in line with the ball of your foot), to pushing the cleats way back in the box and pushing the pedals in the position favoured by riders of flats.
The MT500 Burner is a pretty stiff shoe providing plenty of power transfer through to the pedals. It's not as stiff as an XC race shoe but it is much stiffer than a similar winter-designed NW MultiCross GTX Plus and it is also a little stiffer than my Five Ten Trailcross Pro’s which feels great but is hardly sealed for wet weather use. They’re not too stiff though and there’s no fatigue on longer trail rides, although that might also be partially due to the EVA midsole and that clever footbed.
Grip off the bike is good as well, with that aggressive tread at the toe and heel sections providing grip on the trail when needed either up or down. I didn’t take these shoes hike-a-biking, they’re not that type of offroad shoe but usual trail use and with muddy slopes and grassy banks proved no problem for the StickyFoot Grip pattern.
I wasn’t so lucky when it came to riding in the wet as it’s been chucking it down for months and everything and everywhere is saturated but that's where these shoes come into their element. The MT500 Burner has a breathable waterproof ExoShell membrane sandwiched in their construction layers and Endura has worked hard to prevent water from sneaking in around the ankle opening by adding the wrap-around neoprene double wrap ankle gaiter.
Splashing through trail puddles and even riding through pedal-deep sections has been all too common and the MT500 Burner does a really first-class job of keeping your feet as dry as possible. The front lace flap covers the speed laces nicely not only preventing water from getting in but also keeping the muck out of the lace mechanism.
I’ve been out in some truly biblical rides that if you weren't testing kit you’d have stayed in the car or van. The MT500’s kept my feet dry in every ride with only the tops of my socks showing dampness due to water running down my lower legs and through my waterproof trousers. The high wrap-around ankle gaiter does help with preventing water from getting into the shoe and most waterproof trousers should overlap nicely but there’s always going to be the chance of water entering from this area.
In terms of breathability, I’ve not noticed getting sweaty feet during my testing but the weather has not been in the double digits yet so that's probably played a part in that. What I would say is that the construction of the shoe offers no extra insulation so these shoes felt markedly colder than the NorthWave MultiCross GTX Plus winter boots. These are waterproof shoes, not deep winter shoes but having that extra volume in the shoe does allow for fat winter socks which helps a lot and extends their use. How deep into winter you can wear them will depend on how cold your feet get.
The Endura MT500 Burner Clipless Waterproof Shoe in UK 10 weighs in at 528g on the right and 575g for the left. That’s 9% more for the left shoe and quite a difference.
Endura MT500 Burner Clipless Waterproof Shoe - Verdict
First up, we need to make it clear that these are not boots – they are shoes with extended ankle gaiters designed to offer much of the same performance as a waterproof boot but with a trail shoe design and feel. In that, they have succeeded. They cost £170 and are available in Black and Harvest, I suspect black will be the most popular colour. What else should you consider before handing over your cash?
Splashing out a lot more cash will get you a pair Fizik Terra NANUQ X2 GTX waterproof shoes which we reviewed recently. Ty Found them warm and dry with excellent sole and cleat access but expensive and with a few concerns.
Shimano has always offered some good value shoes in this waterproof market such as the £270 EX9, £200 EX7 GTX and the £140 MW5 depending on your usage but we've not tested the most recent cliplees ones However older models have impressed us with their performance so are well worth a look. The MW7 Waterproof GORE-TEX SPD shoes were reviewed very well so the new MW5 look like a good shout.
If you want a waterproof flat shoe then check out the Shimano GF8 GTX shoe Liam rated its grip, comfort and waterproof credentials.
Endura MT500 Burner Clipless Waterproof Shoe is a good waterproof clipless shoe that only lets water in around the adjustable neoprene cuff under heavy deluges. The StickyFoot Grip is tenacious on trail pedals, less so on XC pedals and the fit is a little on the voluminous side at the front of the foot but that is ideal for adding thick winter socks which is handy as they're not insulated on their own. The high-tech insole is very comfortable and the outsole is plenty stiff enough for long days in the saddle. Bring on the rain.