Crankbrothers' Mallet Trail Lace clip-in shoe is superbly comfortable for trail riding and beyond. Its smart wipe-clean upper trainer looks hide the fact that underneath is a no-nonsense trail shoe complete with a stiff midsole, grippy outsole, long cleat box, and lots of protection. At home, getting filthy in the woods, or hanging out with your mates these Mallet Trail Lace Clip-in are the business.
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Crankbrothers Mallet Trail Lace clip-in shoes - Technical details
Crankbrothers Mallet Trail Lace clip-in is designed to be ridden hard for long hours in the saddle. It is designed in a classic sneaker lace-up style and is made from a synthetic material with an easy clean surface texture that feels a little like nubuck leather but is entirely man-made. The upper is perforated all over to improve the breathability of the shoe – except for the section between the ball of your foot and your big toe.
The toe box and the outer edge of the shoe have a TPU abrasion-resistant coating to protect against scraps and the heel has a toughed cup in case you get a little too rowdy off the trail. Internally the shoe features a thick low rebound impact adsorbing EVA insole.
The tongue is heavily padded and features a daisy chain nylon webbing strip along its centre helping to help protect and locate the laces. At the top of the tongue, there is a small discrete flap into which the laces can be tucked to keep them away from the crank and undergrowth.
The outsole is Crankbrothers own Match compound, called MC1, which is designated mid-friction and allows easy pedal engagement whilst delivering long life wear for the owner. Sandwiched between the upper and the Match MC1 outsole is a fibre-reinforced nylon shank to provide plenty of power transfer when pushing hard on the pedals but also remain comfortable enough to walk around on the trail.
The heavily lugged Match sole has an increased cleat box cut out to allow for maximum cleat position variation from an all-the-way-back setting for DH and Enduro use to a more traditionally neutral or even forward XC setting.
Crankbrothers Mallet Trail Lace Up Clip shoes are supplied with a Match shim and Crankbrothers cleat pre-installed in a neutral position to get you out riding as quickly as possible. The cleat box is marked for fore, aft, and width cleat locations should you wish to change it from the delivered setup. If you use a different brand of clipless pedal, the Match system (compound, cleat box, and outsole) will perform just as well as with the Crankbrothers cleat.
I’m testing size UK 10in the Navy Gum colourway but you can choose Black Gum and Swan (off-white) and Purple. Weight for both shoes 944g Available in sizes 37-49 EU.
Crankbrothers Mallet Trail Lace clip-in shoes - Performance
The Crankbrothers Mallet Trail Lace clip-in shoes have immediately become a firm favourite for all trail mountain bike riding. They are stiff enough to reward hard efforts on long climbs and out-of-the-saddle sprints, and their thick EVA insoles offer plenty of isolation from trail imperfections leaving your feet less beaten up even on the more technical sections on the way back down.
Lacing them up is as easy as tying a bow, no dials to twist, and click here. Nothing to snap off or get jammed. Swapping the cleats (remember they come with Crankbrothers cleat already fitted so you may not need to do this) is straightforward with a hugely adjustable cleat box it's easy to find your perfect set-up.
The sizing for me was spot on. I’ve got pretty narrow feet so volume can sometimes be an issue as I recently noted with the Decathlon Rockrider Race 900 but, regardless, of my sock choice, the Mallet Trail Lace is laced up with plenty of extra adjustment available. It's definitely on the slimmer side of styling which resulted in a good solid connection for me.
And sssh, I even used them on a 28-mile London sightseeing ride and they were perfectly comfortable all day.
But it’s off-road where their strengths lie, and I cannot fault them here. The Match MC1 outsole grip is extremely grippy on a trail pedal so if you fail to clip in immediately you're not going to slide off the pedal and lose your footing like you might with a cross-country shoe.
I’ve tested them on a variety Crankbrothers' own pedals from old Candy MK1s to the excellent Candy 7s with which they work exceptionally well but, while they work perfectly on trail centre runs, neither of these are the pinned trail platform pedals for which these shoes are designed to work with. For this duty, I swapped cleats and turned my attention to how they work with my Time’s Speciale 12 pedals.
With the Speciale 12’s front and rear pins at their standard height, the grip is outstanding. Actually, it was almost too good as while clipping in was okay, the extra pins on the front of the Speciale glued my foot and prevented an easy twist to disengage which gave me a few interesting moments.
Winding the front pins down to below half their previous height, made a huge improvement in the release feeling with little discernible lack of grip from the shoe. I could, of course, remove them completely to match the Crank Bros Mallet Trail Pedal design but I’m very happy with this setup and feel completely ‘pinned’ (sorry) to the pedals when I need to be and I can easily release when necessary.
Those rear pins have started to eat into the sole behind the cleat box but that is inevitable with the style of the pedal and the twist-to-release mechanics involved here.
That Match MC1 outsole doesn’t just stick to the pedals it also behaves well in the dirt and I’ve had no issues with lack of grip in the wet woods during testing and it has provided excellent grip on the few rocky outings it's been tested on. It also works well in hike-a-bike situations.
The Mallet Trail’s synthetic perforated upper breathes well although to be fair the weather has only just picked up enough to call it summer and most of the testing has been done in the high teens with the occasional warm ride over 20 degrees.
Conversely, they have had to deal with plenty of water and muck spray from the front wheel and that’s the great thing about their design, you can just wipe them down afterwards and they look great again. The asymmetric perforation pattern around the toe box prevents the worst spray from the front tyre from going straight into Mallet. During my less-than-sunny testing period, I never felt my wet feet getting soaked even though the shoes were often brown after a ride.
Their thick supportive insole isolates your feet from harsh trail impacts passing through the pedals allowing you to keep going for longer and that thickly padded tongue helps to cosset the top of your foot and prevent hot spots from the laces and leave your feet feeling fresher even after hours of riding, hanging around and more riding.
The Mallet Trail Lace does up simply with plenty of lace length to work with a wide range of foot shapes and the lace keeper pocket at the top of the tongue works reasonably well. I say reasonably as I’ve had to tuck them back under occasionally mid-ride which, while not a pain in the backside, somewhat defeats the idea of a lace keeper. I would have preferred a tighter pocket elastic or an elastic tab on the tongue to tuck them under for complete security although the latter wouldn’t look as neat.
The toe box and the heavily padded heel support have provided all the protection I have needed, but I’ve yet to have any large offs or spend much time scraping rocks. At trail centres, bike parks, and my local woodland off-piste riding they have shrugged off all undergrowth, encroaching rhododendrons, and brambles without issue. Here’s hoping they stay that way i prefer not testing protective wear in the flesh.
Crankbrothers Mallet Trail Lace clip-in shoes - Verdict
£170 is a a decent amount of cash to spend on a pair of trail shoes especially as you can pay a lot less. Compared to other options in the XC Race shoe pricing universe, they represent the middle ground but there is less use of Carbon Fibre in these Mallet Trail Lace Clip in Shoes.
What else should you consider if you're looking for a pair of trail shoes? It should go without saying that this review is for the clipped version of the shoe; the much more flexible flat pedal version is a different proposition altogether.
Fox Union Clip shoe review £160 and rated best in class at the time has got to be a the top of your list. It has tonnes of adjustment, excellent weather protection and feels great on the bike.
Leatt 6.0 Clip shoe was £160 when tested and is worth a look, we were very happy with its breathability, comfort and stiffness and reckon it is a strong summer contender.
Endura’s MT500 Burner Clipless Shoe review £130.00 is worth a look especially if you have narrow feet and are looking for a stiffer shoe with plenty of protection.
Overall, the Crankbrothers Mallet Trail Lace clip-in is an excellent trail shoe for offroad riding. It's stiff enough to reward your efforts and yet comfortable enough to wear all day. The sole is super grippy on both trail platform pedals and the terrain you're likely to be riding in. The fat tongue is cossetting and the perforations work well to keep you cool. Overall, it's a tough grippy trail shoe for whatever you choose to use it for.
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