Tried and liked 2025

It's December 31, and over on the iBOB list, people have been posting what they tried and liked in 2025. Here's what I have for this year:

 

Selfie during Dairy Roubaix 2025

Liked

- Riding a skinny-tire vintage road bike. My accidental Serotta Colorado frame purchase has turned out to be a good investment. I finally found a nice fork for it (a scarily light Columbus Minimal), and I did a bunch of rides on the bike this year. As long as the pavement is reasonably smooth, I'm really enjoying the ride, despite the 25/28 mm tires. 

- Assos Arm Protectors: https://www.assos.com/us/arm-protector-188424.html Nice sun protection that works for my long arms and doesn't slide down match. And for an Assos product, it's remarkably reasonable in price

- Dairy Roubaix: This is an early-season gravel ride in the Wisconsin Driftless region. I used to do it regularly but hadn't done it since the pandemic. I had an absolute blast this year. The weather was great, as were the roads. I'll likely be back next year.

- A rear rack on my Stevens MTB. I added a rear rack to the early 2000s Stevens MTB that I have at my parents' place in Germany. Having the option to add panniers, in addition the Carradice saddle bag, is really nice. Should've done that a long time ago. 

- Having as many front lights as bikes. My regularly used bikes all have dyno lights. And now I finally have at least one decent battery front light for all of the other bikes. No more annoying switching around of lights.

- Making bike videos: I'm still not fast or super skilled, but I enjoy filming, editing, and narrating my bike adventures. Here's my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ride-or-pie/  

 

Undecided

- For my winter indoor riding I switched back from Training Peaks Virtual to Zwift. Zwift has a whole lot of annoying user interface issue that are much more glaring after coming back from TPV. I also liked the racing experience on TPV more. On the other hand, Zwift's gamification gets me to ride a lot, and it's important to be on the same platform as your real-life friends.

- TPU tubes. I still go back and forth between liking and disliking them. Just yesterday I had a flat that most likely wouldn't have happened with a butyl tube. While on other bikes the tubes have performed great.

- Lumintop B01 front light: One of the battery lights I acquired this year. It doesn't conform with the German cut-off regulations, but it does have a shaped beam that doesn't blind oncoming riders. And it's relatively cheap, has a replaceable battery and seems sturdy. I think I like it, but it hasn't been long enough to be sure.

Disliked

- Not having big goals. I struggled with motivation to ride in the first half of the year. I didn't have any events or tours planned for later in the season, and it showed. I'll have to figure something out for 2026. 

 

Tried and liked 2024

 I thought I didn't have a lot for this year's edition of tried-and-liked. But once you get going, things add up.

Tried and liked

• Ortlieb Seat Pack (16.5l): For a bike touring adventure (see below), I needed a big seat bag to supplement my front rando bag. The Ortlieb works well on my tall low-trail bike with an almost level top tube. However, I have juuust enough seat post showing to make it work. I also got to experience the droopy behavior that I had read about. It happens when the bag is not packed tightly enough (and you can buy accessory straps to prevent it). But my bike is tall enough that there is no risk of the bag touching the rear wheel

Droopy seat bag

 

• Bike touring the Alps. Went on an 11-day trips through the Alps with a friend. We packed light and slept in hotels and it was amazing.
  
  
  

• Taking videos of rides: In prep for the Alps trip, I bought a DJI Action 4 cam and worked on my editing skills. Editing takes a lot of time, but it's also a fun way to reminisce about your rides. Here's my little YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@ride-or-pie

• Rene Herse Nuda mini pump: It's amazingly light and small, and it worked well enough when I had a flat on my skinny tire road bike.

• Selling a couple bikes/frames: I sold a record number of bikes, that is, three, this year. It felt good to pass on bikes that didn't get ridden/loved enough.

• Replacing the battery on my Wahoo Elemnt: Repairing things that are probably not really meant to be repaired is very satisfying. The computer is five years old now and I don't feel a strong urge to upgrade now that the battery capacity has been restored.

Wahoo surgery

To be determined

• Ass Savers Win Wing fenders: I bought these recently and have had only one or two wet rides to test them with. Easy to install, extremely light, and they do seem to work. 

Ass Savers Win Wing fender

 

• Chain waxing: I hopped on the wax train this fall, with a cheap used crock pot setup. The process is not too bad and I like the results immediately after waxing. But it seems that the drivetrain gets noisy pretty quickly. I'm not sure if I can deal with the frequency of rewaxing that seems to be required. Maybe fancier equipment would help? Probably not, though.

• Indievelo/TrainingPeaks Virtual: A new-ish indoor training platform with a focus on racing. I decided to give this a try instead of Zwift. I like the racing experience better than Zwift so far, but it's still a small platform. So often you end up racing against bots. The bots are implemented very well, though.

 

First impressions: Adidas Velosamba: vegan, good looking, no crunch

 

For years, my casual cycling shoe of choice was the Giro Rumble VR. I extensively reviewed the shoes on this blog. While I've had my complaints about them, on balance they were a great shoe and the ended up lasting longer than I thought. I actually still have an unused spare pair in the closet. But when it was time to retire the current pair, I was curious to try something different. 

 

 

The Adidas Velosamba struck me as an interesting option. I'm German, and even though I never owned an actual Samba shoe, the aesthetic appeals to me. Add to that they're vegan and Adidas was selling them at a discount. 

I bought the shoes just before winter and so for several months I didn't actually have a chance to wear them. But now winter is nearing its end and I've worn them enough to write up my initial impressions. These impressions are heavily influenced by my experience with the Giro Rumble VR: Are the Velosambas better? Is that even a sensible question to ask? We'll return to that at the end of the post. 

Let's start with the looks. The shoes come in 7 different styles, from the classic black with gum sole and white stripes, some more colorful options, and finally an all white shoe. If you know me, you would be surprised that I went for the all-white shoe! Is a white cycling shoe actually practical? I had my doubts, but in the end those were the ones on sale at the steepest discount while still being available in my size. So I was willing to take a gamble. When the shoes arrived, I was really pleased: The white is bright, and slight iridescent under light. The upper material is mostly very smooth plastic and probably cleans up fairly well. At the front of the shoe, there is some fake suede leather, which probably is more challenging to keep clean. The laces are white as well, with black ends as a color accent. 

 

Functionally, the Velosamba has a few nice features: The lace retention system is well thought out. You can tuck the laces under an elastic band, which is easily lifted with a little pull tab. The cutout for the SPD cleats also seems to be well thought out: These so far have been the least crunchy bike shoes I've ever owned! Maybe this will change as the shoes wear, but it's unlike the Giros, which were crunchy from the get go. 

 

Clever lace retention tab

 

Speaking of the sole: it seems to be a decent compromise between stiffness for biking and flex for walking. This makes them a great choice for my use case, where I want want a shoe that can easily transition from the bike to walking around town. It appears that the Velosamba is cut lower around the ankles and the heel compared to the Giros. This probably provides less support but probably won't be an issue for me: I often ride with shoe laces barely tightened, but I can see how for some people this might be a problem on longer rides/walks. At any rate, I have neither biked nor walked for longer distances in the shoes so far, and so I'll hold off on a final verdict.

Nicely recessed cleats make for a quiet walk

 

 

My main concern so far is the breathability of the shoes. Adidas proudly (annoyingly?) pronounces on the insole ,"End Plastic Waste" and states that the shoes is partially made from recycled plastic. Greenwashing aside, the material does indeed appear plastic-y and breathable at all. Again, I haven't worn the shoes enough to truly judge this.

So let's come back to the comparison with the Giro Rumble VR. In a head to head comparison, Adidas wins in these areas: 

• looks 
• less crunch
• lace retention 
• walking/standing comfort (to be confirmed)
  

The Giros are ahead in: 

• breathabilty
• price
• foot support

Once I've had the chance to wear the Velosambas for a few months I'll post a follow-up to these first impression. So far I'm really happy with my purchase.

Adidas Velosamba at Amazon 

Velosamba at Adidas

Tried and Liked 2021

A year ago at this time of the year I was recovering from a broken wrist. Not a great mental place to write about bike stuff and so I skipped the tried-and-liked post for the year. Time to pick up the tradition again!

Liked

Smart bike trainer and Zwift

When I broke my wrist in October 2020, it was clear I'd be off outdoor biking for a while. Hesitantly I bought a direct-drive smart trainer, a refurbished Wahoo Kickr. "Hesitantly" because my previous attempts at indoor riding had fallen firmly into the disliked category: Too boring; can't do it. But I knew that I'm a sucker for gamification, and so I figured virtual riding on a smart trainer, with badges, achievements, group rides may just work. And it did! I have spent 47 hours on the trainer in 2021, have gotten the SO and some friends onto it, and recently started doing and enjoying virtual races. Indoor riding will remain a cold-season-only activity for me, but during that time it's really great! 

Indoor biking is a sweaty affair

 

Track cycling

A true tried-and-liked! I finally did a track cycling clinic at the Kenosha velodrome and loved. For practical reasons, this will remain a one-time affair, but it was one of my highlights of the year. Full post here. 

Having a competent shop fix things

I do pretty much all bike maintenance myself. The reason: I'm cheap; I can do it; I have traumatic experiences of crappy/expensive repairs at a shop; being car-less makes getting a bike to/from the shop for repairs a pain. But when the hydraulic brakes on my fat bikes needed to be bled, I decided to take the bike to a shop. I have little experience with hydraulic brakes and lacked some supplies. Neff Cycle Service took care of it quickly, competently, and at a very reasonable cost. The transportation problem was solved with the help of our bike share system: Bike to the station nearest to the shop; switch to the bike share bike while ghost riding the fat bike; drop off bike; take bike share bike back to station near home.

Komoot

In the US I almost exclusively use Strava for planning my routes. While in Germany for a few weeks in the summer, Komoot was a much better alternative. A good route planner needs good underlying maps, a strong community, and a good user interface. In Germany, Komoot has all three of these. It was super easy to click on a couple of "Highlights" on the map and be confident that the proposed route connecting them would be fun (occasionally type 2 fun, but still). 

Silca Tattico mini pump

There is joy in handling a really well made product. The Silca Tattico mini pump is such a product. I bought the pump when it was on sale, and it is a joy to use. Is it functionally better than my ProBikeKit mini pump that costs less than half and that I reviewed favorably in 2019? Better: yes. Much better? Probably not. Is it as light as the Nana Ultralight carbon mini pump? Surely not. But I have no regrets about buying the Silca.

Mixed bag or to be determined

Expensive bike kit

Velocio jersey

My bike kit in the past has consisted of cheap stuff: Jerseys bought for less than $15 new, bike shorts from cheap house brands, ...There were a few exceptions over the years, such as Bouré bib shorts or Ibex wool tights. This year I decided to try some really expensive jerseys and bib shorts. Because prices for these are still ridiculous, I bargain hunted for used items on ebay, various bike forums, and I bought some "mystery jerseys" from Voler (these are overstock items with random graphics from events or clubs). The verdict is mixed: Construction and material quality on the jerseys is noticeably better, and they have neat details that look and feel nice. But all that's no good if the fit doesn't work. Here's what I tried and my verdict:

• Velocio ultralight summer jersey: The fabric is super thin and airy, and the raglan sleeves make the fit work well for me. My favorite.
• Voler race fit mystery jersey: Silly graphics, but the fit works great for, and for $29 you get a lot of value.
• Rapha Brevet wool blend jersey: Awesome materials (the wool blend feels really nice) and a bunch of neat details, e.g. a liner in the back pocket that keep sweat away from your cell phone! Unfortunately the fit around the shoulders doesn't quite work for me
  
• Rapha lightweight summer jersey: Similar fit problems as the Randonneur, but otherwise a nice summer jersey

For bib shorts I bought used ones from Search and State, Ornot, and Eliel California. Features I liked: wide leg grippers and compressive fit. Some of the chamois were fine, others were so so. I don't think overall I noticed a great improvement over the more affordable Bouré products.

All in all, at full price I would never buy any of these. I understand where some of the expense is coming from (materials, quality, county of manufacture, and yes, marketing), but $180 for a jersey? $250 for bib shorts? Nah. 

Crust Lightning Bolt

I bought and built up an XL Crust Lightning Bolt frame (cantilever version) and mostly like it. As described in this thread on the 650B group, the handling has some issues. Depending on how those get resolved, I'll make a final verdict on the bike. 

Cheap and expensive sensors 

I experimented with various heart rate and cadence sensors. The experiences have been a mixed bag. For chest-strap heart rate monitors I have found that cheap Chinese ones get the job done just fine. For whatever reasons that has not been true for cadence sensors. Maybe it is because they need to transmit over a longer distance (crank to handlebars vs. chest to handlebars for a heart rate monitor), but I could not make two different cheap ones work reliably. The more expensive Wahoo sensor that I eventually bought works just fine.

Touring in a large group

While in Germany over the summer, there was an opportunity to join large group touring ride. The ride was a multi-day protest ride from Frankfurt to Munich, and I joined for one stage. It was a great experience for many reasons, but I wouldn't have wanted to do this style of group riding for more than a day. The organizers were absolutely top notch. With 20-40 people riding on public roads, you need a high level of coordination: A lead and a sweep connected through radios; participants corking intersections to prevent drivers breaking up the convoy; maintaining a speed that works for everyone; dealing with angry people in cars. Not my preferred style of riding.

 

Crust Canti Lightning Bolt: Build Notes

 

I bought a Crust Lightning Bolt frame (the cantilever brake version) and here are notes and photos from the build.

Frame and fork weight

It's always helpful to weigh the frame and fork before building a bike. My XL/61cm frame weighs 2.22 kg (4.9 lbs), the fork comes in at 0.89 kg (1.96 lbs).

 

 

Color

When the production version of the Lightning Bolt came out I was very close to buying it right away, but the brown color really turned me off. On the box, it's called "Champagne Brown," which sounds ridiculous but actually makes some sense: Yes, it's brown, but a brown with a light sparkle to it. When I sent a photo of the bike to my mom, she responded, "Oh, a golden bike! How pretty!" I've come to the conclusion that the color is actually pretty nice and classy.

Headset

I went with a cheap-ish Tange-Seiki Levin headset for the build. Roller bearing headsets are hard to come by these days, and my low-trail Gunnar works fine with a regular headset. Reading other people's build reports, one thing that was mentioned that headset installation was difficult because of an oversized crown race seat. My own measurements showed that the diameter is almost 0.1 mm above spec. I tried getting the race on with my crappy DIY tool made from a PVC pipe, but it quickly became clear this wouldn't work. I took it to the LBS and they got it on no problem -- actually the mechanic complimented the "tone" of my fork when hammering it in. Uh huh. Pressing the cups also took a lot of effort and I was glad to have borrowed a friend's Park Tool headset press rather than relying on a DIY solution.

 

Shifters

I haven't bought a new frame for over 10 years, and so I figured I may build it up with the nice parts from my stash. I had a NOS set of Dura Ace 7800 downtube shifters that I had been saving for years. This is the relatively rare 10-speed version that can be switched between friction and indexed shifting in the rear.

 

Fenders

Transferring over the Velo Orange fenders from my SOMA was unproblematic. The distance from the fender to the seat/chainstay bridges appears to be slightly smaller than on the SOMA, meaning I didn't need as many washers. 

Cranks and Bottom Bracket

The chainstays on the Lightning Bolt are seriously shaped and crushed to maximize tire and crank clearance. I suspect I may be able to get use a shorter bottom bracket than on the SOMA and get a lower Q factor that way. The cranks are IRD Defiant subcompacts with 46/30 rings.

And indeed: With a 113 mm bottom bracket (IRD actually recommend a 118 mm), there is a lot of clearance:

 

A 110 mm bottom bracket would definitely work, and maybe a 107 mm would fit as well -- the limiting factor may be the small chainring clearance and possible derailleur issues.

Because of the shaped chain stays, I opted for shellacked twine as a chainstay protector. I ran out of twine and so it's a little short for now.

The prototype for this frame had a frame-mounted rear cable hanger. The production version does not, and so I used a Surly hanger. Space between the bolt and seat post is tight, and I filed down the hanger to make it work.

Derailleurs

For the rear I transferred over an old Shimano STX RC, a mid-range 7-speed derailleur from the 1990s. In the front I installed a new Shimano CX-70 derailleur. I have this one on my Gunnar as well, as it was recommended as working well with sub-compact drivetrains. My own experience has been mixed -- there is a lot of trimming required to avoid chain rub. This seems to be the case on the Lightning Bolt as well, and I'll have to try fine tuning the positioning of the derailleur. It doesn't help that the big chainring has a small amount of wobble...

 

Shimano CX-70 derailleur and IRD 46/30 crankset

Seatpost

Brooks saddles often require seatposts with a large amount of setback. On the SOMA I had a very hammock-like Brooks B17 Imperial mounted on a Velo Orange Grand Cru long setback post. On the first ride my position felt very wrong, and this was mostly due to the seat being too far back. I have since replaced the VO seatpost with a Thomson Elite.

Thomson Elite setback post with an old WTB saddle that has titanium rails (yay) but isn't all that comfortable (boo)

Decaleur

The decaleur is the weakest link in the build at the moment. It's the cheap Velo Orange decaleur, which has worked surprisingly well on the SOMA. On this build, however, it ends up too low for my bag. Because the Lightning Bolt has less headtube extension than the SOMA, I can't get it up high enough with a bag as tall as mine. No decision yet on how to address this.

Velo Orange decaleur: Too low for my tall bag

 

Brakes

Tektro CR-720s are my go to affordable cantilever brakes. I may eventually replace them with something more blingy, but they look nice and do their job.

Overall impressions

Transferring parts over from one bike to another made for a quick and fun build. The only obvious flaw of the Lightning Bolt is a lack of cable guides for my generator hub. Eventually I'll clean up the cable routing, but with a frame at this price point and aimed at long-distance riders, guides on the fork and frame would have been nice. I don't anticipate making any substantial changes to the build in the foreseeable future, except for the decaleur. Stay tuned for a separate post on ride impressions.

Tried and liked 2019

Liked

Tandem, again

I included it last year, but I have to mention it again: I love riding the tandem with my SO! This year we upped our game and did the longest ever ride on the tandem:  A hilly 85 miles.

Photo credit: Mark Renner

Some changes to the tandem: I have been swapping saddles quite a bit and still haven't found one that I'm perfectly happy with -- which may be related to me fiddling around with stems and handlebars. I replaced the Cowbell with Compass Randonneur 31.8 mm bars (excellent decision), but I still have to dial in the stem length for the coming season.

For the stoker I just installed a new Suntour NCX suspension seatpost. The original Cannondale suspension post didn't provide enough setback. We've only done one short test ride, but so far the stoker is happy with the seat farther back.

I also installed a BUMM Cycle Star handlebar mirror. For my regular bikes I never saw a need for a mirror, but on the tandem it has proven quite handy. I can check on traffic without turning my body, which my stoker appreciates. The mirror is installed at the end of the handlebars, which works alright but does mean it goes out of adjustment regularly from leaning the bike against things or bumping into the mirror when off the bike.

A "liked"  innovation for my stoker was the switch to clipless pedals on the tandem. One of the issues we kept having was that my natural cadence felt too high for Nicole -- despite her being a spinner on her solo bikes. Switching to clipless pedals pretty much resolved this issue, and because she never has to unclip at stops, the usual safety concerns with clipless are not an issue on the tandem.

Canti/mini V brakes

Our tandem came with the stock Cannondale-branded linear pull brakes. Because the bike also uses brifters, the brakes used a Travel Agent. I never liked the feel of that combination -- stopping power in the front didn't seem great and the rear felt very spongy. I bought a pair of used vintage Shimano XTR cantilever brakes (admittedly partly for the bling factor). I was unable to install the brakes in the rear because there wasn't enough space to run the cable and cable hanger. Instead I bought cheap Shimano V-brakes with 90mm arms, which according to the internet would work reasonably well with regular pull road brake levers. They were only $21, and this seems to be working quite well. Good lever feel; sufficient braking power.

BUMM Ixon IQ Premium battery light

Another new purchase primarily for the tandem was a Busch & Müller Ixon IQ Premium battery front light. Similar to the B& M dynamo head lights, it has a nice beam pattern that puts the light where you need it and not into the eyes of oncoming cyclists. Compared to current generation dynamo lights like the IQ X or even the older lights from the Cyo series, it just isn't as bright, though, even in high mode. It provides sufficient light in relatively dark environments, but in an urban setting with lots of light around you I sometimes wish for more light output. I'm also not a fan of the handlebar mount. Once firmly installed it works fine, but it's a pain to transfer the mount from one bike to the other. The fork crown mount would probably work better, but that place is already taken by a brake cable mount on the tandem. So this is mostly a "liked," but it also confirms my strong preference for dyno lights whenever practical.

Gravelking tires

I held my judgment about these tires last year, but as I've kept riding them all season and they still seem to have some life left in them, they are now in the liked category. Review here.

Gunnar Rockhound 26" MTB

 I spontaneously bought a used Gunnar MTB last winter. I got it for a good price and have since converted it from the weird narrow 29er build back to its original 26" configuration. The bike rides really nice on the local trails and I'm much faster compared to my Surly fat bike -- but I probably just don't MTB enough to justify keeping the bike. So despite it being a "liked," I'll probably sell it next spring.

Pro Bike Tool Mini Pump

This is a great little bike pump that replaced one of my Topeak Road Morphs. It's more compact than the Road Morph, it's a better design with the hose hidden in the barrel, similar to Lezyne mini pumps, and it's only $30. The only possible improvement would be a high-volume rather than a high pressure version of the pump. Apparently Pro Bike Tool used to make such a pump but ultimately discontinued it because of low demand.

Mesh undershirts

I bought two different mesh baselayers this year. One ultralight one from Craft for the summer and one slightly heavier one from Aliexpress. My skin is somewhat sensitive to wool, and I also have sensitive nipples. Both of these issues are addressed by wearing the mesh baselayer under my bib shorts and wool jerseys. The ultralight one doesn't add any discernible warmth; the cheapo one probably does, but that's why I have relegated it to non-summer use.

Wandrer

I have continued VeloViewer tile hunting, the Strava-based game where you divide the map into small squares and try to touch as many contiguous squares as possible. But with my total square having grown to 29x29, any ride to get new squares now is at least 50 miles long. Well, what about trying to ride every road in your neighborhood, city, county? This is what Wandrer is offering. It also integrates with Strava and tracks the percentage of roads you have ridden on. I've enjoyed collecting new roads quite a bit, and trying to ride every road here in Madison also sharpens the view about development patterns: So many residential streets are cul-de-sacs or otherwise designed to prevent through traffic, often requiring long detours to get from point A to point B.

My Wandrer map: Blue are the streets I have ridden on; red the ones I still need to ride

Wera Multicolor Hex Plus keys

A very recent but already liked purchase is this set of fancy hex keys. The color coding is great, they feel nice in your hand, and supposedly the hex plus shape of the heads reduces the risk of stripping screw heads. Well worth the 30 bucks.

Disliked

Garmin Vivoactive 3

For the past couple years I've been tracking my mileage only with Strava on my smartphone. For navigation purposes I relied on handwritten cue sheets. This system worked quite well, but I also enjoy having electronic gadgets, and producing the handwritten cue sheets was labor intensive. So when a good sale came up, I bought a Garmin Vivoactive 3 smartwatch. It quickly turned out that this was the wrong tool for the job. Navigation via watch was cumbersome, the wrist-based heart rate monitoring didn't work well for me, it doesn't support playing music via Bluetooth (You need the special "music" edition for that, which is $70 more expensive...), and in the end I didn't really care about all the metrics the watch tracked. I passed it on to the SO, who actually likes it a lot, especially for running.

After the failure with the Vivoactive, I started looking for bike-specific devices. I narrowed down my choices to the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt and the Garmin 530. Because of the price, I ended up with the Wahoo and so far I'm liking it a lot. But I'll reserve my full judgment for next year's tried-and-liked.

SKS Bluemels Primo 53mm fenders 

The aluminum front fender on my daily commuter finally broke -- road salt corroded away enough of the fender to make it break at the stay mount. Because I already had them sitting in my parts bin, I replaced the fender with a plastic SKS fender. While was it cheap and easy to install, a couple wet rides reminded me how important properly long fenders are. Sure, short fenders are better than nothing, but you may as well get properly sized ones. Disliked.

Shoes, shoes, shoes

My 2019 shoe experiences were a mixed bag. Let's start with the good:

Lake MXZ-303 winter boots

I finally retired my Lake MXZ-302 winter boots and replaced them with the 303 successor model. New models don't always improve a product, but in this case the 303 do indeed fix a couple flaws of the 302: The 303 has a rubber cap instead of leather over the toe section of the boot, which was the most worn piece on my 302. The flap across the top of the boots is now closed with a snap buckle and not velcro -- slightly less convenient but it should be much longer lasting. My only complaint about the new model is the more prominent graphics and branding on the boots. I could have done without that, but even without them they're still very obviously a cycling boot and not some piece of casual footwear.

Bontrager Rhythm MTB shoes

As mentioned above, when I bought my Gunnar MTB I had some aspirations of doing more trail riding this year. That was part of the motivation to spontaneously buy a pair of Bontrager shoes to eventually replace my worn Mavic MTB shoes. The Bontragers have extra padding and height on the pedal side of the shoe to protect your ankle, and in general are more beefy. More shoe than I need for my mostly road riding.

Giro Republic LX

The next try to replace the Mavis was with Giro Republic LX shoes. These are the ones in the all-reflective grey colorway. I initially liked them: They look good; you can replace the walking pads
, they have a nice stiff sole. But very recently I learned that the walking pad placement prevents me from clipping into my Shimano XT SPD trail pedals! Maybe I can move the cleats by a millimeter or so to fix this, but if not that's probably a deal breaker.

 

Much reflection!