Five Ten Freerider Contact shoe review (updated)
After a summer of abuse, the soles of these Five Ten Freeride Contact shoes have begun to delaminate. This is not a problem we experienced with the base level Freerider, which use the older S1 Stealth Rubber.
Editor’s note: Below is an update to the Mtbr review of the Five Ten Freerider Contact shoe. See the original review, which was published on June 17, 2016 on page 2.
Update: Five Ten Freerider Contact Shoe Review
One of the challenges we face when reviewing products is determining when we’ve spent enough time using an item to offer an educated opinion. Wait too long, and the item may get discontinued or updated. Speak too soon and you may miss an important flaw.
I logged nearly four months of use before writing a review of the Five Ten Freerider Contact shoes. I was reviewing other shoes concurrently, but I probably put 20-30 miles on them each week. Over that period, they grew to be my favorites.
The first place my shoes started to delaminate was the point where my feet naturally flexes when I walk.
Compared to the burlier Five Ten Impacts, they breathe significantly better, yet offer similar levels of protection. My only gripe is that the new Mi6 soles wore out faster than the old Stealth stuff. Other than that, I was pumped.
Despite my positive experience, many of our readers wrote to complain about issues with delaminating. I’d heard of the problem from the guys at the local shop, but hadn’t experienced it myself until a month after I posted my initial review when both soles started to delaminate on our test pair.
According to Five Ten, the soles delaminated because of an issue with a manufacturing partner. The end result was rubber that stretched more than intended, which caused the soles to delaminate.
To find out why I stopped by the Five Ten booth at Interbike where I spoke with sales director Rick Reed. “Stealth Mi6 is softest and stickiest rubber Five Ten offers,” he explained. “We had a recent issue with a rubber supplier that caused this particular rubber compound to stretch more than specified. We have since changed rubber suppliers and corrected the issue. We fully stand by the product and will replace any shoe with the delamination problem. Just contact Five Ten customer service.”
So there it is. If you’ve had issues with your Five Ten’s delaminating after seemingly light use, give Five Ten a call. The Stealth Mi6 rubber does wear at a faster rate than the S1 Stealth rubber, so keep that in mind. A pair of shoes you beat on aren’t going to last forever, but for a $150 they should last at least a season.
Continue to page 2 to read our original Five Ten Freerider Contact shoe review »
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