Ride Concepts footwear first look
Livewire in orange and black is a good representative of the line.
With Teva abandoning the mountain bike footwear space, and with the acquisition of FiveTen by footwear giant Adidas, there may be an opportunity for a mountain bike focused footwear company to innovate in the space. Such is the premise that Brandon Dodd and Anne Cahill are working with when they started bike footwear company, Ride Concepts.
Ride Concepts today debuted a line of high-performance mountain bike footwear. Founded around a deep passion for mountain biking, it came to fruition after years of riding, market research, careful design and partnership development. They’re distinguishing themselves with better science and materials, design and ergonomics.
Industry partnerships helped Ride Concepts create durable, highly specialized footwear: D3O protection is molded throughout insoles on all shoes to reduce impacts taken from hard landings and extended riding on rugged terrain and is employed strategically to the uppers of some models to add extra protection where needed. Rubber Kinetics – an industry leader in the design, development, and manufacture of high-performance rubber compounds – formulated multiple proprietary rubber sole compounds, taking into account dry and wet grip, operating temperature windows (ranges) and durability.
The initial offering from Ride Concepts caters to both flat and clipless pedal riders, and is made up of three distinct shoe series; Session, Flow, and Launch, alongside a full line of synthetic and merino performance socks. Gender-specific lasts offer precision fit for men, women and youth, allowing shredders of all ages the same access to highly technical kicks.
The Session Series is the first line to be launched.
2019 COLLECTION
Coupling the structure and durability of our footwear with impact technology pioneered by protection engineering firm D3O, Ride Concepts rolled out the first full line of MTB specific riding shoes with an impact story in every model. Ride Concepts and Rubber Kinetics have created 3 proprietary rubber compounds that surpass the quality and construction currently available.
Rubber Kinetics is key in the materials side. The other area tackled is design.
SESSION SERIES
Whether you’re taking laps in the park, blazing backcountry trails, the session series hits the All-Mountain segment head-on with this line of shoes. It is interesting to note that they are launching the brand with this line of flat shoes first. This offers a glimpse into the core of their brand. They’ll offer clipless too and other lines of shoes but flat shoes for All Mountain is where they want to make their mark first.
Livewire women’s in purple
SESSION SERIES – LIVEWIRE
Combining the technical demands of big mountain riding with the style of BMX, the Livewire is a reinvented classic. This is your daily-driver, wear- everywhere, tough-as-nails, do-it-all, ninja-approved, high-performance flat-pedal shoe.
Here is an example of the feature set on the Livewire. Every line has an impressive, well thought-out list of design features.
+ Gusseted, Flex Seam, High Abrasion Air Mesh Tongue
+ 8mm Oval Laces
+ Webbing Tongue Stay
+ High Abrasion Mesh Toe Box
+ Custom PU Molded Toe Cap
+ Breathable, Wicking Tech Mesh Interior Liner
+ High Abrasion Mesh Heel Collar + Custom PU Moulded Heel Guard + D3O Impact Technology Insole + EVA Midsole
+ DST 6.0 – Ride Concepts x Rubber Kinetics Outsole and Tread Pattern
+ Elastic Lace Stay
+ Men’s Specific Fit / Women’s with sport fit
+ Micro-Fiber and Synthetic PU
+ 1mm Perforations For Breathability
Wildcat offers more protection
Session Series – Wildcat
The Wildcat is the cool bigger cousin of the Livewire. Featuring cranked-up stability and ankle protection, it’s a mid-height, sticky-soled, flat pedal brawler.
+ Gusseted, Flex Seam, High
+ Abrasion Air Mesh Tongue
8mm Oval Laces
+ Elastic Lace Stay
+ Webbing Tongue Stay
+ Synthetic PU Nubuck/High Abrasion Mesh Upper
+ Synthetic PU Nubuck Power Strap
+ WILDCAT TECH SPEC + 1.5mm Perforations For breathability
+ Abrasion Coated Toe Cap
+ Breathable, Wicking Tech Mesh
+ High Abrasion Mesh Heel Collar + D3O Impact Technology Insole
Coaster sandals
Session Series – Coaster sandals
Another example to give you a taste of the product line are these Coaster sandals. Even the most comfortable, breathable shoes are a delight to remove after a long ride. And what better place to slide one’s feet into than comfortable, supportive sandals. Think of these as the best pre- and post-ride friend your feet could have. And we’ve come to learn by experience that pre-ride or post-ride footwear is very important as well. Ill-fitting slippers put stress on the knee. And unsupportive or unpadded footwear transmit shock into one’s joints and back. It’s quite amazing when one experiences less pain just by wearing proper post-ride footwear.
FEATURES:
+ Rubber Kinetics | DST 4.0 MAX GRIP Rubber Outsole
+ Anti-abrasion mesh top strap
+ Hook and loop closure
+ EVA footbed with engineered metatarsal support
+ Comfort Fit
+ Approximate weight – 11 oz (312 g)
This is just a small sampling of what’s available from Ride Concepts today. Hop on over to https://rideconcepts.com/ to explore the functional and affordable line.
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