Check out the Fiveten.com site and the Sam Hill downhill shoe. Expensive, but quite the muni shoe.
JL
It looks like the toe protector is soft (not the rubber part in the middle, but the stitched bit above it); is that right? I really need a decent toe cup, I constantly doink my big toe. The sole looks good, though.
exactly what I was wondering tholub, I think a MUni shoe should have good toe protection as well.
I’m tired of breaking toenails…
I have these, and they’re the best MUni shoes I’ve ever owned! I’ve put a ton of technical miles on 'em and they’re still going strong, although I’m getting ready to buy another pair. Oddly enough, they are the “freeride” series; no connection to KH freeride, but a cool coincidence! They are also the best fitting and most comfortable MUni shoe IMO.
PS: It’s called the “Impact mid” (plenty of ankle protection too!) and there is also a newer version, but I like this one just fine. 
So, John, don’t these Sam Hill shoes have that same button-texture as the Impacts? I currently have the Impact Mids. I like their grip once the foot is well-placed, but it can be tricky to wiggle them into a comfortable spot because those button things on the sole catch on the pedal-pins.
Terry, you say there is ankle protection, but I find that protection is only against bangs from the pedals/cranks. They have no pro from sprain-like injuries, which I found out when I rolled my ankle on after UPDing in hummocky terrain.
I’d love to see a hightop version with real splint-like ankle braces.
Does anybody use a hiking boot for MUni? I’m interested in a sole that is stiff enough that it won’t flex into the arch of your foot when you do drops, yet would still be flexible enough and comfortable enough for hiking uphill, crashing, etc. The 5.10, while a wonderful shoe, and super grippy, still has a flexible sole.
They have an Impact II that’s a high-top on their site.
Yeah, but it’s just a leather upper and wouldn’t protect from rolling your ankle landing on uneven ground. It states: “Both the Impact and Impact High are engineered to have a great fit, with and without ankle braces”, so it doesn’t offer that “brace” type of pro.
Cough ankle biters cough for muni chough cough:p
This would be cool. But it has to be done right. For a while, I rode with a nylon wrapping ankle supporter, that cinches up like a boot. I purchased it with plastic strips that fit in as inserts in the sides, thinking it would add to lateral support. Instead, it pressed on my outer ankle bone so much, it hurt. The plastic strips were flexible to an extent, but not enough to work without pain. I took them out and never used them again.
A shoe with splint-like braces would have to work with the ankle bone, IMO.
Cheers.
Agreed.
Bob - I know there are lots of different ankle braces out there, but I just wish there’d be one incorporated into a good muni shoe.
Oh, and get that cough looked at buddy!
hey, are those good for gliding and stuff?
I used to race downhill mountain bikes and I had these shose.
They are great and very grippy. The shoe that muniaddict showed would be good for protecting your ankle from hitting the cranks but I dont know how well they would help if you rolled your ankle, although it would be better than the low cut ones.
Yeah I get what you mean it would be one less step which can be forgotten. It would be nice, but at least with ankle biters you can but the sole over them to keep them in place. I use the t7? off ucd best 70$ I have spent. It has payed for it self all the times I could have rolled and or broken my ankle. Sher they make you fall instead of your ankle twisting, but you get used to that soon enough they feel a bit weird at first too.
I am the doc said it was chronic I have no idea how I got it it just started happening so quick! 
these are the ones, they worked great yesterday, first big ride MUni w/them. i wanted a lighter pair for distance cokering, and decided to try them for MUni. i like the 5/10 rubber and didnt seem to sacrifice too much in ankle protection.
Not sure since I don’t/can’t/haven’t learned gliding.:o But I would guess that they’d work well because of the sole design would give you good braking on the tire while gliding.
But who would want to wear through a $100+ pair of shoes by gliding? Good gliding shoes would be inexpensive bargain shoes that work well enough.
I recently found the 661 Dually Taki shoes on sale. Could get four of the 661s for the price of one of the FiveTens. My new muni shoes are the 661s and the Vans that I’ve been using.
Not necessarily. You still want good equipment, including shoes. Those who do some “gliding” obviously mix in much more types of riding during their sessions that would indeed require a quality built shoe.
I have a pair of 661 duallys…they’re sitting UNUSED in my closet! They are the same “size” as my 5-tens, but the toe box area is waaaay to small and caused toe blisters within 20 minutes of riding! The depth and width at the toe area are not sufficient. I took them to a local shoe repair and they tried to “stretch” the toe area, but there was no improvement. The dually’s are pure crap, at least in my case. Btw, moving up a 1/2 size would only make the rest of the fit sloppy, as I had the right size from heel to toe, length-wise. The toe design is simply bad! ONE pair of FiveTens are worth 100 pair of the dually’s…scratch that…there aren’t enough duallys in the world that be as good as just ONE pair of FiveTens. 
You know, this is why some people try on shoes before they buy them.
but that would be the logical thing to do. what do you think we are? logical people?