I’ve been looking around for an awesome MUni shoe, and this one looks like it fits the bill: The '05 Sawpit (Specialized)
Stiff sole, designed to grip pedals for extreme mountain bikers. It also has ankle protection, and although it’s for clipless pedals, you can just cover the cleat.
Tell me what you think or if you have it how you like it
http://www.specialized.com/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=10149&JServSessionIdroot=ysfefsxyhq.j27010
probably too stiff to get that much grip. wouldn’t be comfortable to walk in. probably pretty pricey. other than that it looks good. try a high top or mid skate type shoe. you’ll probably have better luck and spend less cash. also there’s the 661 high top shoe that people seem to like retail is around $80 but can often be found for less.
Re: MUni Shoes!
I haven’t seen this shoe in person, so it is hard to say. My experience of looking at MTB shoes is that their soles are too chunky; they would grip the pedal but wouldn’t be easy to adjust your foot position, but I’d really have to look at the tread bottom to get an idea.
Oh, and where in the Bay Area are you if you’re looking for MUni buddies? We’ve got a sizable group that rides out of Oakland/Berkeley.
Any MTB shoe that fit the clipless pedal cleats is going to be way too stiff to grip the pedals. Even the BMX style shoes that fit a clipless pedal cleat are too stiff. The shoe sole will not get good grip even on a pinned platform pedal. Your feet will skate around on the pedals and every time you hit a bump your shoe will move on the pedals. Not a good type of shoe for muni. There are, however, some people who like the real stiff bike shoes for Coker riding.
I have a pair of Intense Downhill shoes that I dont believe are made anymore but are basically light boots with 5.10 flat bottom soles. They both provide ankle protection and support and have a good amount of grip (much better than your average boots) I have had mine for about a year now and they are holding up well. If you are looking for Muni specific boots you should deffenatlly check them out.
These five ten shoes look to be the closest thing in production to the ones I have…
http://www.fiveten.com/product/impacthi.htm
the Sawpit (Specialized) costs $150, to much for what they are anyway.
Buy the 5-10s. They are pretty much the exact same as the intenses, expect it looks the the upper are different. You just cant beat that sole.
Dont buy SPD shoes for flat peals. They are too stiff and the soles arent that grippy. Check out the 661 line too.
thanks for the advice guys
i’ll check out the 661 and 5-10s
Monty makes nice ones for trials and there cool blue
Koxx makes some to
The Downhill Zone (A Seattle DH bike shop) has those shoes in stock. They used to carry the Intense shoes that had the same sole.
The Five Ten shoes do look good. I may give them a try. They’re just a tad expensive at about $90. At least if I get them at the Downhill Zone I’ll be able to try them on before buying them.
I find my current combination of Vans and 661 Ankle Biters to work well. The 661 Dually also works well if you add in a Dr. Scholl’s Advantage Sport insole. The Five Ten shoe looks to be better constructed than the 661 Dually so could be a better value in the long run.
I think those shoes with the velcro straps over the laces are a good thing. Nothing worse than getting your laces caught in the axle/crank when you’re pedalling fast 
.
I’ve been using similar shoes to these for MUni for about three years- The Salomon lace free system works great:
http://www.salomonoutdoor.com/us/product.aspx?gen=1&seg=3&act=1&gam=0&ori=2&pro=872454
Those are impossible to find (the monties).
Re: MUni Shoes!
“john_childs” <john_childs@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com> writes:
> The Five Ten shoes do look good. I may give them a try. They’re just a
> tad expensive at about $90. At least if I get them at the Downhill Zone
> I’ll be able to try them on before buying them.
I like the ankle protection on those Five Ten shoes. Any rock climber
can tell you that the soles are very sticky - a property I just
confirmed in a test ride down the bike path on my cruiser with old
beartrap pedals. Just be aware that the dots on the sole limit the
positions and angles that you can use to grip the pedals, just like
lug soled hiking boots or trail shoes will.
Ken
I’ve been using the Five Ten “High Impact” shoes for almost 8 months now and I love 'em! Fantastic fit and durability, but after 8 months of almost daily Muni and contact with my Drillium pedals ( ) I’m ready for another pair! Many websites sell them for over $100, but I found a place locally that sells them for only $79.98! So I’m picking them up tomorrow and save shipping. These are flat out the best, most comfortable shoes I’ve ever owned!
http://www.pricepoint.com/detail/145…pact-Shoes.htm
I’ve been using Five-Ten Impacts for about 18 months and I’m very impressed as well - mine have hardly any pedal spike damage from my DMR V8s, so perhaps Terry’s pedals are sharper (and his riding is probably more aggressive than mine!). The soles on the previous pair of boots I used were ripped to shreds in the same time. Some people find them too grippy, but I like the secure feeling and it’s easy enough to move your foot by “tilt and swivel”.
They’re expensive here, about £60 (or at least they were when I bought mine - haven’t checked the latest prices) - although I suppose that’s cheap compared with chav’s trainers.
The only bad point for me is that when they get wet (which is a lot round here) they take forever to dry, even stuffed with paper - they seem to soak up a ridiculous amount of water. There was a discussion about them in the reviews forum some time ago and most people seemed to disagree with me on that one, so perhaps you have different water in the USA 
Rob
Go to the five ten site (Fiveten.com) and check out the Sam Hill low tops. Expensive (120 bucks), but the hottest thing going for DH bikers and munieers. Not only do they work fantastic but you can get them resoled for 30 bucks.
JL
5-10’s are the way to go. They are very comfy for riding, not so much for walking. After several months of use I am starting to see signs of damage from the pins. After getting used to riding with them it feels squirrelly to ride with anything else.
Nah, I’ll stick with the Mids; they provide much more ankle protection…well, the Sam Hill has nada.
I had to send my Mids back to 5-10 for repair (or replacement–don’t yet know what they’re doing). The problem with mine was that the second-to-top lace hole is a plastic insert, and the insert pulled out of the shoe. It made it so you couldn’t properly lace the shoe. But as they were less than a year old, and otherwise holding up great, I figured it was worth a shot to email 5-10’s customer service and see if there was any kind of warranty. I had a reply the next day, and sent the shoes in last week. I haven’t heard back from them about what they’re doing, but am hopeful to get them back soon. Like others have said, these shoes are stiff enough to pedal great but soft enough to walk in without discomfort–and sticky like you wouldn’t believe.