Ride Concepts Women’s Hellion Shoes

Ride Concepts is a new mountain bike footwear company based in Truckee, California. They launched in fall ’18 with an emphasis on the trail, enduro and downhill side of the sport — offering a wide selection of flat pedal shoes — for the guys. This year the line has expanded to include women and youth-specific models as well as clip-in options.

Features

Rubber Kinetics
DST 6.0 HIGH GRIP Rubber Outsole
D3O High Impact Zone Insole Technology
Two-panel synthetic upper with anti-peel coating and perforated ventilation
Anti-abrasion toe and heel protection
EVA midsole provides support and shock absorption
Fully gusseted tongue prohibits intake of dirt and debris
Women’s-specific fit
Listed weight (approx. – 12.8 oz. / 361 g.)

First Rides

Although our first instinct is to compare them to FiveTen shoes, the shape and aesthetic of the Hellion remind us more of the 2FO series shoes by Specialized.

In terms of fit, I’m running a size 9 women. I usually find myself wearing an 8.5, but the 9 feels spot on. As they currently don’t offer half sizes I lucked out in terms of fit.

The feel of the shoes is light, with a solid platform, but not so stiff they hurt my feet. The best part is they felt great out of the box without a long break-in period required.

With the trails under snow, we’ve been having a lot of fun rediscovering local bike park options and paired with the Raceface Chester pedals they feel very grippy.

We’ve found that with shoes, fit and feel are our number one then it’s just a matter of finding our favorite pedal/shoe combination. We prefer a super grippy pairing for technical trail riding with a slightly less grippy feel for park and skills riding.

I’ve rather taken to the color, and it happens to be a nice pairing with one of my favorite technical flannel shirts FTW!

I’m looking to get a lot more time on the trail with the Hellions. My preferred trail riding platform pedals are the Shimano XTs, and so far they feel like a great match.