Pinkbike Product Picks
Vans Gravel shoes
Designed with BMX and mountain biking in mind, the Gravel shoes utilize Vans' 'TRAX' rubber outsole with a waffle-style pattern to provide traction, with Vans saying that the rubber compound used was originally developed for rock climbing applications. Their soles offer quite a bit more support than most flat pedal-style shoes on the market, making them especially interesting for anyone who suffers from foot issues during a ride, be it pain, numbing, or hot spots. Heel inserts have been fitted to help absorb impacts, and their uppers are manufactured from abrasion resistant synthetic materials that look up to the task. The white strip on both sides of each shoe is actually reflective, adding an element of safety to help keep you from getting mowed down on your way to and from the mountain. MSRP $99.95 USD. www.vans.com
![Van shoes]()
Pinkbike's Take:
Mavic Stratos gloves
With a thin, single layer Clarino palm and lightweight 'Stretch Mesh 3D' top, Mavic's space age looking Stratos gloves take a minimalist approach to protecting riders' hands. They also forgo any type of Velcro strap closure for the cuff for the same reason, with a simple pull-on approach instead. Like many gloves on the market, silicone is used on the thumb and both the pointer and middle fingers, and there is also a thicker coating laid over the top of the knuckles that adds a bit of protection in case you accidentally punch a tree, rock, or your bike. The Stratos gloves comes in XXS through to L sizes, as well as both black and white colour options. MSRP $54.95 USD. www.mavic.com
![Mavic gloves]()
Pinkbike's Take:
Canfield Crampon Ultimate pedals
Better known for their lineup of dual-link downhill bikes and hooligan inspired 29ers, Canfield also offers a component range that includes their Crampon pedals that are available in two flavours: the 282 gram Magnesium model that, as you might have guessed, utilize a magnesium pedal body, and the 342 gram Ultimate version tested here. The most obvious feature of the Crampons is their unusual convex profile, with thinner 6mm tall leading and trailing edges that rise up to 10mm at the axle center line. The idea is to present a smaller target for pedal strikes where they nearly always occur - the leading edge and outside, forward corner of the body - and Canfield has also designed-in a pronounced chamfer to help them glance off of objects rather than bringing the rider to a dead stop. The ultra-slim 106 x 106mm pedal body is possible thanks to the use of an internal DU bushing combined with a small diameter bushing at the end of the axle, thereby allowing Canfield to not have to squeeze the bearing into the pedal body. And while their convex shape may be unusual, taller set screw-style pins have been used at the leading and trailing edges to offset this. The Crampon Ultimates are available in a number of different colours, all retailing at $150.00 USD. www.canfieldbrothers.com
![Canfield Crampon Ultimate pedal]()
Pinkbike's Take:
Designed with BMX and mountain biking in mind, the Gravel shoes utilize Vans' 'TRAX' rubber outsole with a waffle-style pattern to provide traction, with Vans saying that the rubber compound used was originally developed for rock climbing applications. Their soles offer quite a bit more support than most flat pedal-style shoes on the market, making them especially interesting for anyone who suffers from foot issues during a ride, be it pain, numbing, or hot spots. Heel inserts have been fitted to help absorb impacts, and their uppers are manufactured from abrasion resistant synthetic materials that look up to the task. The white strip on both sides of each shoe is actually reflective, adding an element of safety to help keep you from getting mowed down on your way to and from the mountain. MSRP $99.95 USD. www.vans.com
Although their stiff soles helped foot discomfort, it was disappointment all around with Vans' Gravel shoes thanks to their lack of traction and fragile construction.
Pinkbike's Take:
 | We've put well over sixty rides in while wearing the Gravel shoes, from early season mud-fests to mid-summer shreds in 100 degree heat, and have come away with a bit of a mixed impression of Vans' platform compatible offering. Their standout feature in our minds, the stiffer than average soles, turns out to be both a blessing and a curse, as they went a long way to eliminating foot pain or numbing that might occur during long, rough descents, but heavily sacrificed both traction on the pedals and off the bike comfort for that cause. The feeling of being able to arch your foot over the pedal body is impossible to attain while wearing the Gravels, and this had a negative impact on the chances of keeping our feet in place, especially when having to use a lot of body English for a lurch or hop maneuver that we had to perform without the benefit of a lip to help with getting height. Their TRAX waffle soles didn't seem overly tacky, either, which didn't help matters, and we found them a bit unpredictable despite using them with DMR's sizeable and grippy Vault pedals. The relatively rigid soles also made walking in them awkward until they broke in enough that our heels stopped lifting excessively with each step, a process that took at least twenty rides. Unfortunately, it doesn't get much better when it comes to how they stood up over those sixty or so rides, with them showing much more wear during that time than we would have expected. Not only have their soles cracked enough to readily allow moisture through in damp conditions, but large portions of the stitching around both toe boxes has let loose enough for the rubber to fold back considerably. While they aren't too pricey at $99.95 USD, it is hard for us to recommend them when there are far more reliable options out there that also provide much more traction. - Mike Levy |
Mavic Stratos gloves
With a thin, single layer Clarino palm and lightweight 'Stretch Mesh 3D' top, Mavic's space age looking Stratos gloves take a minimalist approach to protecting riders' hands. They also forgo any type of Velcro strap closure for the cuff for the same reason, with a simple pull-on approach instead. Like many gloves on the market, silicone is used on the thumb and both the pointer and middle fingers, and there is also a thicker coating laid over the top of the knuckles that adds a bit of protection in case you accidentally punch a tree, rock, or your bike. The Stratos gloves comes in XXS through to L sizes, as well as both black and white colour options. MSRP $54.95 USD. www.mavic.com
The comfortable and airy Stratos gloves were undone by a seam failure caused by lock-on grip collars, the first issue of this kind that we've seen.
Pinkbike's Take:
| If you've paid attention to past Product Pick tests you'll likely have noticed that we have a bit of a fetish when it comes to minimalist gloves. We've spent time wearing nearly every lightweight offering on the market, which puts us in good standing to talk about how Mavic's sharp looking Stratos gloves compare. Fit-wise, they gave us zero complaints. Finger lengths feel spot-on, and there is enough stretch in the fabric to allow for a unrestricted feel, something that isn't as common as you might think. Their thin palms gives us that direct connection to the handlebar that we prefer, and the airy tops allowed a good amount of breathability, although they are a touch warmer than Dakine's Ventilator glove, the current king of nearly-not-there hand protection. This isn't to say they are hot by any stretch of the imagination, as they are far, far cooler than standard gloves. While we are big fans of both their fit and airy feel, a set of lock-on grips proved to be their undoing. It took about a month of use for the outer collar of each grip to wear through the stitching that holds the top and bottom fabric panels together, thereby allowing them to spread apart until there was a rather large 'side vent' of sorts. The question is, should the blame fall on the gloves or the grips? We're going with the gloves only because this is the first issue that we've seen while using these particular grips, despite them being passed around on a number of different test bikes over the last year. Stitching issue aside, it might be their unusual appearance that either makes or breaks them for most riders, with our white/yellow/black Stratos' looking like something borrowed from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Count us as fans, but there is a more subdued black/yellow colour option for riders looking to blend in a bit more. - Mike Levy |
Canfield Crampon Ultimate pedals
Better known for their lineup of dual-link downhill bikes and hooligan inspired 29ers, Canfield also offers a component range that includes their Crampon pedals that are available in two flavours: the 282 gram Magnesium model that, as you might have guessed, utilize a magnesium pedal body, and the 342 gram Ultimate version tested here. The most obvious feature of the Crampons is their unusual convex profile, with thinner 6mm tall leading and trailing edges that rise up to 10mm at the axle center line. The idea is to present a smaller target for pedal strikes where they nearly always occur - the leading edge and outside, forward corner of the body - and Canfield has also designed-in a pronounced chamfer to help them glance off of objects rather than bringing the rider to a dead stop. The ultra-slim 106 x 106mm pedal body is possible thanks to the use of an internal DU bushing combined with a small diameter bushing at the end of the axle, thereby allowing Canfield to not have to squeeze the bearing into the pedal body. And while their convex shape may be unusual, taller set screw-style pins have been used at the leading and trailing edges to offset this. The Crampon Ultimates are available in a number of different colours, all retailing at $150.00 USD. www.canfieldbrothers.com
Canfield's Crampon Ultimate pedals may have shown some premature bearing wear, but their added ground clearance and good traction mean that we are still fans. Just don't be surprised if you have to perform a rebuild after a few months of use.
Pinkbike's Take:
| Our main concern with the Crampons was if their convex profile, opposite of the concave foot bed that is a trait of most grippy pedals, would have a negative effect on their performance. This turned out to be a non-issue, though, as the taller pins that Canfield has employed on the pedal's leading and trailing edges more than compensates for their unusual profile. That being said, while this was true when using them in combination with a pair of shoes that feature burly soles like Five Ten's Impacts, we could just make out their convex shape under our feet when wearing shoes with more flexible soles like Sombrio's Float model. Again, this seemed to have little to no effect on traction. And speaking of traction, they certainly do offer a good amount of it while at the same time allowing for relatively easy foot placement adjustments if required. No, outright traction doesn't rate has high as the current class leader in this regard, e*13's LG1+ pedal, but the Crampons might just offer more usability in that they still allow the rider to shift their feet without having to lift them completely off of the pedal body to do so. The Crampon's big selling point for most riders will be their impressively thin body height that offers more clearance than pretty much every conventional pedal option on the market, and while five or six millimeters of extra breathing room may not sound like much, those who have been thrown to the ground in a flash due to a pedal strike would gladly take the added clearance if given the opportunity. Did we feel like we suffered from less pedal strikes than if we had been using a taller pedal? Yes, especially because we tested them on a Specialized trail bike with a relatively low bottom bracket height. This fact surely played a part in them still sporting all of their pins as well, with not even a single one bent askew from an impact. So, does their good traction and thin profile make them winners? Not so fast, as we had some bushing issues that resulted in the pedal bodies being allowed to shift on their axles by quite a bit. The wear is a bit accelerated in our books, with it popping up after only a few months of use, and it's something that we've seen from many pedals that use micro-sized bushings or bearings similar to what is utilized on the Crampons. While the troublesome play is a bit of a pain in the ass, we are still fans of their competitive weight, thin profile, and the "just right" traction on offer. - Mike Levy |
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coming from BMX of course I have tried my Vans, Etnies and Orchids on the mountain bike trails and found them lacking in terms of traction, support, stiffness, protection and durability
the BMX shoes are of course perfect for DJ and Pump Track, but not ideal for "mountain biking" on rough dirt trails whether you are going up and along (XC) or down (DH / FR)
www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/kmyers/web_graphics/farside%20concave%20spoon.jpg
Using two sets and proclaiming to the world that they have flaws isn't exactly a conclusive argument. Did you guys consult the manufacturer on this one, or did you just assume?
Had mine for a few months now and have had none of the above issues… Just had 3 weeks in the Alps with them too