Review: Ride Concepts Vice Mid Shoe - Casual Style, Excellent Grip
Last summer, Ride Concepts debuted their Vice flat pedal shoe. The shoe offered a lot of what many riders were after - a good pedal feel coupled with plenty of traction on the pins. The shoe, aimed at the dirt jump, slopestyle, and BMX crowd was a good offering and I was pleased with its performance. If you want to read up more on that offering, check out the review, here.
The Vice Mid carries over a lot of the same technology that the Vice has but in a higher top design, offering some additional support and protection coupled with the same feel and style that doesn't scream, "hey, I'm here to terminate the mountain bike trails" but rather a more subtle look that is a little more cross-activity casual and could fly as a kick around town shoe as well.
The Vice Mid carries over a lot of the same technology that the Vice has but in a higher top design, offering some additional support and protection coupled with the same feel and style that doesn't scream, "hey, I'm here to terminate the mountain bike trails" but rather a more subtle look that is a little more cross-activity casual and could fly as a kick around town shoe as well.
Vice Mid Details
• RC Fuzion outsole
• D3O insole, Internal TPU toe protection
• Mid-height, Suede upper
• Colors: Black/White, Charcoal/Black
• Sizes: Men's 7 - 13, half sizes
• Weight: 480 grams (per shoe, size 10)
• MSRP: $120 USD / €130
• www.rideconcepts.com
• RC Fuzion outsole
• D3O insole, Internal TPU toe protection
• Mid-height, Suede upper
• Colors: Black/White, Charcoal/Black
• Sizes: Men's 7 - 13, half sizes
• Weight: 480 grams (per shoe, size 10)
• MSRP: $120 USD / €130
• www.rideconcepts.com
Like the Vice, the Vice Mid utilizes the Ride Concepts Fuzion outsole with a sloped and angled inverse hexagon pattern, with larger hexagons at the toe and heel, allowing the pedal to sink into the outsole and give riders more sensitivity with the pedals. There's the D3O injected insole to help with impacts and fatigue reduction as well.
The shoe is available in US sizes 7-13 and UK 6-12. There are two different color options and it sells for $120 USD.
Ride Concept's hexagons coupled with a DST 6.0 High Grip rubber gives plenty of traction.
Ride Concepts again collaborated with Rubber Kinetics for the sole compound on the Vice Mid which is a new DST 6.0 High Grip rubber. The hexagonal pattern on the sole is inverse, with 9mm hexagons at the toe and heel and smaller 7mm ones in the pedal contact area. The shoe utilizes a suede upper for durability and protection.
Other details include a cup outsole design with 3mm of EVA for extra shock absorption, perforated ventilation for breathability, and Internal TPU toe protection. The tongue is also fully gusseted to keep dirt and other trail debris out. There are perforated holes for ventilation and the shoe is made to be not overly rigid so riders can walk around without feeling as if they're in clogs.
The Vice Mid utilizes the same rubber and sole as the Vice, released last year.
Performance
I have tested a lot of shoes over the last few years and a shoe is only as good as it is durable. I'll say from the start here that the Vice has continued to be a go-to shoe for me and it's held up to my expectations since first finding its way into my test rotation last year. With this, I started in with a positive impression of the Vice Mid.
Fit on the shoe is true to size. While I did ride a 9.5 in the Vice, I sized up to a 10 for the Vice mid...apparently cramming my feet into shoes that are a half size too small has wreaked havoc on the structure of my foot so I'm working on correcting that by testing shoes that are a half size bigger. So far, so good and no ill-effects on performance either.
Comfort is good but I did have an issue with one of the gussets on the tongue of the right shoe giving me an odd pressure point that was uncomfortable. It is most noticeable when the shoe is snugly laced and I don't have as much of an issue when running the laces looser. It is a bit of an anomaly from that one shoe as the left side noticeably is a little less obtrusive when running my hand from one to the other.
The fit on the shoes is similar to some old Five Ten mid-height winter riding shoes I have without quite the heft of the 3M insulation. The shoes are easy to walk in and the style is excellent. I've been wearing the shoes some outside of riding as they just look good and that in my mind is a huge plus.
Traction on the bike is excellent and the shoes lock into the pedals well. I don't feel that I need any more traction and they work just as well riding around town as they do on rough trails. Compared to Five Ten's stealth rubber, as with the Vice, I would say they are very grippy, with plenty of traction, but a lot of that grip comes from the design of the tread and the recessed hexagons working in addition to the rubber, not just the rubber compound itself. That's not to slight the rubber compound in any way, these shoes just work differently. Walking on rocks, they don't have as much grip as the Five Tens.
As far as durability is concerned, I haven't ridden this pair long enough to assess that however, with the standard Vice holding up as well as it has, I have no reason to doubt their integrity.
Pros
+ Great fit, good style
+ Versatile and wearable, excellent grip
+ Great pedal feel
Cons
- Pressure point, could be a one-off issue
- Shoe is likely too soft for some riders
- Limited sizes and colors compared to Vice
Pinkbike's Take
 | The Vice Mid is an excellent offering and expansion on the Vice from Ride Concepts. The shoes look good and the rubber on the sole performs extremely well. While I had an issue with a pressure point in one of the shoes, I would like to imagine that this is an isolated incident as it was only in one shoe. Given their style and the integrity of the Vice, I feel that the Mid is an excellent choice for riders looking for that extra bit of protection in a shoe that offers up a substantial amount of pedal feel. |
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They're made for skateboarding, which is honestly far more abrasive and abusive on shoes than mountain biking. I would actually burn though a pair of shoes in ~3 months when I used to skate. Didn't matter what brand. Repetitively sanding them down on the grip tape and dragging your feet on the asphalt to stop will do that.
Maybe........someday someone will finally make a shoe as good (or better!!) than a 5.10. I guess today isn’t that day.
@RideConcepts And the weird hot spot off the side of the tongue is too many seams stacked on top of each other. Hard for QC to pick that up in final inspection. I have had the same issue with a pair of Vans Mid LTE, which would otherwise be a great winter flat pedal shoe. Warm and water proof and great for fat biking, except for the triple seam grinding a hole into the top of my foot.
Thankfully I own a Footfitters shoe punch so I can punch that seam flat and make the shoe workable.
Question is why you would want to spend double the cost of Vans for pissing-about-in shoes?
And dirt-jumpers - come on, if your half-decent you spend more time with your feet off the pedals so it hardly matters what you wear!
I don't get the appeal of skate shoes at "proper" cycling shoe price points.
The Dirtbag was my favorite bike to work/school/bar shoe. Fine on the trails too, and they looked great.
Hey Adidas, if you are reading this, forget the Velosambas & bring back the Dirtbag
On another note, there's a lot to be angry about in this world. Why get mad at a company for releasing a shoe that you don't like, or you think looks like another shoe then? MTB'ers can be such spoiled brats sometimes.
1: Storage space!
2: Tire plug insert!