[First Look] Ride Concepts Wildcat Shoes

Ride Concepts is a startup mountain bike footwear company out of Truckee, California. The three person team of of outdoor industry vets are starting out with a series of three different lines of footwear: Session, Flow, and Launch. Each of these have gender specific (and youth) lasts which lean on proven companies/technologies such as D30 and Rubber Kinetics for their footbeds and outsoles respectively. We received a pair of the Wildcat shoes, which are their most gravity oriented flat pedal shoe.

Details

• Mid-Top
• Flat pedal outsole
• 1016 grams (tested – size 11)
• $120 USD
• 2 colorways each for Men & Women
• Sizes 7-13 (whole sizes only)

My first impressions of this shoe is that it’s extremely well thought out. I’ve been wanting to try a mid-top, gravity oriented shoe outside of the Five Ten camp for some time. I’ve been bugging friends at Specialized to concoct a 2FO, but in a mid top. The Wildcat seems quite close and I’m looking forward to some lift assisted days riding them.

The outsole is made up of a honeycomb style pattern, which has proven to work nicely over the years. What’s different is the collaboration with the Rubber Kinetics, a design and development firm specializing in rubber.  Goodyear has also recently partnered with RK for their foray into the cycling world.

Abrasion resistant fabrics and materials are used throughout and an EVA midsole checks in for comfort duties. You can also see how dense the padding is at the heel, in addition to its contour.

The combination of a velcro closure and an elastic lace tab are deployed for keeping things snub and clean. 1.5mm perforations are used throughout, for ventilation.

We’ll keep you updated with a long term review on the Wildcat shoes and down the road we’ll be checking out a more trail oriented clipless pedal model as well. In the meantime, you can check out the full line of Ride Concepts shoes, socks and even sandals in their full catalog, or by visiting their website at www.rideconcepts.com