BEST GRAVEL SHOES

OUR TOP BUYS FOR BIKEPACKING AND WILD RIDES REVEALED

We mixed up country lanes with dirt tracks and forest roads

To find the best gravel shoe it’s first necessary to define ‘gravel’, which isn’t quite as obvious as it seems. For some of us it’s simply a jaunt down a few green lanes, while others regard gravel as anything that mixes tarmac and dirt in one ride – even if that dirt calls for what are effectively drop-bar mountain bike skills.

For this test we’ve mixed up country lanes with dirt tracks, bridleways and forest roads on daylong routes. Nothing too extreme technically but all calling for dismounts to push up steep climbs, open gates and to hit the socially distanced coffee queue.

Road shoes aren’t built for walking comfort, so unless your experience of riding gravel is never having to dismount, you’ll need something more forgiving. At the other extreme, a flat-soled mountain bike shoe might have offthe-bike comfort but it won’t let you generate enough power through the pedals. Performance XC (cross-country) mountain bike shoes make for the closest match, which is why we’re seeing some styles badged as MTB/gravel hybrids or where you can see the shoe’s off-road parentage.

Gravel shoes need to balance stiffness and efficient power transfer, comfort for longer rides and walkability for rugged terrain or off-the-bike use. Throw into the mix the special individuality of fit and it’s easy to see why there’s unlikely to be one perfect solution. So the best place, as with everything bike related, is to start by considering your own skills, fitness and preferred riding in order to understand whether you might want to trade off some walking ease for stiffness or if comfort still means everything.