Pearl Izumi X-Alp Mountain Biking Shoes

I recently purchased a pair of Pearl Izumi X-Alp mountain biking shoes (about a $100 retail). I'm an avid mountain biker with decent technical skills but occasionally find myself hiking my bike on some really rough stuff (a longer travel bike would help, but that's for another review). That's where these shoes rock! While stiff enough for non-race riding they are flexible enough to be extremely comfortable doing the hike-a-bike thing or, after the ride at the restaurant. The soles are adapted from a Pearl Izumi Running shoe and grip just as well.

The one thing I would recommend to anyone purchasing these shoes is to toss the standard insole and replace with a pair of low profile (black series) Superfeet® inserts. This combination makes for a fantastic mountain biking shoe!