Giro Riddance Mid
The skate shoe style, Giro Riddance Mid, is designed for aggressive ‘foot out, flat out’ riding, to give your ankle impact protection and compression support. The synthetic upper is water resistant but it’s not sealed as it’s got perforations to help your foot breath. Okay, it’s got holes in it and it’s not waterproof, which limits the winter appeal but the fit is generous, which means that you can fit waterproof socks or thermals in without cutting off circulation to your feet. Laces control the in and out, with a velcro strap to keep those ends tidy and help stop the laces working loose.
The soles feel quite thin which give good feel but there is still enough stiffness in the shank to stop your feet from getting tired from bending too much around the pedal, absorbing landings and transferring power to the pedal. The traction from the latest, ‘Megagrip’, Vibram sole is much improved on previous versions but it remains the hardest feeling compound out of the three shoes on test The Megagrip rubber supposedly has the best vibration dampening in its class but we could feel the sole wandering off the pedal in the rough stuff it may be better suited to smoother trails and freestyle antics.
Unsurprisingly, given all the padding, the heavy Riddance absorbed nearly a third of its weight in water during the wet tests and, aided by the breathable outer, the drying time was okay.
Conclusion
The Giro Riddance Mid is more suited to sessioning a jump park and slopestyle riding and rather than a flat shoe for winter trail riding. However, the mid-cut means that less trail debris makes its way inside and having the extra padding around your ankles is great when things get slippery and loose.
Weight: 1175 g
Price: € 141
Info: giro.com
Strengths
– Good ankle impact protection
– Wide fit means warm feet
Weaknesses
– Vibram sole too hard
– Heavy, especially when wet
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