Producing a flat pedal shoe that manages to place a tick in all the right boxes is no easy task. But thanks to the efforts from O’Neal, their Trigger shoe certainly comes close enough.
The high-top design offers some well-positioned ankle padding that, without being overly restrictive, provides a great bit of added protection against the knocks and bumps gravity orientated riding tends to cause.
The leather upper will more than happily take on the elements, doing a reasonable job of keeping your feet dry on wetter days and shrugging off any scuff related incidents with ease.
When it comes to knocks, the toe box is surprisingly stout and will keep your toes protected should you stub your foot in a turn. We like the fact that O’Neal used reinforced lace eyelets, letting you wrench things up nice and tight without fear of damaging the shoe.
It was the sole that really blew us away though. The Honeyrubber waffle-like pattern really is super grippy, and O’Neal have found just about the right balance when it comes to the sole’s flexibility.
Grip wise, the Trigger sits somewhere between the benchmark FiveTen Impact 2 and the Sombrio X-Float shoe. This means you stamp on the pedals and your feet aren’t going anywhere.
This article was originally published in Mountain Biking UK magazine, available on Apple Newsstand and Zinio.
