Ride Concepts Transition shoes review

Designed for all-mountain, aggressive riders, the Ride Concepts Transition shoe is certainly expensive, but dig into the detail and you find a broad array of features.

With impressive protection and secure foot hold on offer, and a super-stiff sole, can the Transition justify its price tag?

Ride Concepts Transition specifications and details

The sole is a bulky looking unit, with a DST 8.0 MID GRIP rubber used throughout. Repeated hexagonal treads feature over the whole of the sole.

The nylon shank extends from heel to toe, making this one of the stiffest shoes I've tested recently. However, provision for walking is made with a toe that turns up at the end, to help the foot roll forwards as you walk.

The cleat bed is well-positioned under the foot, with the 36mm cleat channel nice and long, and far enough back in the shoe to allow for a stable position over the pedals.

Internally, D3O is used to give impact protection – this is a soft material that hardens under impact, spreading the impact force over a wider area.

Plenty of padding and protection contributes to a high 1,124g weight. The insole is fairly flat in profile, but there's some D3O padding underfoot as well as arch support.

The inside ankle extends high with thick padding to offer protection.

Laces secure the shoe, along with a broad Velcro strap over the top. These cover a thin but sturdy feeling tongue, which has baffles all the way to the sole – there to reduce debris working its way under your feet.

Both toe and heel areas have ample reinforcement against rock strikes, as well as scuff panels at the side of the shoe. Ventilation is taken care of by a mesh section over the toes.

Ride Concepts Transition performance

The Transitions are some of the bulkier shoes in our test, and they feel solid and sturdy. Your feet are nicely enclosed, with a high ankle contributing to this secure feeling.

The upper is stiff, but not so much that your feet have no room for movement. They aren't vague in feel, but they don't have quite the same sharpness as a lighter, pared-down pair of shoes, such as the Specialized 2FO Cliplite or Leatt DBX 6.0.

Thick mesh panels over the toes and at the side of the feet do their best to keep your feet cool, but the bulk is always going to contribute to a warmer than average shoe.

Thick laces secure the shoe, while moderate levels of eyelet friction mean loosening or tightening the shoes is a slower job than it might otherwise be.

While tension can be concentrated in the upper reaches of the foot when the laces are first tied, the tension evens out nicely during the early part of your ride, contributing to the comfortable feel.

The Velcro strap works with the profiled heel cup to give decent heel hold.

At 1,124g, these shoes are heavy from the outset. In wet conditions, they hold a lot of water too, further adding to their mass.

Given the ample volume of foam padding, it's no surprise that they're slow to dry.

The D3O inserts in the lower portion of the shoe help keep comfort levels high.

Bigger hits feel slightly muted, trail chatter is diminished a touch and walking is comfortable. There's also no hint of the cleat's presence through the insole.

The shank is one of the stiffest we've tested recently, and so while power transfer is excellent, they feel a tad awkward when walking.

You can just feel the pedal through the sole, but it's numbed compared to some other shoes, where a hint of flex enables you to really feel the pedal beneath your foot.

The shallow tread connects well with pedal pins, so lateral adjustments to the bike via the pedal are possible. RC says that a cleat shield needs to be in place with Crankbrothers' cleats to prevent damage to the bottom of the shoe.

With Shimano cleats, it's less necessary, but we found a thin spacer helped prevent the rubber of the sole binding too much on pedal pins.

Ride Concepts Transition bottom line

The Transitions are a serious pair of shoes, suited to the more gravity-focused rider.

They're heavy, relatively warm and take an age to dry when they get soaked, but this is countered by the epic levels of foot protection on offer and the stiff sole that transfers every punch of power.