It’s hard to find fault with the new Five Ten Hellcat Pro. Having tried dozens of all-mountain and enduro shoes from a variety of brands, I keep coming back to Five Ten for their design quality, toughness, and fit. Oh, and the looks don’t hurt either!
I like to think of myself as an ‘aggressive all-mountain’ rider, which basically just means I pedal up to trails that I tell myself I ride down really fast. This means I look for a few key qualities in a mountain biking shoe: support (stiffness), toughness and reliability, and fit (comfort). The Five Ten Hellcat Pro ticks all the boxes in these categories.
Support (stiffness):
The Hellcat Pro is designed for All Mountain and DH use, where sole stiffness is of particular importance. No matter how much travel your bike has, after a few hours of smashing over rocks and railing bermed corners, a flexible sole invariably leads to sore feet. Five Ten’s shoes are designed with a vibration-dampening TPU shank, allowing for flex when walking while maintaining rigidity when pedaling. The result is a noticeable reduction in foot fatigue during long rides. The shoe is cut to support the ankle in hard turns, and is designed for a snug fit, so you never feel like one part of your foot isn’t protected or supported.
Possibly the most impressive aspect of the Hellcat Pro’s is the torsional stiffness- the shoes hold their shape particularly well, even under hard twisting. This means that on the trail you foot feels more planted, and also that unclipping is more precise and faster- great for those of us who frequently have to stomp a foot to prevent mid-ride disasters. The lace closure allows the shoe to conform to a variety of foot shapes, and the velcro strap keeps your foot planted in the shoe, and prevents heel-rise when walking up steep inclines.
The Stealth C4 rubber absorbs shock and reduces vibration on and off the bike. The classic ‘Dotty tread’ provides great traction even in wet conditions, providing the confidence to clamber over mossy rocks and down muddy chutes when on foot.
Toughness and Reliability:
The Hellcat Pro comes equipped with a DWR synthetic upper to keep your feet warm and dry in the harshest conditions by beading up and repelling water. My main complain with previous Five Ten shoes was that the thickness of the shoe material made them VERY slow to dry out. While the Hellcat’s don’t dry as quickly as my road shoes, they’re a marked improvement over previous iterations. They will dry in a warm room overnight, even from fully drenched.
Riding rocky and rooty trails always comes with the threat of a tumble, and so it’s confidence inspiring to have a shoe with some good armouring, especially around the forefoot and toe. A 4 layer TPU toe box with 2 mm of impact resistant foam provides ample armouring for most toe-to-rock encounters, and I can report that the Hellcat Pro’s have already saved me from a broken toe in a recent high-speed reacquaintance with terra firma.
Fit:
Once you find your size in Five Ten shoes, you’ll find you don’t really want to ride in anything else. They’re super well designed for long-distance rides to be supportive and comfortable in a way that other brands just can’t replicate. A compression molded EVA midsole serves two purposes- reducing weight while providing added comfort. Once you’ve found your size, the shoes are easy to dial in to your bike, thanks to the truly MASSIVE cleat position range. While the cleat position tracks appear to be slightly more inboard than previous shoes (giving the rider a wider stance on the bike), the length of the tracks means that riders can run their cleats farther back (for stability) or forward (for torque) than with other shoes. (more information on cleat fitting coming soon!)
The Hellcat Pro‘s are my new favourite biking shoe… by a considerable margin. If you’re interested in trying a pair on for yourself, head to your local LTP Sports dealer!
