Mountain bike shoes are good for mountain biking and not so good for hiking, while hiking or trail shoes don’t always work so well on the bike. What’s a multi-sport athlete to do? The answer is to consider the Pearl Izumi X-Alp series.
The newest model, the Seek IV WRX is a $130 mountain bike shoe that will let you clip in when you need, offering a stiff nylon plate to make sure there is adequate power transfer, while still offering padding and a bit of flexibility to be used as trail shoes. These are still hybrids so the WRX aren’t going to be better on the bike than dedicated mountain bike shoes, nor will these replace trail runners. But for those who want to be able to hike and bike with a single pair of shoes, these will do the trick very well. More photos after the jump