Ride Concepts impressed us with its Hellion shoe recently, Ride Concepts Livewire boasts some of the same technology but crucially does it for £20 less.

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Is this a real bargain trail shoe?

The most important tech on a flat pedal shoe is, of course, the sole. The Livewire uses the same DST 6.0 High Grip rubber outsole as the Hellion, meaning it’s mid-density in the company’s Rubber Kinetics range. It’s a really grippy compound and holds your foot securely on the pedal almost as well as the superlative Five Ten Stealth rubber. There’s not much in it though, it’s only on the really wet and muddy days, or when pushing up, when I’ve felt the Livewire could do with having that little bit more friction.

The shoe also features some great touches, like a supportive insole, quality laces and fully gusseted tongue to keep out loam and mud.

The Livewire could be improved though, by adding less material to the EVA midsole. As it stands, your foot feels just a shade too high from the pedal, and it also makes the whole package too stiff. This means you can’t wrap your foot around the pedal as you can with a Freerider, and this looses you some grip on the pedal too. Overall though the Livewire is stonking value, it’s comfy, protective, hardwearing and I even like the chunky skate shoe look.