There are three options in the new Endura range, two top-end MT500 shoes including a flat pedal and a clipless offering, and this more keenly priced Hummvee – it gets the new sticky sole and, let’s be honest, looks a lot less nerdy. Flat pedal shoes have to grip your pedals well, the best mountain bike shoes grip like a leach, and we can pretty much forgive any other mistake a manufacturer has made.

So let’s cut to the chase, the Hummvee does indeed use a pleasingly tacky rubber compound. Called StickyFOOT, it’s Endura’s home brew and covers the sole from toe to heel. In fact, this is one of the reasons we’re testing the Hummvee over the MT500, the latter uses the same StickyFOOT formula but it doesn’t give full coverage, instead there are harder wearing and less grippy patches under your toes and heels.

I’m baffled when I see brands do this; you never spend enough time trudging around to warrant this kind of detail, and it makes a shoe less secure when you misplace a foot.

The StickyFOOT rubber compound lives up to its name, you’re super secure on the pedals with the Hummvee

Back to the Hummvee then, it’s sticky but not quite as good as FiveTen’s famous Stealth S1 Dotty rubber that adheres to the Freerider Pro. For the most part it’s grippy and secure, but on just a few occasions over the past months I’d slipped a pedal in wet conditions, something I really don’t think would have happened on Stealth.

I’ve swapped between the Freerider Pro, Hummvee, Specialized 2FO Roost and Ride Concepts Hellion Elite, and my grip ranking puts Endura’s offering about middle in this list of all-excellent shoes. Grip from the sole is a function of the chemical tackiness of the rubber, and the mechanical grip offered by the lugs and the flex of the sole.

Given that the Hummvee is easily the flexiest of these top-performing shoes my guess is that the compound or the Endura logo arrow shaped lugs give up a little grip to the competition.

Off-white riding pumps are always going to look like this in our climate, but the Hummvees actually clean up really well. Needs more protection in the toe box though

Endura says it designed its own last (or sizing and shape of the shoe) and it’s done a brilliant job of it. There are an incredible 13 sizes to choose from, with half sizes populating the middle spread, so everyone will be able to get a great fit.

I have pretty wide feet, and I struggle to enjoy life in a slimmer Trailcross XT or the Hellion Elite, but the Hummvees are spot on, with enough room in the toebox and enough spread to prevent the tops of my feet being pinched and let my foot spread out for grip.

The Hummvee is supremely comfortable to walk or ride in and it has just the right amount of padding around the heel and tongue. It also offers more cushioning than the Freerider Pro on rough tracks, I felt cossetted from harsh impacts better than most, although I should point out there’s very little protection around the toe if you’re heading to rocky bikeparks.

Build quality is also top end, with bonded panels and double stitching all over the place, and besides the murky mud and grass smears it’s still looking like new, without a crushed heel cup or scuffed upper to show for it.