The Endura MT500 Burner shoe is available in a clip-in option, as ridden by the Atherton Team, including Andreas Kolb, Charlie Hatton and Rachel Atherton herself, and the flat pedal version tested here. As such it uses the same upper with a different sole, featuring Endura’s own brand StickyFoot rubber. 

The upper gets a belt and braces approach to security with laces and a velcro strap, and the laces have easily long enough to double-tie. In fact, they’re so long you’ll probably want to just to reduce the excess. There’s no lace tidy, but the velcro strap does a reasonable job of keeping them from flapping around.

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You can cinch the strap up tight to prevent any foot movement, but because the strap and the buckle are offset, we ended up with a crease in the strap that was slightly annoying. 

As these shoes are designed with a focus on downhill riding, they are well armoured to protect against accidental rock strikes, and this also adds to the weight and increases the stiffness of the shoe. Endura has also raised the inner ankle height to help protect against crank knocks. Inside there’s a gusseted tongue, but because it’s open at the top, it’s still easy to get your foot in and out.

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The insole is highly shaped according to Endura’s Ergonomistry. This has been developed with physiotherapist and ergonomist Phil Burt, and the principle features include a Power Arch, Metatarsal Button and Sole Stimulant – raised dimples across the mid-portion of the insole. With the shoe on, I could definitely feel the shaping of the insole, but the shoe itself had some pressure points around the top of the big toe and the inside of the ankle that detracted from the overall comfort. 

Despite an EVA midsole, chock absorption was disappointing, and combined with the stiffness of the shoe meant overall comfort was below average. 

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Stick your thumbnail into the StickyFoot sole and the rubber feels soft, but lacking in damping, so it springs back quite quickly. Endura has designed a tread pattern that uses its logo to make rows of interlocking arrows. The tread is quite shallow and I found that the pins really struggled to interlock in any way, while the rubber itself seemed to squirm against the pedal platform.

The whole time I rode the MT500s I was worried my feet were going to slide or bounce off the pedals, and I didn’t even take them on any particularly rough tracks. While climbing my feet would skate around on the pedal, so I had to waste energy placing them back in the right spot with every revolution.  

I’ve read positive reviews on these shoes, but for me they were extremely disappointing. Fortunately Endura offers a 90-day no quibble returns policy on its MT500 products, so you can decide for yourself without taking a gamble with your cash.