Bont Riot Shoes

Look at the absolute top-end of the market in MTB shoes and you can expect to find features such as carbon fibre soles and heat mouldable bodies that custom form to your feet. You can also expect to part with upwards of $300 to get them.

The Riot MTB is a relatively new model from Bont that claims to be the “The world’s first carbon composite heat mouldable entry level MTB shoe.” It retails for $199, and while this certainly isn’t the bottom end of the market, it’s very affordable for a shoe with these features.

The design of the Riot is roughly based on their $320 Vaypor XC; stealth black styling, fairly minimal tread, a similar strap and closure arrangement, and most importantly the rigid sole structure wraps right around the sides of the shoe like a tub. They certainly have a unique appearance that sets them apart from any other shoes in this price bracket.

While the Riot looks like the top-end Vaypor in many ways, it employs cheaper materials to get the price down. Both are listed as having a ‘carbon composite’ sole but with the Riot the sole uses a blend of fibreglass with carbon placed in the high-stress areas. This makes it heavier; the Vaypor is said to weigh 680g for a pair while the Riot is 770g. Our size 43 test sample came in at 770g, so Bont’s claims are bang-on in this department. Even at the higher weight, they are still competitive with most mid-to-upper-end carbon XC shoes.

Aside from the extra grams, the Riot has a marginally thicker sole; 4.8mm versus 4.4mm on the Vaypor. Fibreglass isn’t as stiff as carbon fibre, so additional material is added to beef them up and this makes the sole thicker. Thinner is generally considered better, as being closer to the spindle makes your foot more stable on the pedal. While the Riot isn’t as good as the Vaypor in this regard, the sole was noticeably thinner than any of the other shoes in my collection and I needed to drop my saddle by a couple of millimetres when wearing the Bonts.

What is retained with the Riot is the ability to ‘custom form’ the sole of the shoe. Bont shoes use a resin that becomes pliable at relatively low temperatures. Pop them in an oven at 70-degrees celsius for 20 minutes and you’ll then be able to push and prod the tub-like base of the shoe to better suit the shape of your foot. Be wary of leaving them in the car on a hot day though—they could potentially reshape if they were squashed under a bag whilst heated.

Obviously fit is important with any shoe, and the Bont sizing seems a little different to most. Nine times out of 10 I’m a size 42 in cycling shoes but with the Riot I needed a size 43. Bont has a ‘size wizard’ on their website and it proved to be quite accurate.

Rock Solid

To begin with I didn’t worry about the heat moulding—I just rode. The sole may use fibreglass to get the price down but don’t think for a second that they are going to flex. To me the sole felt as stiff as the stiffest road shoes; from the tip of the toe right back to the heel cup there was never an inkling of flex in these puppies.

The unyielding stiffness, relatively low weight and the way the sole wraps around your foot to add stiffness to the uppers makes the Riot feel like you’re riding with road shoes. If you’re chasing that feel of ultimate power transfer, then you’ll be hard pressed to outdo the Bont shoes.

On the flipside, all this rigidity did make the Riots feel harsh on longer rides—it was generally a relief to slip them off at the end of the day. Part of this was due to a couple of pressure points where the tubbed sole wraps around the forefoot. Next I put them in the oven to personalise the fit. First time around I just followed the basic moulding instructions, fitting the heated shoes and allowing them to cool on my feet. Not much changed so I followed their secondary recommendation; using the round end of a screwdriver to reshape the sole at the pressure points.

After a few attempts (there’s no limit to the number of times you can re-mould them), I successfully eliminated the pressure points, so this became a non-issue for general riding. They remained super-stiff under power but for me they also lacked comfort on long MTB rides—especially if the trails were rough. The wrap-around tub sole really locks your foot into the middle of the shoe. This design seemed to limit my freedom of movement within the shoe and I’d sometimes find my foot pushing hard up against the rigid tub-sole during technical manoeuvres. Seeking a solution, I swapped out the very thin Bont inner sole for one that offered more padding around the heel and arch area. This went a long way towards making the Bont shoes more comfortable and forgiving.

Fit is always important when it comes to shoes, and it’s always going to be an area where there will be variations between individuals. In this regard, the ability to form and reshape the Bont shoes is a real bonus and it’s clearly worth spending the time to get it right—offering this feature on a $199 shoe is great.

Overall the Riot is clearly an XC race oriented design—it’s built to drive massive watt-bombs straight into your pedals. Bont has an extensive line of road shoes too – they are used by some of the world’s best pro riders – so it’s likely that the Riot will appeal to road riders who want the same fit and feel in their MTB shoes. While the stiffness is great for power delivery, they are dicey to walk in and won’t be ideal if backcountry adventures are your thing. It’s horses for courses as with anything but well done to Bont for bringing World Cup level XC race performance to a reasonably attainable price point.

GKA Products (03) 9308 8000 / www.gkasportsstore.com.au