To celebrate 25 years in the game, Crankbrothers have launched their Silver Collection line, including the Mallet BOA shoe.
Not only is the Silver Collection Mallet BOA from Crankbrothers a celebration of 25 years, it’s also the next step up in the brand’s downhill and enduro offering with some neat features across the board.
Photos by Pete Scullion.
Key features:
- Match clip system
- Match rubber outsole
- BOA L6 closure
- Size UK 4.5-13 (5-12 in half sizes)
- 424g per shoe
- £179.99 RRP
- Crankbrothers.com
Though more of a celebratory colourway, the Crankbrothers Mallet BOA Silver Edition sports all the best from the standard Mallet BOA, including their new Match Box that allows for better integration with all different clip interfaces, not just with their own, as well as the Match outsole and rubber, all combined with the BOA L6 closure.
The Silver Collection celebrates Crankbrothers’ 25 year anniversary and is made up of the shoes you see here, a Stamp BOA flat pedal shoe, as well as Silver Collection Mallet DH, Mallet E LS and Stamp 7 pedals. If you’re looking for a Crankbrothers shoe but don’t want the cost of the BOA system, then the ‘standard’ Mallet shoes do come with a Speedlace option that has the same Match setup.
The Euro 41 sizing fits my feet perfectly, my narrow feet slotting in neatly with just enough room for a slightly thicker sock if needed. That Crankbrothers’ sister company is Fizik, and their narrow shoes also fit me well is no surprise. The single BOA closure does a good job of not creating a pressure point across the bridge of the foot and the velcro closure does a good job of helping you fine tune that too.
The Match Box cleat slot has been run further back to allow for pro-athlete’s tendencies to run their cleats slammed back without having to resort to the Stanley knife option of old. I am a keen fan of running my cleats central, so this isn’t something I use, it’s great for having a hefty range of adjustment for those that do.
Crankbrothers have pulled a blinder by fitting their cleats to their own shoes. Obviously not ideal if you want to run and SPD, Hope, Time or other system but great for anyone who wants to run a standard Gold Cranbrothers cleat from the off.
On initial laps of the trails at the bike park in Andalo, I did wonder if the sole was a little too stiff, transferring a lot of the chatter to my feet, but after several laps, the hard, unforgiving surface here with some serious chatter in braking zones was just providing too much feedback for any shoe.
On the ‘XC’ loop at Bike Connection Summer that actually mirrored what I’d usually ride, I soon forgot the shoes were even on my feet. The ability to fine tune the fit with the BOA and strap meant that all-day riding for a shoe that is aimed at racing at the highest level was surprisingly comfortable. I was certainly expecting them to be unpleasantly stiff, but I was soon disabused of that notion. Running them alongside the Mallet DH Silver Collection pedals, I did eventually opt to run the Easy Release Cleats as I found the interface a little too stiff for my liking.
The main grip is white used on a mountain bike shoe. Even in the bone-dry bike park of Dolomiti Paganella, they started to get mucky somehow. I dare not take them out into the muck of Autumnal Scotland as they’ll likely never be this clean again.
What do we think?
It’s certainly fit dependent but the Crankbrothers’ Mallet BOA Silver Collection are a comfortable set of kicks for whatever you might have waiting for them in the gravity stakes. Anyone with a broader foot might want to look elsewhere or go up several sizes.
Anyone with more extreme cleat location preferences will delight at the extent of the Match Box.
We love:
- Great fit for narrower feet
- All-day comfort
- Compatible with all pedals
Could do better:
- White MTB shoes…