Across the Leatt MTB range, shoes for both genders go from the 1.0 to 3.0 and 7.0 HydraDri in flat pedal, and 4.0 to 6.0 are for clipless riding. In the female-specific range there is the 2.0 flat and the 6.0 clipless. The women’s styles also feature a narrower forefoot of 3-4 mm. It’s fairly safe to assume (although not stated by Leatt), that as the numbers increase, so do the technical features and therefore, performance.
The Women’s 2.0 are more of a budget-friendly MTB shoe which you can find on our best MTB flat pedal shoes list, yet still packed with features to really enhance your riding whilst looking great on the eye and maintaining a skate shoe style.
While the RideGrip Pro rubber sole compound is pretty sticky and sufficient enough for a good grip, there are grippier soles available from other brands. That said, adjusting your foot position is easy enough to do if need be, which many prefer to be able to do instead of feeling totally locked into a place they’d rather not be mid-ride.
Design and Specifications
This casual, trainer-style shoe has been transformed into a high-performance MTB shoe for riding a multitude of disciplines. The upper is made from a synthetic suede that repels water well and has an excellent level of ventilation which goes a long way to keeping the rider comfortable in hot weather. The uppers are also tear, puncture and abrasion resistant. There are heel and toe mud flow channels helping to give grip in all weather conditions and on the upper part of the shoe you’ll find Stealth heel protection and external molded TPU toe protection and an anti-heel lift grip design. The shoe also features the Leatt compression laces – great for a tight riding fit which doesn't come loose when riding.
On the sole, the softer Leatt RideGrip Pro rubber compound enables ease of walking, and for riding it ensures decent grip and allows for ease of foot readjustment. The other benefit of Leatt's recently updated rubber compound is that during wet weather, the connection to the pedal improves and provides even better grip when things get would otherwise start to get slippy.
The 2.0 has Leatt's WaffleGrip Pro sole pattern, an inverted version of the WaffleGrip which allows for shorter pedal pins to dig in which helps to deliver solid grip.
The shoe internals have been well designed and feature an active carbon insole which provides moisture wicking, anti-bacteria, anti-odor and quick drying elements and alongside this, an anti-compression midsole for comfort.
Performance
I was excited to try these shoes out as, truth be told, very few MTB specific shoes catch my eye or make me want to wear them, style wise! They look great, are understated in looks, feel robust and strangely look small even though I had to size up half a size from what I normally wear. The anti-heel lift grip was immediately apparent in feel but only on putting them on. I had no problems with how that felt whilst wearing them and I didn’t experience any heel lift, which was great.
The shoes felt supportive enough to push into the pedals to firmly move the bike around without the worry of my foot moving around on them. The grip was just enough for me too. I prefer to be able to get some movement on the pedals to readjust if necessary rather than being locked completely into position. I often wear Vans BMX shoes and find the waffle sole excellent for grip, but the uppers lack the support I need for tougher, gnarly trails.
I love the fact that the 2.0 shoes have molded toe protection as I feel that part of my foot is more exposed in technical riding conditions. In my day-to-day shoe wearing, I often find that the tongue slips to the left or right of trainers due to the gait of my feet, so I was pleased to see there was an elastic loop across the front of the tongue but under the laces to keep it firmly in place. The compression laces are excellent too and didn’t move an inch while riding so I was careful to ensure I had the correct tension of these for me, right from the off. A little too tight or too loose and it would affect how the shoe felt and performed for the day if no adjustments were made.
I have tested them on both dry and wet rides and they were great at keeping my feet cool and also at keeping them dry in general. The only issue I had around this was that my left foot did get wet when I rode through a substantial puddle on a trail and this happened due to water drenching the front part of the shoe and getting in through the many ventilation holes, but in the moderate rain itself this wasn’t an issue.
They were easy to walk in off the bike and I had no real need to take them off to be more comfortable. They washed well too and dried really fast with no obvious detriment to the look of the uppers.
Verdict
All in all, they are a great shoe that look stealthy with excellent performance – to be honest, exactly what I’d hoped to find in an MTB specific shoe. While I might want slightly more grip for serious technical riding conditions, I appreciated being able to readjust my foot position when needed rather than feeling totally locked in, but this works better for me and my preferred riding of flow and freeride rather than downhill or enduro. They feel great on and off the bike, satisfy exactly what I want from a flat pedal shoe and don't have a hefty price tag either.
Tech specs: Leatt Women’s MTB 2.0 Flat Shoe
- Price: $99.00 / £110.00 / €90.00
- Materials: Synthetic suede style upper. Sticky Leatt Lab compound sole. RideGrip PRO compound
- Sizes: UK 4.5 - 8 (available in half sizes), US 6 - 9.5, EU 37.5 - 42, (UK 6.5 tested)
- Colors: Black
