Decathlon’s Rockrider Mountain Bike/Gravel Shoes Race 900 are a seriously impressive pair of reasonably stiff race-style shoes designed for off-road use. They’re comfortable and easy to adjust via the single large dial which smoothly pulls its nylon cord to tighten the shoe. The sole is a heavily lugged nylon affair without toe stud mounts or fixed studs but is nevertheless effective in the mud. And the best bit is that they are only £80!
- HT Components M2 pedal review
- Best mountain bike shoes 2024 - top-rated flat and clipless kicks
- The best clipless mountain bike pedals ridden and rated
Rockrider Mountain Bike/Gravel Shoes Race 900 - Technical details
The Mountain Bike/Gravel Shoes Race 900 (Race 900 from now on) is made from a blend of polyurethane and polyester to provide a tough flexible stain resistant upper in all black with some subtle ochre writing and fading relief pattern. There are no vets in the upper creating a decent three-season shoe with good windproofing for almost year-round use in the dry. They are not waterproof, however, so you’ll need overshoes if you do a lot of wet riding or commuting.
The Upper is constructed without noticeable seams and the toe box has a rock strike rubber strip bonded to the front and sides as well as a slimmed-down protective layer around the lower heel area.
Rockrider uses their own single Habu brand micro-adjust dial for the Race 900 shoes to provide closure and adjustment duties. The Habu dial has a soft rubberised cog grip and turns smoothly in either direction pulling the nylon cable through five anchor points and tongue to close the shoe.
The tongue is padded and fixed to the inside of the inner edge of the opening from top to bottom and is backed by a microfibre-like material to provide comfort against the top of your foot and sock. The tongue is also breathable allowing a small amount of air to enter the shoe head-on as you pedal.
Inside the heal cup, Rockrider has specced a rough grippy material to help hold your ankle in place as you pull up steep climbs or just power on the pedals. The insole is removable and features some breathable holes under the ball of your foot to reduce sweating but there are no corresponding vents in the sole for through airflow. The insole has a slight amount of arch support, otherwise it is devoid of any performance features.
The outsole of the shoe is made from nylon and glass fibre polymer for stiffness and durability and the lug pattern is XC race style with token heal lugs, blocks to the side of the cleat box and pre-moulded pseudo toe studs at the front of the shoe for grip when running off the bike. All the lugs have a fine ribbed tooth pattern for extra grip on rock surfaces.
Rockrider doesn’t mention a stiffness factor and these numbers aren’t cross-brand compatible anyway, so it can be difficult to gauge. Instead, Rockrider says the shoe is for intermediate use, indicating it should be good for all off-road use apart from serious racing which is why no reflectivity is offered anywhere on the shoe.
The Rockrider Race 900 costs £79.99 weighs in at 742 g for the pair and comes in one colourway, Black/Ochre and is available in sizes; UK 5.5-12 or if you prefer, EU 39-47.
Rockroder Mountain Bike/Gravel Shoes Race 900 - Performance
Mounting cleats to these shoes was as simple as greasing the threads in the cleat plate, lining the cleats up against your existing old pair and adjusting for fine positioning using the handy cleat alignment lines. Using Hope’s cleat box depth gauge meant I needed to use a spacer with the cleats but that will depend on your pedal brand fitting guide.
Putting the shoes on is equally as simple. Pull the Habu dial out from the body of the shoe so that it allows the release mode of the ratchet to engage and pull the nylon cord loose to give yourself some slack to open the shoe. The tongue is usefully stitched to one side of the shoe so it cannot slip to one side or cause an uncomfortable pressure point as you do it up or when you ride.
Push the Habu dial back in/down toward the shoe to engage the wind-up mode and turn the dial until the shoe is tight. All very simple and easy to do with the nylon cord moving smoothly through the Habu dial after copious mud baths that we have been through together this year.
Whether you do them up on the bike or sitting at the kitchen chair or tailgate of your vehicle, I found that the initial tight feeling wasn't tight enough as soon as you move around in the shoe. It appears that there is some give in either the upper moulded body or the nylon anchor points and I found myself retightening the shoes once or even twice more before I was happy. It’s no biggy just something to remember each time you put them on.
Lengthwise these UK 10 shoes fit very well to my UK 10 feet, but they are quite voluminous with their fabric at the toes. Tightening the Habu dials to clamp them down against the top of your foot results in the material at the forefoot bunching up creating a slightly odd look. It makes no difference to how they feel at the front but it’s not the prettiest look.
On the bike the stiffness from the Nylon and glass reinforced sole is pretty good, it’s not top-end race stiff Fizik Vento Ferrox stiff but flexing them in my hands they are close to Shimano RX6’s before that. Riding XC trail centres, natural singletrack and gravel roads showed them to be comfortable and delivered a decent amount of power when you put ‘foot down’.
Grip from the lugged pattern was never an issue whatever the conditions, and believe me I've been out in them. The moulded toe studs provided extra grip when clambering around on the uneven ground and I didn't miss proper screw studs. I didn't attempt any running uphill as you might find in a cyclo-cross race but for all other duties, they were sufficient.
That lack of ventilation whilst being excellent this winter may be less acceptable in the hotter months and I can imagine you might get warm and sweaty feet should we see temperatures much over 20 degrees. The breathable tongue does allow a bit of air in, but it’s a token gesture compared to perforated uppers on most of the XC shoes in the market. Albeit I’ve not tested any other XC shoes below £100 so maybe that’s not quite fair. What I can say is that the Race 900 Mountain Bike/Gravel Shoes are excellent in the cooler months.
Whilst being stiff enough on the bike to reward your efforts in and out of the saddle they are also okay to walk up to the counter in the coffee bar and ask for your preferred drink and cake. They don’t offer the flexible heel of Shimano’s RX6 for greater off-road stability and comfort but they are wider at the front and pinch my toes less than the Shimano shoes. They have been exceptionally good with my slightly wider forefoot and narrow ankle feet. Decathlon classes them as Medium width and I can see a lot of people being happy with that fit. We don't all want pointy race shoes.
The insole arch support is pretty much non-existent but works satisfactorily for me. It is removable so if you needed more arch support a third-party option could be swapped in.
The Race 900's moulded upper is also pretty easy to keep clean due to the lack of holes, so it’s just a question of wiping down with a wet sponge to get the worst off.
Decathlon offers a lifetime warranty on their Habu system and two years on the shoes in general which is pretty awesome for £80 and means you’ll have support if there are any dial issues down the line.
Rockrider Mountain Bike/Gravel Shoes Race 900 - Verdict
Whichever way you look at it a pair of shoes this good for only £80 is unusual, sure there are one or two areas for improvements, more support on the insole would be nice and a little more ventilation on the upper would help on hotter rides, but even so, these are still excellent shoes for anybody looking to ride off-road on their gravel or mountain bike.
Rivals at this price point are not that common and good rivals even less so. Certainly worth a look are the new versions of the £90 Specialized Recon 1 shoes we reviewed a while back. We found them comfortable and stiff enough for trail use with a good grippy sole. But you’ll have to do with three Velcro straps at this price from Specialized.
Single rotary dial closure style shoes don’t start until the Recon 1.0 Gravel and Mountain Bike Shoe for £100 available in two colours. Scott MTB Comp Boa Shoe costs £120 but still has one Velcro strap but you do get a range of five colour choices. Shimano offers the XC3 with a single rotary dial in plain black for £110 with plenty of perforations.
Value for money is always a difficult topic but for anyone looking for a smart and discretely styled performance off-road shoe to start racing or having a gravel or mountain biking adventure, then Rockrider's Mountain Bike/Gravel Shoes Race 900 offer fantastic performance for £80. Very highly recommended.
You might also like:
- Crankbrothers Stamp Trail Boa shoe review
- Sofiane Sehili - back to Bombtrack and back to business