At $165, it’s not cheap, but Bontrager does offer clipless options as affordable as $95 (Quantum) and $125 (Evoke), all the way up to $450 for their pro-level XXX shoes. The Foray is positioned right in the middle of Bontrager’s clipless mountain bike shoe lineup. Incredibly comfortable doesn’t mean much if they barely last a season, so I turned to the updated Foray shoes for hope. I’ve gone through two pairs in two years now, and both have eventually failed catastrophically. While the GR2s are still some of the most comfy clipless shoes I’ve worn, we’ve both found out the hard way that they don’t hold up well to aggressive riding and hike-a-bikes over rocky terrain. However, having found the Bontrager GR2 a few years prior, a shoe that both Lucas and I lust over because of how comfortable we find them to be, I figured they’d be worth a shot. I typically wouldn’t have given Bontrager’s Foray and Evoke mountain bike shoes much attention when they were announced last spring.

There are a staggering number of options out there, and I can empathize with anyone starting from square one. I find most clipless mountain bike shoes have a slimmer fit, stiffer sole, and allow for better micro-movements while riding. As a non-racer, it’s not an efficiency thing, but more about feeling connected and in control. While I’m slowly growing to appreciate bikepacking in flats, especially when there’s lots of hike-a-bike expected, I still feel more comfortable riding technical trails clipped in.

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