I bought the Adidas Terrex Solo Stealth Shoe from Due South for about R1500. I've always used Time Atac pedals but sprained my ankle 9 weeks ago and was advised by my physio to ride flat pedals for a while. The reason I chose the Addidas over the Five Tens was that I expected to only be on the flat pedal while recovering from the ankle sprain so thought I could do with some walking shoes. I was also unable to find a bike shop in Cape Town that stocked my size of Five Tens in the model I was interested in. I've done about 450 km of riding with the shoes. Training was mainly on Table mountain/Deer Park area and I did a 3 day off road ride from Price Albert to Wilderness which included some fairly technical riding and a fair amount of hike-a-bike. I've been using the shoes with Nukeproof Electron pedals. Fit: I have fairly wide feet and the fit is on the narrow side. As a walking shoe, they feel pretty supportive with a fairly stiff sole. I haven't had any problems with blisters since I got them and they were pretty comfortable straight out the box. Grip: Grip while walking is pretty good. The stealth rubber seems to grip on rocks pretty well. The lugs on the bottom are small so I suspect they would not do well in the mud. On the pedals, the grip is a lot better than what I'd previously used with the flat pedals (some old squash shoes) but fall short of the claimed "it feels like you're clipped in" of Five Ten shoes. I found it fairly easy to re position my feet on the pedals without having to lift them right off the pedals. One thing I noticed was that the sole of the shoe in the mid-foot (where your pedals are) is quite narrow compared to five tens and thus didn't align with the side pins on the pedal. I'm sure a wider sole would grip better.I found the soles stiff enough for long rides (longest 5+ hours of riding) although I'm not sure the soles stiffness makes that much difference as the large pedal area provides the stiffness. Wear: After 450km of riding, the soles are pretty worn, at some points the wear is just about into the mid-sole. Many of the small lugs are also damaged. Conclusion: As a walking shoe that can be used for cycling I think these are OK. If you're planning on doing a route that includes sections of hike-a-bike, they're great. While I can't compare directly to Five Tens I'm sure the grip is as a result of sole design as much as stealth rubber and I expect the Five Tens are worth the extra money as cycling specific shoes. Thinking of getting some my Five Tens myself and will give a direct comparison if I do so.
