Accounting for two of your contact points when you ride, a good pair of shoes is a key piece of your riding kit. This spring, Crankbrothers announced their Stamp Trail BOA, a lightweight MTB shoe designed for adventurous trail or enduro riders.
I’ve been riding the Stamp Trail BOAs for over three months now, and they quickly became my go-to trail riding shoe. The BOA system makes it fast and easy to get them on and off, the soles offer ample support and great grip on different flat pedals, and I love how lightweight they feel on my feet. They’ve also proven their durability and offer a fair bit of weather resistance.
Crankbrothers Stamp Trail BOA Shoes- Construction Features:
For complete details on the Stamp Trail BOA shoes, check out my launch article. But since you’re here, let’s briefly run through their key specs and features.
The Stamp Trail BOA features an asymmetric BOA closure system with their Li2 dual-direction dial. The dial pops up to release the cable and pops downwards and twists to tighten it up. At the cuff is a quick and easy hook-and-loop strap.
There is some ventilation in the Stamp Trail BOAs; The toe is perforated and there are hidden vent zones on both sides of your foot. The padded tongue is also perforated to allow airflow.
These shoes feature Crankbrothers’ new MATCH outsole, which was designed for solid grip on and off the bike. The sole offers deep, multidirectional lugs and is made from high-friction MATCH MC2 rubber. The tread pattern is optimized to pair well with Crankbrothers’ flat pedals, but should find ample traction on any pedal. The sole also features an extended heel for good grip and stability when you’re walking around on the trailside. Inside the shoe is a vibration-damping EVA midsole.
The Stamp Trail BOA’s lightweight uppers are made from a ripstop material, and a TPU panel up front provides some toe protection. The shoes are also weather-resistant, and include elastic collars to keep dirt and mud from getting in. The heel area has extra padding inside the cuff to help your feet stay planted in the shoes.
Crankbrothers claims 320g for a size 9 shoe, and my size 9.5 hit the scale at exactly 320g!
Ride Impressions:
I’ve been riding the Stamp Trail BOAs since mid-February. On the first ride, they were perfectly comfortable. I didn’t think about them at all during the ride, which tells you how good they felt right out of the box. The Stamp Trail BOA shoes feel very lightweight on your feet, and have a lean profile.
Fresh out of the box the Stamp Trail BOAs soles felt pretty stiff, only giving up a bit of flex under hard pedaling. After a few weeks, I noticed they had lost a bit of that initial stiffness. Fortunately, the shoes just broke in a tad and remained fairly stiff, offering a supportive feel on the pedals but enough flex for good off-bike traction.
I’m very pleased with how grippy the MATCH MC2 soles are. They’re not so grippy that adjusting your foot position is difficult, but once planted your feet want to stay in place. I did ride these shoes with Crankbrothers’ Stamp 1 pedals, but also with my Chromag Scarabs and FUNN Python pedals. The shoes gripped all three equally well.
After more than three months of riding my Stamp Trail BOAs aren’t showing any signs of damage, early wear and tear, or lost stiffness (beyond the initial break-in).
BOA System:
The BOA system and hook-and-loop cuff strap both make it quick and simple to get these shoes on and off. The BOA dial’s release function makes it super easy to kick off the shoes after a ride. Just pull the cuff strap, pop the dial up and the shoes slide off easily.
I did notice some slight extra pressure from the BOA system under the dial around the top stretch of the cable. This extra pressure is very minor and does not create any comfort issues, but on my feet, that area is oh so slightly tighter than the rest of the uppers. I have had no functional problems with the BOA dial or cable.
Fit/Comfort:
The Stamp Trail BOA shoes have a nicely padded tongue, which keeps your foot comfortable under the BOA retention system. My feet stayed firmly in place inside the shoes, with no heel lift. I never had any problems with friction or excess room allowing my feet to shift around.
When walking around off the bike, I did notice the shoes’ thin uppers can be felt buckling in at the sides while you’re putting a good bend on the toe. This is never an issue while riding, it’s just a minor thing I noticed when off the bike.
With their thin uppers, the Stamp Trail BOA shoes are not super protective. On one ride I kicked a flying rock and the thin TPU toe cap lessened the blow, but I still had a sore toe afterward!
I can’t say I notice much effect from the shoes’ ventilation as I ride, but these lean shoes are definitely not excessively warm to wear.
Weather Resistance:
I got one chance to ride these shoes in light to steady rain for just over an hour. By the end, my gloves and pants were soaking through, but my feet stayed completely dry. The Stamp Trail BOAs elastic cuffs keep 95% of debris out. I would get the odd piece of grass in them, so I still checked and shook them out before each ride. Puddle splashes and mud splatter are easily fended off by the Stamp Trail BOAs.
The Stamp Trail BOA shoes are available in Black/Gold only, and they sell for $199.99. Sizes range from men’s 5-15 and women’s 6.5-16.5 (USA), or euro sizes 37-49 and UK sizes 4-14.
