CRANKBROTHERS MALLET TRAIL VENT SHOE REVIEW

November 2, 2026

I tend to find a mountain bike shoe that I love, then stick with it. As a result, I am rarely searching elsewhere for benefits from alternative footwear models. The Crankbrothers Mallet Trail Speed Lace Vent shoes have changed this.

They provide the comfort and support for all sorts of riding, but I did not know I was missing out on so much airflow on the hot summer days. These vented mountain bike clipless shoes have been a real treat to use through the dead of summer. If you suffer from drenched socks after a hot ride, Crankbros’ latest offering may be for you. Keep on reading to see how they performed.

ABOUT THE CRANKBROTHERS MALLET TRAIL SPEED LACE VENT SHOE

The Mallet Trail Speed Lace Vent shoe is an all-new offering from Crankbrothers, taking design cues from the Mallet Trail, but with a unique design for hot weather enduro and trail riding.

The biggest difference between the standard Mallet Trail and the Trail Vent is the construction of the shoe upper. The Crankbrothers Mallet Trail Speed Lace Vent has an ultra-breathable mesh construction that runs down both sides of the shoe and over the top of the toe box. Crankbrothers kept the TPU-reinforced toe box to protect against rock or root strikes. Additionally, the tongue is made from a non-absorbent EVA material that quickly dries out after river crossings, or your sweaty feet.

Just like with other Crankbrothers shoes, the cleat box gives you more than enough room to find your sweet spot at 35mm in length. For what it is worth, I always have mine slammed in the rearward-most position. Between your foot and the cleat box is a Fiber-reinforced shank, which helps to transfer power and offers stability in big compressions. There is also a slow-rebound EVA midsole, which helps to reduce the high-frequency vibrations from the trail.

The Mallet Trail Vent’s outsole is the same that is found on the standard Mallet Trail clip-in shoe, featuring Crankbrothers “Match” outsole. This tread pattern balances traction when hiking with connection to the pedals. The interface is best used with the Matchmaker shims: not only for the Crankbrothers pedal line, but also the likes of Shimano, HT, Time etc. Crankbrothers provides guidelines for what shims to run with their pedals, but I run something slightly differen. With both the Black and Gray shims, there is a floatier feel on the pedals, but I run the pedal pins on the Mallet DH’s quite high. If I just run the grey shim with the height of the pins, I get too much shoe contact, and this makes getting in and out more difficult. There really is no wrong answer here, but it is worth experimenting if you are new to clips!

The shoes weighed in at 408g for a size 9, surprisingly 3 grams more than their non-vented cousin. Retailing for $169 for the flat version and $189 for the clip-in, the pricing is in-line with the competition.

THE DIRT

These shoes arrived early in the summer, when temperatures were still in the 70’s. They were noticeably more breathable from the first outing, but it was not until I was getting out later on 85+ degree days that they really stood out. With my go-to Shimano GE9 HS shoes, I would get home from rides with significant sweat spots on my socks, and I would immediately rip them off my feet. With the Mallet Trail Speed Lace Vents, I could continue wearing the socks for the rest of my workday (gross I know, I did it for science).

Their heat dissipation was extremely noticeable, both when going up and coming back down the hill. They would build up some heat as you would expect on the climbs, but once descending the airflow the shoes provided helped dry everything back out quickly. The heat built up on the climbs was minimal in comparison to the GE9’s or the Mallet DH shoes (my second favourite). All that to say, they did their intended job exceptionally well.

One thing I really came to enjoy with these shoes is how much traction you have off-the-bike. There is a small section of loamers we have that is very loose and impossibly steep, I can’t even ride the e-bike up it. The pedal round is quite long, so hiking them is a quick and usually not so easy way back up to the top. I never lost traction when hiking with these, which was a major bonus. The tread on the toe area of the shoe felt like a paddle gripping the loose terrain. There is enough flexion in the shoe to get your knee over your toes, bringing all your body weight to that one zone. I’m a big fan of this, and wish more shoes were designed similarly.

Descending in the Crankbrothers Mallet Trail Speed Lace Vent Clip-In shoes, I was never left wishing for a stiffer sole. I never experienced any cramps – even during the first few rides before they fully bedded in – and suffered no painful spots on long days. I have taken these shoes out on huge e-bike epics, and used them exclusively in my Short Travel Trail Bike Group Test, and they hit the mark for what an everyday shoe should do. Could you ride DH in them? Sure, but there are more protective and purpose-built shoes for that.

All in all, they were a pleasure to use. I am not the biggest fan of the Speedlace system. Is it fast? Yes (sort of). But I found tucking the laces and buckle into the pouch on the tongue to be a pain, rarely having success on my first try. The top lace covers this pouch, so when you draw down the laces, you must pull the tongue to expose the pouch. I feel like there could be an improvement in tongue length, or some sort of way to capture the laces so you are not fighting against them when storing the excess. But they did snug up well, proving to have no hotspots even when cranked down. My heel experienced no unwanted movement both hiking and riding, so they do work, the system just isn’t my favorite. With that said, I will be using them next summer, as the benefits to airflow well outweigh the negatives in my book.

The Wolf’s Last Word

If you are looking to fight against heat build-up, the Crankbrothers Mallet Trail Speed Lace Vent Clip-In shoes are an easy bit of kit to recommend. Bonus points for performing extremely well during hike a bike scenarios!

Price: $169 – $189
Website: Crankbrothers.com