# women's flat shoes



## Lucy Juice (Dec 29, 2010)

I'm in the market for a new pair of flat shoes. I've been wearing Five Ten freeriders, and they're pretty good, but I wouldn't mind something a little lower profile... 

I have two beefs, though: 

1. Why do all flat shoes have traditional laces? Is there a good reason why closure systems like BOA aren't used in flats? The Five Ten Kestrel Pro BOA is clipless, but I don't see why the same system couldn't be used in flats (and they don't even make a women's, of course...)

2. I cannot find a single women's flat shoe with a lace management system--all of them rely on manually tucking your laces in to prevent **** getting tangled. Men's shoes often feature this, even if it's just a little velcro flap. Again, why the difference? 

I'm not opposed to just finding some men's shoes that fit me (though I have a small foot, so it might be difficult)... But I can't even find what I want, regardless. 

What's the deal??

(Also, if you happen to know of any shoes that meet these criteria, please link them! I'm sick of fruitless searching.)


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## Bluejas (Feb 6, 2020)

The Five Ten Hellcat Women's have laces with a velcro closure - https://www.adidasoutdoor.com/on/de...ault/Search-Show?q=hellcat+women&lang=default

Ride Concepts Wild CatWomen's have a velcro strap, but seem higher profile than the Freeriders


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## Lucy Juice (Dec 29, 2010)

Bluejas said:


> The Five Ten Hellcat Women's have laces with a velcro closure - https://www.adidasoutdoor.com/on/de...ault/Search-Show?q=hellcat+women&lang=default
> 
> Ride Concepts Wild CatWomen's have a velcro strap, but seem higher profile than the Freeriders


The hellcats appear to be clipless.

Yeah, I'm looking for something more trail-oriented than downhill.

Thanks!


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## twodownzero (Dec 27, 2017)

Locklaces are the answer for you by the way. I have had them for years and they are absolutely worth the 8 dollars.


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## Leafkiller (Sep 2, 2018)

What are your thoughts on these?

https://www.hickies.com/

My wife wears them in her hiking boots for work and loves them. This way you can find whatever shoe you like regardless of laces.


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## Lucy Juice (Dec 29, 2010)

twodownzero said:


> Locklaces are the answer for you by the way. I have had them for years and they are absolutely worth the 8 dollars.





Leafkiller said:


> What are your thoughts on these?
> 
> https://www.hickies.com/
> 
> My wife wears them in her hiking boots for work and loves them. This way you can find whatever shoe you like regardless of laces.


Wow, both great options I wouldn't have thought of. Thanks, I'll look into these!


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## Renzo7 (Mar 25, 2015)

https://rideconcepts.com/collection...omens-session-livewire?variant=17230546927689

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/2...799?color=272389-155799&searchText=61120-4142

These might be of interest. Good luck!

Sent from my SM-J710MN using Tapatalk


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## mLeier (Oct 17, 2017)

I have these and really like them. They have a little elastic that you tuck the laces into. The laces were ridiculously long so I shortened them.

https://www.trekbikes.com/ca/en_CA/bike-clothing/cycling-shoes/mountain-bike-shoes/bontrager-flatline-womens-mountain-shoe/p/21731/?colorCode=black









I am thinking of trying these next. The descriptions says that there is a mesh pocket to tuck the laces into

https://www.liv-cycling.com/us/liv-shuttle-flat-2020









I do like the look and the comfort of the Five Tens, but I hate how thick and hot they are, how dirty they get and how long they take to dry. I much prefer leather shoes like the ones above.


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## weeksy950 (Jan 11, 2012)

Freeriders for Mrs Weeksy. She's even just bought a 2nd pair for day to day non-riding use as they're so comfortable.


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## SuperUltraKel (Sep 18, 2018)

The Giro Riddance shoes have that little elastic bit as well to hold the laces .... problem is that I really didn't like the shoes. They had the Vibram bike specific rubber but it never felt grippy enough for me. I tried the Fiveten Freerider Canvas, which was great for grip and how cool they kept my foot, but they were WAY too soft and had no support and the laces felt incredibly too long. I tried the Fiveten Guide Tennies. I wear these all the time as casual shoes or for hiking or even climbing. I've spent entire climbing sessions at the gym using just these shoes and they are great and the laces are super thin and definitely not too long. On the bike though, I think the footprint is too narrow and the tread is too deep to really grip the pedals right. If you are more concerned with off the bike performance, they would work great though. For clips, I have settled on two different shoes for different rides. The Fiveten Kestrel Boa and the Maltese Falcon. The Kestrel has the best on bike characteristics of any clip shoe I've wornand with the Boa there are no lace issues whatsoever, while the Maltese Falcons are soft enough and comfortable enough to spend an entire day on my feet and yet jump on the bike and ride off. They also have a velcro strap that covers the tie portion of the laces and keeps them out of the way. For flats though, the Freerider Pros are the bees knees  They are comfy, protective, grippy, stiff and probably most importantly, they sized the laces so that they are secure but without them flopping all over the place. They are still traditional laces but when I'm wearing them, I forget that they are. Definitely worth the high price tag


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## formica (Jul 4, 2004)

I put shorter laces on my 5-10s. Nothing to tuck in after I tie them. Problem solved.


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## reedrunner92 (Jun 13, 2021)

I love my Crankbrothers Stamp Lace flat pedal shoes. Stamp Lace - Crankbrothers

They have a lace pocket, which it turns out I really like. I initially thought the lace pocket was a silly gimmick. Crankbrothers also sell shoes with BOA lacing so you might check those out if that's what you really want.

I bought the Cranks Stamp Lace flats for fit. I usually wear a size 6.5 in women's. The Stamp Lace in Euro size 38 fit me perfectly. I have relatively wide feet. If you have narrow feet these might not work for you. I feel your pain in this search, I stuck with spd clipless pedals for an extra year because I couldn't find flat shoes that fit. For me, I found that the most common shoes out there, Five Ten Freeriders had weird arch placement and size jumps in the 6-7 women's size range.

Good luck! Please update the thread if you find something that works!


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