Sidi

Dragon 5 Cycling Shoe - Men's

The Dragon 5 Mountain Bike Shoe falls in the upper middle range of Sidi's mountain bike offerings, combining features of the World Cup worthy Drako 2 and the versatile Cape to round out their lineup of very well-made Italian cycling shoes. It's the successor to the renowned Dragon 4, and gets updated with new uppers, a more breathable tongue, a new heel cup, and a revised Soft Instep Closure Strap. And while the Dragon 5's SRS Carbon Composite Sole may not be quite as stiff as the full carbon sole found on the Drako 2's, you'll still reap the rewards of efficient power transfer to the pedals but with a little bit of extra flex that makes these shoes more comfortable when you have to dismount, and thus more suitable to adventurous mountain biking or cyclocross applications.

The Dragon 5 shoes are constructed using Sidi's Techpro Microfiber uppers—an eco-friendly synthetic leather that's incredibly durable, lightweight, water-resistant, and offers comfortable support for your foot. The uppers are also mated to a redesigned heel cup that improves heel retention while saving weight over the previous version, as well as a new tongue that's more ventilated to improve the shoe's breathability. The uppers come in new matte colorways, and feature a reinforced toe guard to protect against rock strikes.

Additional updates include the Soft Instep 4 Closure System, which uses a sleeker and lighter upper strap that's adjustable side to side so you can center it across the highest part of your foot. The strap fastens down using Sidi's Tecno-3 Push Dial, letting you make micro-adjustments in order to dial in the perfect tension for this critical area. An additional Tecno-3 dial below the strap allows further adjustments, and paired with the padded tongue provides exceptional comfort for the top of your foot. The toe box is adjustable as well using a High Security hook-and-loop strap.

Of all the technologies Sidi built into the Dragon 5 in order to help it withstand on-trail abuse, the Sole Replacement System (the SRS in SRS Carbon Composite sole) may be our favorite. SRS is simply the ability to replace the lugs and guard plates on the outsole, refreshing the shoe's grip so they can continue to last season after season. The SRS system also accommodates two toe spikes for extra traction when conditions are especially slick.