Best Bang for Your Buck All-Mountain and Enduro Clipless Mountain Bike Shoe

The Giro Terraduro is a top of the line all-mountain and all-around slaying clipless mountain bike shoe. Coming in at half of the price of our top all-mountain and enduro pick, the Shimano ME7, the Terraduro definitely brings more than half of the performance.

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See Our Best Clipless Mountain Bike Shoe Review!

Rigidity and Power Transfer

The Giro Terraduro utilizes a stiff, nylon shank in the sole that creates extremely solid power transfer while pedaling. On the bike, it is comparable to the Shimano ME7, though not as stiff as top cross country offerings like the Giro Empire VR90.

Like other top all-mountain shoes, the Giro Terraduro is stiff enough to work with platformless pedals, yet is beefy enough and offers just enough flex in the right places to allow it to interface with both medium and large platformed clipless pedals, like the Crank Brothers Candy 7 or Mallet E.

Traction and “Hike-a-Bike-Ability”

While the Giro Terraduro feels plenty stiff on the bike, it uses the same flex point in the extreme tow of the shoe as the Giro Empire VR90 to make for a fairly pleasant experience walking when off of the bike.

The Terraduro’s sole is made of Vibram rubber. If you have read our review of the top flat mountain bike shoes, you know that we were not a fan of the way Vibram rubber gripped pedals, but we were huge fans of the way it gripped the ground. This makes it a great rubber for use on clipless shoes, and the large lugs of the Terraduro’s Vibram soles offer some of the best hike-a-bike traction of any clipless mountain bike shoe in our review. However, those lugs are tightly spaced and have a tendency to cake with mud much worse than those on the Shimano GR7.

Comfort and Fit

As our disclaimer at the beginning of this article pointed out, the one constant negative about the Giro Terraduro is that it fits on the extremely narrow side of narrow. We would recommend everyone either size up or opt for the Giro Terraduro HV, which is really more of a standard fit shoe than a high volume fit. Likewise, for women with all but the smallest most narrow feet, our option would be to steer clear of the women’s specific Giro Terradura and opt for either the standard or HV version of the men’s Terraduro.

Assuming that you have figured out the sizing, the Giro Terraduro is a comfortable shoe. Giro’s microfiber upper is supple yet secure, and an abrasion resistant rubberized coating runs around the entirety of the shoe, providing protection against cuts to the shoe as well as impacts to your feet.

Finally, the combination of two D-ring mounted velcro straps on the toe and midfoot and a ratchet strap below the ankle allows for a highly adjustable fit, though one more prone to creating hotspots than a lace-up shoe.

Finally, the Giro Terraduro is more covered in rubber and straps than some shoes on our list, which means it has significantly less room for airflow and ventilation. This makes it warmer and less breathable shoe than most of our other top picks.

Durability

The Giro Terraduro is an exceptionally durable shoe, and it is one that has been around long enough for that point to have been tested over the course of many seasons. The Vibram sole is as durable as you would expect a Vibram sole to be and thick enough that even after some wear there is plenty of it left to do the job. Also, unlike more XC oriented, shoes, there are no exposed areas on the outsole that threaten to shorten the Terraduro’s life expectancy.

Meanwhile, the microfiber of the uppers is tough to begin with, but also heavily reinforced at the heel, toe box, and anywhere that straps might put pressure on it while tightening. The ratchet strap is fairly out of the way and is replaceable, just in case you do manage to snag it on something and damage it.

The Giro Terraduro is a shoe that is in it for the long haul. It should stand up to the most demanding riders, and hold up through countless hike-a-bikes and dismounts, as well as to traction pin using pedals like the Shimano Saint M820 or Crank Brothers Mallet E.

Weight

Weighing in at 458g for a size 43.5, the Giro Terraduro is neither exceptionally light nor exceptionally heavy. It is about the weight that we expect a fairly beefy, extremely durable all-mountain clipless shoe to be. However, it is lighter than we would expect a beefy, durable, all-mountain shoe at its price point to be.

The Bottom Line

With an MSRP of only $109, the Giro Terraduro is an extremely hard clipless mountain bike shoe to beat. Sure, it will not be the shoe for the hardcore XC racing crowd, but it is not meant to be. It is an extremely durable shoe that really can do it all, and do it all extremely well at a price that does not break the bank.

Of course, all of this is assuming that you get the sizing issue figured out, which can be a pain. However, just plan to order up a size, or order the Terraduro HV, and you should be good to go.

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