Mountain bike shoes often have to sacrifice on something. To be comfortable for all-day wear, they lose snappiness, but to be responsive on the XC course, they often give up traction on more technical hike-a-bike sections. If you've been getting around this by keeping multiple pairs of shoes in your garage, let us offer an alternative.

The Pearl Izumi Women's X-Project Elite Mountain Bike Shoe comes with the lightness of an XC race shoe, and the attitude of a trail shoe that wants to go out adventuring after your race is finished. A carbon fiber sole, Boa dial closure, and adaptive synthetic uppers give it its race-ready XC pedigree, but underneath, beefy carbon-tipped TPU rubber lugs are begging to be taken into chunkier, muddier terrain. An EVA foam heel delivers extra cush when you're hopping off and on the bike during all-day soujourns, and the breathable three-layer uppers come free of overlays for a fit that won't feel restricting when a few wrong turns extend your ride.