Last summer we saw Northwave introduce a new asymmetric Xframe lace up style on their latest Extreme RR road shoes, and it looks like the same construction will be headed off road this fall as well. We just got a preview of the new Ghost XC mountain bike shoes, and while it looked like it was meant to be only a teaser, we were able to suss out most of the technical details on the upcoming shoes ahead of their official launch…
Northwave’s Xframe lacing is the most prominent update to the cross-country (and cyclocross) racing shoe. Designed to remove any pressure points, the crossing back-and-forth design of the wire closure & single SLW2 dial, its embedded straps, and supple upper fabric all work together for a sung & comfortable fit.
Gone is the carry-over Extreme XC name which would follow in the line of Extreme RR (road racing), now replaced with Ghost XC. Even with the new name the shoe looks to share an identical upper with its road racing sibling. They do get beefed up a bit to survive off-road racing, with a series of reinforcements adding material to the heel, both inside & outside of the instep, and wrapped around the toe cap.
Of course the mountain bike shoe gets its own lugged sole extending rubber protection both over the toe & heel caps. The Ghost XC also looks to carry over the same Hyperlight XC carbon construction and the same Michelin developed tread design as on the current Extreme XC.
Official introduction of the new shoe won’t happen until Eurobike where we will find out the shoes’ final details. We can probably expect them on par with the latest road generation updates, so around 375€ and ~275g, with availability slated in either black or hi-vis yellow – no word on a camo version. Northwave has even teased that we should expect to find the new Xframe lacing popping up on more shoes this fall.
