Teva has just launched their first dedicated freeride mountain bike shoes, the Links (above) and Pinner. To celebrate the occasion, they’ve signed on a sponsor of the Kokanee Crankworks in Whistler and formed their own freeride team.
The team will be made up of Cam McCaul, Kurt Sorge and Jeff Lenosky. Between them, they should be a force to be reckoned with at freeride competitions everywhere like, you know, Crankworks. Teva is sponsoring the Best Tricks contest there later this year.
As for the shoes, they’ll be officially unveiled this spring at the Teva Games (another freeride competition). The Links was developed with Lenosky’s input and has their Spider365 sticky rubber on the sole to grip flat pedals, and there’s some tread to help with traction off the bike. The upper has “flexible armor” in major wear areas and uses “ion-mask” nano-coating to repel water. The heel has ShocPad cushioning and the insole is Teva’s standard fare, which should make freeriding Teva fans very happy.
Pricing and the Pinner after the break…
The Links will retail for $100, and it’ll be complemented by the Pinner at $80. No word on exact differences, but the Links looks to have a cooler (temperature, that is) upper and fatter laces, which will definitely make you faster.