DH shoes

[fist of doom]

finding cruelty free clipless shoes is pretty easy, but i've not been able to locate any DH shoes. lost my grip while wearing regular sneakers in a brutal rockgarden and now i'd like to find something stickier.

any suggestions for a DH/Freeride shoe?

[bob_summers]

I guess from the term "sneakers" you're not in the UK but there is a company there that will resole the shoes of your choice with "five ten" rubber, which was developed for climbing shoes. Maybe you can find something similar over there.

DownhillingDemon wrote a review of the service here:
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=7022&hilit=resole&start=60

[Chrisdryad]

I know Shimano make some of their SPD shoes with synthetic materials so they may make some of their flat pedal shoes with this too!
Aren't fiveten MTB shoes made from synthetic material too?
Enties make (or made, not sure if they're stillavailable) a shoe called the Sniper which is totally synthetic.

Hope this helps

[delusional]

As far as I'm aware 5Tens are made of real leather, not sythetic.

There was some hope in the new Teva shoes, but after chatting to a rep at Crankworx last week it seems a good portion of them are made of leather as well.

I spoke to one of the guys from Sombrio about their new shoes a few days ago, and he seemed to think they are made of synthetic action leather. They're not going to be available until April 2012 though, and things could well change between now and then.

Currently following up on the possibility that the Shimano AM41/AM45 shoes may be suitable. They're listed in most places as having synthetic leather uppers, so I've sent out a few emails to enquire as to whether that is a 100% thing, or if they include real leather as well.

My old shoes are held together by electrical tape at the moment, so hopefully I'll hear back soon!

[fist of doom]

5.10 just relaunched their tenne guide shoes and claim they are cruelty free. i've not been able to see them in person and they've not replied to emails. they don't look don't appear to be appropriate for DH or free ride, but neither are my current shoes.

they also have a resole kit that looks really janky and does not inspire confidence.

the resole service DownhillingDemon referenced sounds like a sweet deal.