Over the past couple of months, I have been putting a serious beating on the new Sidi Dominator 6 Carbon SRS mountain biking shoes. In an attempt to really see what these high end soles from Sidi could handle, I used them on everything from my larger travel mountain bikes to road ride centuries (yes, I was the guy on the road bike with hairy legs and tread on my shoes…have to keep the mtb rep alive.) So after hundreds of miles and as many trips into rocks and mud as I could find, how did the Sidi Dominator 6 Carbon SRS MTB shoes hold up?
More on the Sidi Dominator 6 from Sidi:
- Sizes: from 39 to 48
- Upper: Lorica (hi-tech leather) and Nylon Mesh
- Sole: SRS Carbon
- Available In: white/pearl white, black/black (pictured) and silver/blue
- MSRP: $399.00 US
Fit and Feel – Sidi Dominator 6 MTB Shoes
At first glance, you can tell these are a high end pair of mountain biking shoes. The feel of the leather, the stiffness of the carbon sole and the light weight feel on your feet all just scream expensive shoes. Suprisingly, these Dominator 6’s fit my narrower feet better than the Dominator 5’s. I believe this boils down to the materials used on the upper half of the shoe…it does not stretch as much when pulled snug. This was a welcomed change as my previous Dominator 5’s used up all of the available velcro adjustment and these did not. Everything fit in the way it was supposed to and I was off and running…well…riding.
The rear heal cup features an adjustable (and patented) plastic piece that keeps you from slipping inside your shoes while you ride. Shipped in the stock position, I found it actually worked perfectly for my feet’s needs and no adjustment was necessary. I did notice that the rear of my foot was more secure in the shoe. It almost felt as if it was locked in.
On the Bike – Sidi Dominator 6 MTB Shoes
All of the previous information works out great in your house, but how do these high end mountain biking shoes from Sidi perform on the bike?
The stiff carbon sole on the 6’s did an incredible job of transferring power from your legs to the pedals. I noticed that there was very little flex as each pedal stroke went through the motions and even in standing technical sections, the shoe did not behave in a way that hindered riding. The overall stiffness of the Dominator 6 kept your feet exactly where you wanted them.
As I clipped in and out of my pedals (XTR clipless used on both mtb and road) the front tread stayed out of the way and didn’t hang on any of the pedal parts. This made getting in and out easy without any problems.
The front toe section of the Sidi’s is multi-layered leather which provides some protection from rocks and roots that want to crush your toes, but not a lot. If you are in highly technical rock areas, you will need to be careful with where you find the bottom of your pedal stroke. If you get stuck between a rock and the pedal…its going to hurt.
In all reality, the Dominator 6 mountain biking shoe is a variation of their road offerings. So when I took these shoes out for some triple digit road rides, they actually performed very well. The stiff sole, light weight and good breathing properties kept my feet comfortable and kept the power to the road. There are very few mountain biking shoes that can pull double duty this well and – in the interest of keeping inventory low – I now use these shoes on every road ride with the XTR pedals.
When wet, the Dominator 6’s perform much better than the 5’s. The different construction and materials dries faster and does not stretch uncontrollably like I have found with the 5’s. For guys like me with narrow feet, these means the shoes still fit once I hit a couple of creek crossings. Even with the water, the Sidi Dominator 6 shoes stayed tight and adjusted throughout the entire ride. I never felt the need to reach down and adjust the straps which meant their velcro locking system was doing its job.
Off the Bike – Sidi Dominator 6 MTB Shoes
As with all mountain biking shoes, there are going to be times where you are off the bike hanging out and getting through technical areas that are not ride-able. That is why they put tread on the bottom remember?! One of the properties that make the Sidi’s such great shoes to pull double duty for road and mountain also hurt them when it comes time to get off the bike. The hard, low profile tread matched with the stiff carbon sole make these shoes very difficult in hike-a-bike situations. If you are just hanging out in the parking lot…everything is great, but once you start navigating technical sections of trail by foot…things change dramatically. The Dominator 6’s slip off of rocks and roots easily and the shoe design actually ended up making my feet hurt after repeated trips off the bike. It was almost like I was wearing ice skates in steep, push your bike up the hill situations.
Now…some of this should be taken with a grain of salt as I do not believe the kind of riding I was doing was what Sidi had in mind for this particular shoe.
Durability and Long Term – Sidi Dominator 6 MTB Shoes
The Dominator 6’s actually held up really well in the rocks and technical trail situations. The leather is showing surface scraps, but – though all of the abuse – everything held together and nothing failed. During one rock garden when I threw a foot down (something threw me off my line and it was better to dab then go off the mountain), I hit the plastic tightening clamp against a rock and it bent. Luckily, even with the bend in the clamp, everything still functions properly…so I didn’t really worry about it. The Sidi Dominator 6’s will last as long as you want them to and the parts are easily replaceable in case the worst happens.
Overall Thoughts On The Sidi Dominator 6 MTB Shoes
The Sidi Dominator 6 mountain biking shoes are great performers on the bike. The stiff sole and solid construction puts power to the wheels and when you couple that with their long term durability, you should be enjoying that power transfer for a long time to come. After all of these months, I can say for sure that these shoes are going to work the best for two types of riders:
1 – A recreational mountain biker and road biker that typically sticks to the xc side of things on the mountain. If you want to have just one pair of shoes that can pull dual duty on the road and in the dirt, but you are not going to be hucking or blasting through rock gardens, the Sidi Dominator 6’s will fit the bill and keep you from buying two pairs of shoes and pedals.
2 – Hard core xc racers. Just enough tread to get you through where you need to go and stiffness to keep the power from your legs to the cranks. Like the recreational rider above, big rock gardens and super tech is not what you are going to be riding on a regular basis. You need a shoe that is going to perform on the bike and can take dirt abuse off the bike if it has to.
What did I like about the Sidi Dominator 6?
- Super stiff construction
- Very comfortable on the bike with great power transfer
- Durable – Should last for years
- Drys quickly without stretching
- Heel cup kept foot in and slipping to a minimum
- Can pull double duty on mountain and road
What I didn’t like about the Sidi Dominator 6
- Uncomfortable ice skates off the bike in AM/FR/DH situations
- Blooding expensive! Price is down from $450 to $400 this year…but now I own the most expensive pair of shoes in my house.
- Minimal toe protection for the ruff stuff
Click here for the best price on the Dominator 6 from Sidi.
