Gear Review - Aisics Matflex Wrestling Shoes

I used to wear converses when I drove the old Miata.  With my kart, I was going to stick to these cheap wal-mart shoes I bought which had a fairly thin sole.  When I crashed last week, I thought about that choice again and bought these shoes, which I believe are a bit safer.

I wanted something with a bit more ankle support and maintained great feedback.  Dedicated karting shoes may have been the best choice, but my past experiences with racing dedicated shoes have not been that great.  They'd fall apart after some hard use (for instance, running around the paddock).  Maybe it is because racing apparel manufacturers don't have much expertise in making shoes.  Who knows.

I read online that wrestling shoes lasts longer and has great feedback.  So off to the store I went.  My shoes cost me about 50 dollars.

Three things: the shoe is very well ventilation.  My last event was very windy and cold.  My feet got somewhat cold, but that didn't seem to affect my driving that much.  Secondly, some parts of the shoe seem to be able to give me some abrasion protection, but the vent mesh probably won't hold up that well if I slide a lot on the wrong side of my feet.  However, if I do end up somehow sliding on my feet, it will probably be on the beefier parts of the shoe.  Lastly, the ankle support is only so-so.  Much better than the shoes I was using before, but it is only a mid-top.

One more thing.  The sole of my shoe has these bumps, which I thought was for gripping the wrestling mat.  It bothered me a bit at first, but I got used to it.  I had no problems walking and running around the asphalt.  I wore them all day, including the drive to and from the track.

The build quality is great.  Aisics probably knows how to make shoes better than most racing equipment manufacturers do.  And it shows.  I believe it when they say these will last longer.

It also has these flaps that secure by velcro that help you sort out the laces.  This is helpful as it keeps the laces out of the way so they don't get caught on your pedals.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with it.  If you want to save some money at the expense of a little bit of abrasion resistance, get a pair of these shoes.