Oakley Koya RC Boa Clipless MTB Shoe | Trail Tested

Oakley Koya RC BOA Clipless MTB Shoe

Price: $235

Sizes: 7 – 12

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In motocross Oakley is best known for its goggles, most notably the Oakley Airbrake which set a new standard for eye protection in motocross with its injection-molded and optically correct lens, removable face foam, and quick-change lens design. Or perhaps it’s sunglasses…anyone who was involved in the sport in the 80s and 90s knows that you weren’t cool in the pits without some Iridium-lensed Oakley Blades…

In my lifetime, I’ve spent plenty of time in Oakley products in various categories. My first pair of new goggles as a young, misguided three-wheeler racer were Oakley O Frames which my brother Ross bought me for Christmas. Ross was sponsored by Scott USA and certainly could have given me a pair out of his allotment, but I wanted to be like Factory Pilot Johnny O’Mara. Later on, it was the aforementioned Blades sunglasses, paired with an awesome mullet in my later teen years. I never was able to wear the popular Oakley Frogskins though, because they were too small for my fat head. 

During my tenure at TransWorld Motocross, my co-founder Garth Milan and I both discovered that Oakley made military-grade boots…I think they were called Assault Boots, but I can’t be sure. They featured comfortable, yet aggressive soles that enjoyed a ton of traction, sturdy canvas and leather uppers, and a high cut with a ton of ankle support. They were a hundred times more comfortable than you’d expect them to be, and Garth and I wore them religiously at the track. I wrote an editorial column about them when I finally retired them after nearly a decade…those boots traveled the world and set foot on places like Matterly Basin in the UK, Lommel in Belgium, Sugo Sports Land in Japan, practically every National MX track in the States, and private places such as RC’s Goat Farm, the Steward Compound, Mike LaRocco’s Indiana facility, Chad Reed’s TwoTwo Compound, Bam Land, and more. Other Oakley footwear I had, though, falls into that category of, “What was I thinking?” I remember when I was working in the Arcadia Mall at a trendy clothes store, Ross told me, “The more outlandish the fashion, the more you will look back on it and be embarrassed.” While this certainly rings true for some of the ridiculous clothes that I used to go to clubs in, it also applies to some of the alienesque-looking Oakley footwear that I wore in the early 2000s. I think Oakley stopped making shoes and such for several years…it wasn’t until these Koya RC BOA Clipless MTB Shoes showed up at our office that I was aware of anything besides sandals with the iconic O logo on them in current times.

An Oakley mountain bike shoe? That would be a first for me. When I opened the box – full disclosure – I was initially appalled by the Arctic White/Blackout color. Gum soles have never been my thing, and I left them in the box for a few weeks before finally deciding to give them a go. It was a new pair of Time Speciale 12 pedals (more on these to come – they are absolutely the best) that got me to bust out the Oakleys. Bolting the Time cleats into the sole of the Koya shoe was a cinch, and I was impressed by the wide range of adjustment offered by the Oakley cleat channel. I usually slam the cleats as far forward as they can go with every other MTB shoe, but because of the generous fore and aft adjustability, I found myself more toward the middle of the range. The cleat channel is very well designed and clipping in and out of the pedals is an absolute breeze. 

When I first slipped the Koya on, I noticed that they run large; I am a 9.5 but I think I could have fit into a standard 9 with ease. No worries, though, as the BOA closure system allows me to cinch the shoes on nice and snug. Oakley’s utilization of the BOA system is excellent and although there is only one adjuster per shoe, it still pulls the entire upper closed nicely. After cinching them up initially, I usually take a couple of steps and bend the soles before tightening them one more time. And that’s usually it until I’m taking them off! The last pair of shoes I wore regularly had two BOA closures, and I often found myself fighting them mid-ride because the shoe would loosen up. 

The Koya shoe is comfortable. And I mean, supremely comfortable. The asymmetrical tongue design makes the shoe easy to get into, and the tongue is super padded and does not apply any odd pressure or cause hotspots. The inside of the shoe is nicely padded and the mesh upper flows plenty of air. Not that I can feel the air flowing, mind you, but my feet never felt uncomfortably hot throughout the ridiculous SoCal heatwave we endured this summer. Not that I ever like to unclip and hike a bike up or down trail sections, but when I have, the soles have provided plenty of grip. Furthermore, though the soles are nicely stiff and transfer excellent power to the pedals; they are not so stiff that they feel like your Sunday dress shoes while you are hiking. 

From the first day I rode in them, the color of the shoes began to grow on me. Initially – being the fashion-fickle moto guy that I am – I wondered if I’d have to buy a bunch of white socks to match them. The black tongue, though, ties my regular black bro socks in nicely. Haha! But how does the color hold up to the dirt and dust on the trail? Quite well, actually…the main photo above was shot yesterday, and according to my Strava account, I have over 20 rides on them. I have yet to ride in the mud, mind you, but it seems that the materials do not stain easily and I haven’t even tried to wipe them off yet.

The bottom line? I wish that I had bolted cleats on these babies the day I got them. These are the most comfortable MTB shoes I’ve ridden in yet, and they perform every bit as well as you would expect something from Oakley to. Hmmm…and while perusing the website for pricing on these shoes I discovered that Oakley again has a wide variety of footwear available, including a new and updated version of the Assault boot!

oakley.com