Now find the biggest hill in your neighbourhood and try to climb it without shifting gears. Feel how much pressure is required where your toes interface with the pedal to push that gear up that hill.

This is more or less the gear these shoes drove their entire life. They had a life that asked a lot of them. I ask a lot from most of the objects I own.

On April 23, 2010 these Louis Garneau Montana XT’s were bought from To Wheels in London Ontario by an eager and competent younger me, but a me that was severely lacking in experience. These Montana XT’s earned that experience with me.

You see, for anyone having ridden a long distance bike trip, averaging over 174KM/day for more than two weeks straight, your shoes are your primary interface on your primary tool—your bike.

That makes your shoes your number one primary concern. If your feet hurt, you hate your life. In these shoes, my feet never hurt.

These Montana XT’s have done multiple week long bike rides. Daily abuse, with too much being asked of them.

Always pushing a 46~48 X 14~20 gear.

In the city I ride a 48×16 gear these days, and on the highway a 46×20 gear.

Imagine the stress inflicted on the soles of these shoes riding entire 100KM stretches up a 6-8% incline with an additional 60lbs of gear hanging over the back wheel…with this big of a gear.

Pushing as big a gear as I do, causes a massive amount of stress at the crucial point where bike shoes clip to the pedals. These clips are held fast to the shoe by the sole.

For all the gear that these shoes pushed, it’s no wonder that the sole simply ripped off the boot. A boot that looks like it could ride another 5 years for 15K more kilometers.

In the city it might have even been worse. Ripping around in traffic going from full speed to skidding and back to full speed in milliseconds.

Providing the perfect amount of power, with a good feel for control over the crank arms and ultimately the rear tire.

I am working on a project trying to document every kilometer of my 2009 Bowery ’72 that I still ride. I bought that bike at the same time I bought these shoes in the spring of 2010. My conservative estimates have between 10K and 12K total kilometers on this bike. All of those kilometers would be accomplished with these Montana XT’s.

The velcro on the arch strap started getting loose on the rare occasion near the end of their service, but the top buckle is solid and true. The rest of the boot fits like a glove. I bought them a little small for a tighter fit, but you would never tell in the toe box where extra pressure would be felt.

If I hadn’t literally rode the sole off of these shoes, I’d be riding them today, or in the spring once the snow is gone. For now I rely on my winter Wölvhammer boots, and an intermediate cheap Pearl Izumi almost casual shoe come spring.

Perhaps I’ll look for a new pair of Montana XT3’s, or whatever revision they are on by the time I get around to buying new shoes. I’ve also heard good things about Sidi Dominator 5’s. I just can’t seem to bite the bullet on either.

Until then, I bid farewell to my LG Montana XT’s. Five good years of hard labour hasn’t gone unnoticed. I don’t often praise products, but I nod my head and with a gentle—subtle—motion, tip my hat to you Montana XT’s.