Road shoes for around £200

Mike39496

Birthday coming up and i've decided to get a new set of road shoes, my current ones are too big but didn't realise until it was too late (they seemed fine in the shop!). I have around £200 to spend, the budget can be extended a little bit but not really past £225.

I've narrowed it down really to Bont, Lake, Giro or S-Works.

Specifically:
Lake CX330C - http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lake-cx330c-road-cycling-shoes/
Bont A Two - http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-t ... Googlebase
Specialized S-Works - http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... gn=froogle
Giro Prolight - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Giro-ProLight ... 542wt_1375


Now I can get the Bonts for £120, the Lakes are £150, the Giros are £170 and the S-Works I can probably get for around £170 from my LBS, just not sure which to go for. I like the BOA system but I also like the fact you can mould the Bonts, I considered the Vaypors but I personally can't really see the major differences (apart from one less strap) and when there's £100 in it it doesn't seem worthwhile but if this is wrong i'd love to know. The giros look nice and I like the adjustable insole idea. I discounted the factors because they were more expensive than the ProLights.

I'll be using the shoes for training, TTing and commuting at weekends (through the countryside not through major cities or towns).

If there are any glaring omissions please let me know.

Thanks

rc856

I've got the S-Works and really love them.
Light and well ventilated. The 2 BOA's are great as I have shims under the insole which lessens the gap in there.
Recently had them on for many hours on a 200km sportive with no problems.

Mike39496

RC856 wrote:

I've got the S-Works and really love them.
Light and well ventilated. The 2 BOA's are great as I have shims under the insole which lessens the gap in there.
Recently had them on for many hours on a 200km sportive with no problems.

The only thing really that's putting me off them is the price tag on them. Obviously if there are better shoes around for similar/less i'd rather get those. Anyone have experience of the others?

rozzer32

I use Giro Factors and thing they are great. I've had Bonts, Sidi, Shimano and I would pick the factors everytime. Naturally they are heavier than the prolight but I prefer to have a buckle on my shoes, makes adjusting while riding so much easier.

Plus if they are good enough for Taylor Phinney and Kristian House then they are probably good enough for me

asprilla

How about the ones that fit the best?

I would love a pair of Sidis or the BG s-works as they look fantastic but neither of them are a decent fit on me. My Giro Factors, however, are like a second skin.

Mike39496

Asprilla wrote:

How about the ones that fit the best?

I would love a pair of Sidis or the BG s-works as they look fantastic but neither of them are a decent fit on me. My Giro Factors, however, are like a second skin.

I'd like to try them all on but sadly my LBS only stocks Specialized shoes so no real choice there, would be a case of buying a few online then returning a few of them. I'd like to try the bonts but nowhere seems to stock them in at all. I'll try a different shop and see what they stock just so I can try a couple of different shoes to get an idea of fit.

bendertherobot

How much was "bumf" was unclear. But Giro set out to make a shoe that "fitted all types of feet."

The Giro shoes are just awesome.

sungod

i've got the s-works, stiff, excellent, stiff, light, stiff, well ventilated, stiff, great footbeds, oh, and they're stiff too

whatever you choose, good fit is important, and the only way to know is to try them on

you don't mention area of the country, maybe someone will know other places for shoes

otherwise, if the s-works fit you well, get them

cougie

Yes fit is foremost. If you're spending £200 on something that will last you years - its worth travelling for.
Personally I'm not a fan of the fancy closing systems. Just more to go wrong.
I like my specialized with Velcro. Comfy and bomb proof

Bordersroadie

sungod wrote:

i've got the s-works, stiff, excellent, stiff, light, stiff, well ventilated, stiff, great footbeds, oh, and they're stiff too. . . . ., if the s-works fit you well, get them

+1

rbirkett89

S-Works are definitely worth the money but take note that they are a slim fit so not ideal if you've got wide feet!

Mike39496

rbirkett89 wrote:

S-Works are definitely worth the money but take note that they are a slim fit so not ideal if you've got wide feet!

I've got really narrow feet so that's always a bonus! Cheers for the comments. Will have a look in a different bike shop on Tuesday.

flasher

rbirkett89 wrote:

S-Works are definitely worth the money but take note that they are a slim fit so not ideal if you've got wide feet!

I found the opposite, I felt they were a 'normal' fitting, now Sidi's are narrow.

nferrar

Yeah the '10 onwards s-works seem to have a bit more room in the uppers. Highly recommended though, light, stiff, well ventilated and the boa fastening is way better than straps/ratchets (more fine control IMO + can tighten/loosen with overshoes on if you're fussy like me and start off with them loose and tighten up on the ride...).
Only other ones I'd consider if I were looking now are the DMT Prisma 2.0's as they look well-designed + Speedplay specific sole option would be nice.

meesterbond

rbirkett89 wrote:

S-Works are definitely worth the money but take note that they are a slim fit so not ideal if you've got wide feet!

Not in my experience either. The S-Works come out wider than most, particularly at the toebox.
I found Sidi and Northwave very narrow. The new Fiziks are lovely but have masses of arch support built in and it felt a little like I was standing on a golf ball. I imagine if they fit they'd be like a slipper, but unfortunately not for me.
The Rapha ones are pretty neutral fitting (same last as the Giro's I believe). Very expensive though and didn't quite feel right on me.

Given that I tried on a good grand's worth of shoes when I bought my last pair, going to a few proper shops has got to be a better option than online.

I ended up with the S-Works btw. Preferred the look of most of the others (really wanted the Fiziks), but the Speccy's just fitted better.

bobones

Have a look at the Giro Trans. A bit cheaper than the Factors because the materials are slightly heaver, but they're made on the same last and have vitually all the same design features. I considered the S-Works BGs, but found them too wide and I didn't like the colour of the Factors so I ended up getting these babes.

on-yer-bike

Giro Factors are the only shoes Ive found that fit me and Ive tried Sidi, Mavic, Specialized, Fizik. Heels aren't replaceable though.

izza

Bordersroadie wrote:

sungod wrote:

i've got the s-works, stiff, excellent, stiff, light, stiff, well ventilated, stiff, great footbeds, oh, and they're stiff too. . . . ., if the s-works fit you well, get them

+1

+2. In my mind, they are the best shoe I've ever owned.

nferrar wrote:

Yeah the '10 onwards s-works seem to have a bit more room in the uppers. Highly recommended though, light, stiff, well ventilated and the boa fastening is way better than straps/ratchets (more fine control IMO + can tighten/loosen with overshoes on if you're fussy like me and start off with them loose and tighten up on the ride...).

I have size 12 wide feet and they are really comfortable. The Boa system allows easy changing from thicker winter socks to coolmax-type, thin, summer socks.

Mike39496

Cheers for all the advice. I'm going to try some on tomorrow and will report back.

Mike39496

Just an update, I didn't manage to try a pair of S-Works on but I did try a pair of Sidi Ergo 2's and they were mega comfy, a bit loose on the heel which could be sorted with the adjuster but they felt brilliant. Didn't buy them as they were £250 and I wanted to try the S-Works but now I see they are only £175 on Wiggle at the moment (with the voucher offer) so massively tempted to splash out on those. I did try a few different pairs of Specialized and they were quite wide for my feet which was a bit off-putting.

One question - Can you put Spesh BG soles inside the Sidis? The insoles were the only thing for me that let them down.

Thanks

sungod

i've got some sidi winter shoes, the original sidi footbeds were rubbish, i fitted bg footbeds, they fit fine

Mike39496

sungod wrote:

i've got some sidi winter shoes, the original sidi footbeds were rubbish, i fitted bg footbeds, they fit fine

Is there a general difference in size? Is one thicker than the other?

Also, reading around people get told to size up for Sidi, from what I can make out from the shop I was in a 10.5 (45.5) and my feet are usually an 11. Is this normal?

Thanks


Edit: In the end I bought the S-Works in a size 45, I preferred the closing mechanism and the Sidi's were quite snug.