carbon soled shoes

funk-meister
funk-meister Posts: 34
edited June 2012 in Road buying advice
Just gotten hold of my first pair of carbon soled shoes.Didnt realise theyd make such a difference...super stiff and i was flying on my commute. Putting it down to the shoes and not that its Tuesday, first day back to work this week

its not my imagination is it???
Focus Izalco
Cube Agree GTC

Comments

  • Rule74Please
    Rule74Please Posts: 307
    Yep it's called the placebo effect.

    You would be surprised how little stiffness difference there is between a £90 Glass fibre reinforced plastic and a £200 carbon fibre reinforced plastic sole
    Don't know the Rules?

    http://www.velominati.com/blog/the-rules/
  • mitchgixer6
    mitchgixer6 Posts: 729
    Rule74Please wrote:
    Yep it's called the placebo effect.

    You would be surprised how little stiffness difference there is between a £90 Glass fibre reinforced plastic and a £200 carbon fibre reinforced plastic sole

    Yeah, a huge difference! Not only will the carbon pair weigh considerably less, they will also be stiffer. I've had a pair of plastic shoes as well as a carbon pair, and I could actually get the plastic ones to deviate if I put enough force through the sole. The carbon pair will not budge an inch. Just imagine how magnified that force is standing on and pulling on the pedals during a steep/fast climb.
  • P_Tucker
    P_Tucker Posts: 1,878
    mitchgixer6 wrote:
    Rule74Please wrote:
    Yep it's called the placebo effect.

    You would be surprised how little stiffness difference there is between a £90 Glass fibre reinforced plastic and a £200 carbon fibre reinforced plastic sole

    Yeah, a huge difference! Not only will the carbon pair weigh considerably less, they will also be stiffer. I've had a pair of plastic shoes as well as a carbon pair, and I could actually get the plastic ones to deviate if I put enough force through the sole. The carbon pair will not budge an inch. Just imagine how magnified that force is standing on and pulling on the pedals during a steep/fast climb.

    I just did, it made me go 0.0000000034 mph faster. Totally worth it.

    FFS
  • ShutUpLegs
    ShutUpLegs Posts: 3,522
    P_Tucker wrote:
    mitchgixer6 wrote:
    Rule74Please wrote:
    Yep it's called the placebo effect.

    You would be surprised how little stiffness difference there is between a £90 Glass fibre reinforced plastic and a £200 carbon fibre reinforced plastic sole

    Yeah, a huge difference! Not only will the carbon pair weigh considerably less, they will also be stiffer. I've had a pair of plastic shoes as well as a carbon pair, and I could actually get the plastic ones to deviate if I put enough force through the sole. The carbon pair will not budge an inch. Just imagine how magnified that force is standing on and pulling on the pedals during a steep/fast climb.

    I just did, it made me go 0.0000000034 mph faster. Totally worth it.

    FFS

    Could be the difference between winning and losing that segment on Strava. FFS
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,255
    They are way lighter and that will help your ankles on long rides. They are also much stiffer, which results in better power transimission... the improvements depends on what you were on before, some plastic soles are pretty stiff too, others are very bendy
    left the forum March 2023
  • P_Tucker
    P_Tucker Posts: 1,878
    ShutUpLegs wrote:
    Could be the difference between winning and losing that segment on Strava. FFS

    People who spend their time worrying about the stiffness/weight of their shoes don't spend enough time riding their bikes to win on Strava FFS
  • mitchgixer6
    mitchgixer6 Posts: 729
    FFS, what's with all the FFSing?

    Can't a guy have an opinion on here? I take it none of you guys hating on the carbon soles own any? What shoes are you guys wearing then, please enlighten us all to the cheaper alternatives that are just as good as carbon soles.
  • porker33
    porker33 Posts: 636
    edited May 2012
    Agree not many carbon sole users on here, otherwise there would be more posts about the 2-3mph they add to your average speed! :D


    Joking aside, the best shoes for you are the ones that fit you well and you feel comfortable in for hours.....No point in having ultra light stiff shoes if they hurt your feet over a distance.
  • dbb
    dbb Posts: 323
    the last pair of shoes i bought have a carbon sole.
    yes they are stiffer than plastic - but the difference that i noticed on the road was their weight! when riding, i noticed swinging lighter shoes around the cranks made pedaling easier.
    who knows how much faster it made me - all i'm saying is that there was a noticeable difference.

    but i only noticed it for a few rides until the new shoes became the norm.
    regards,
    dbb
  • northpole
    northpole Posts: 1,499
    I have no idea whether carbon soles make me go faster - suspect not at all. However, over a long ride, I have found the extremely stiff soles, combined with decent insoles to be superbly comfortable with no 'hot spots' in my feet. The previous Spesh shoes I had were just as comfortable over shorter distances, but not so over a long ride. That to me is the benefit of the stiffer carbon soles, not weight or speed.

    Peter
  • P_Tucker
    P_Tucker Posts: 1,878
    mitchgixer6 wrote:
    FFS, what's with all the FFSing?

    Can't a guy have an opinion on here? I take it none of you guys hating on the carbon soles own any? What shoes are you guys wearing then, please enlighten us all to the cheaper alternatives that are just as good as carbon soles.

    I have two pairs with carbon soles and two pairs without. When I ride with the carbon soles, on average I go 0.0000000034 mph faster. I was simply trying to share my experiences. FFS
  • daviesee
    daviesee Posts: 6,386
    mitchgixer6 wrote:
    Rule74Please wrote:
    Yep it's called the placebo effect.

    You would be surprised how little stiffness difference there is between a £90 Glass fibre reinforced plastic and a £200 carbon fibre reinforced plastic sole

    Yeah, a huge difference! Not only will the carbon pair weigh considerably less, they will also be stiffer. I've had a pair of plastic shoes as well as a carbon pair, and I could actually get the plastic ones to deviate if I put enough force through the sole. The carbon pair will not budge an inch. Just imagine how magnified that force is standing on and pulling on the pedals during a steep/fast climb.

    The trouble with this theory is that all that force goes through your ankle.
    Your ankle is fairly flexible :wink:

    I am not saying that they are not better but I think that once the soles are stiff, extra stiffness is over rated.
    Rotating weight will likely be more of an issue.
    None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.
  • mitchgixer6
    mitchgixer6 Posts: 729
    P_Tucker wrote:
    mitchgixer6 wrote:
    FFS, what's with all the FFSing?

    Can't a guy have an opinion on here? I take it none of you guys hating on the carbon soles own any? What shoes are you guys wearing then, please enlighten us all to the cheaper alternatives that are just as good as carbon soles.

    I have two pairs with carbon soles and two pairs without. When I ride with the carbon soles, on average I go 0.0000000034 mph faster. I was simply trying to share my experiences. FFS

    FFS! :D
  • mitchgixer6
    mitchgixer6 Posts: 729
    P_Tucker wrote:
    mitchgixer6 wrote:
    FFS, what's with all the FFSing?

    Can't a guy have an opinion on here? I take it none of you guys hating on the carbon soles own any? What shoes are you guys wearing then, please enlighten us all to the cheaper alternatives that are just as good as carbon soles.

    I have two pairs with carbon soles and two pairs without. When I ride with the carbon soles, on average I go 0.0000000034 mph faster. I was simply trying to share my experiences. FFS

    Now wondering what the benefit of 4 pairs of shoes would be......
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    Ive CF road shoes and some cheapo MTB shoes that I use - they do /feel different - but I've not noticed any performance benefits as such. And benefits to your ankle ? Why ?
  • P_Tucker
    P_Tucker Posts: 1,878
    mitchgixer6 wrote:
    P_Tucker wrote:
    mitchgixer6 wrote:
    FFS, what's with all the FFSing?

    Can't a guy have an opinion on here? I take it none of you guys hating on the carbon soles own any? What shoes are you guys wearing then, please enlighten us all to the cheaper alternatives that are just as good as carbon soles.

    I have two pairs with carbon soles and two pairs without. When I ride with the carbon soles, on average I go 0.0000000034 mph faster. I was simply trying to share my experiences. FFS

    Now wondering what the benefit of 4 pairs of shoes would be......

    Matching the rest of my outfit, obv. It simply wouldn't do to have shoes that don't go.
  • mitchgixer6
    mitchgixer6 Posts: 729
    P_Tucker wrote:
    mitchgixer6 wrote:
    P_Tucker wrote:
    mitchgixer6 wrote:
    FFS, what's with all the FFSing?

    Can't a guy have an opinion on here? I take it none of you guys hating on the carbon soles own any? What shoes are you guys wearing then, please enlighten us all to the cheaper alternatives that are just as good as carbon soles.

    I have two pairs with carbon soles and two pairs without. When I ride with the carbon soles, on average I go 0.0000000034 mph faster. I was simply trying to share my experiences. FFS

    Now wondering what the benefit of 4 pairs of shoes would be......

    Matching the rest of my outfit, obv. It simply wouldn't do to have shoes that don't go.

    FFS! :lol:
  • P_Tucker
    P_Tucker Posts: 1,878
    See? FFSing everything is fun. FFS

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