Laces only cycling shoes

supermurph09

Looking to replace my soon to be 5 year old Sidi genius shoes with something a bit more fancy, currently looking at the Giro Empire SLX (in white) from Wiggle: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/giro-empire-slx-road-shoe/

I've only ever owned 2 pairs of cycling shoes, both none laces so I wondered how people got on with laces only?

(Feel free to recommend other shoes at a max of £200, appreciate shoes are quite personal in terms of style & fit)

kingstonian

I have the Specialized S Works ones, absolutely love them. They do have a fairly tight ankle which suits me but you would definitely want to try them before buying.

For the commute I have a pair of the Giro Republic LX's, also lace up and they are great too.

Safe to say I am a convert to the new lace up models.

meanredspider

Kingstonian wrote:

I have the Specialized S Works ones, absolutely love them. They do have a fairly tight ankle which suits me but you would definitely want to try them before buying.

For the commute I have a pair of the Giro Republic LX's, also lace up and they are great too.

Safe to say I am a convert to the new lace up models.

I'm pretty sure that they (S-Works) come with a "comfort guarantee" - I had a pair of S-Works MTB shoes that dug into my ankle (a common complaint I found later) and contacted Specialised who just said "Send 'em back for a full refund". So Spesh are one way to try laces without risk. Personally I love the Boas on my S-Works roadies and I don't think I could get the same comfort from laces and certainly not the ease of adjustment once you're on the bike.

supermurph09

Thanks for the replies, I had considered on the bike adjustment but in reality I cannot think of many times I have needed to so quickly dismissed that as a "need" when purchasing.

rick_chasey

Just curious, so not rhetorical; why do you want laces?

supermurph09

Rick Chasey wrote:

Just curious, so not rhetorical; why do you want laces?

Not so much a point of wanting laces, happy with other systems but I did like the shoes I linked for lots of reasons so wanted to gauge peoples opinions on laces only.

StillGoing

Seems a bit retrospective to me? Boas allow you to tighten or loosen the shoe on the move, I can't see how you can do that with laces.

stueys

I run laces and boa's on two pairs of shoes. I don't really adjust my shoes on the move so prefer the laces, they look nicer and offer a bit more adjustability than the traditional boa's.

If you are adjusting whilst riding stick with boas though.

fenix

Speaking as someone who had laces in their first cycling shoes - the advances of boas and velcro and ratchety things are much much better and adjustable on the move. You don't want to get your laces caught in your chainring as happened to me once.

I'm thinking this is more marketing driven than improvement driven. I'm out.

chrisw12

My three strap Nike broke so I moved to all be it cheapish boas, I could never get the mid part of the foot tight enough and the tightening always felt uneven. On the turbo where contact point problems can become major annoyances, I just got fed up with them. Moved to laces and problem solved after I'd experimented with different lace up patterns. I've now moved onto elastic laces (got fed up with tying) and again as long as the lace pattern is correct, they're perfect for me.

964cup

I've got SLXs and Republics. Love them both. I find I usually need to retie the laces once on long rides (>5hrs) to account for normal foot shrinkage; otherwise they're fit (beautifully) and forget. I also have Sidi Wire and Genius, and have been happy with both. However, although the mid-ride re-tighten is undoubtedly easier on the BOA or ratchet shoes, the fit is less adjustable and they're both much heavier than the SLXs, which I definitely notice.

rick_chasey

Supermurph09 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Just curious, so not rhetorical; why do you want laces?

Not so much a point of wanting laces, happy with other systems but I did like the shoes I linked for lots of reasons so wanted to gauge peoples opinions on laces only.

My take is why take a pair of shoes that you can't adjust on the fly?

webboo

Try Loakes Chesters they will go well with your tweeds and plus fours.

ayjaycee

FWIW, I have shoes with both laces and ratchets / velcro and happily wear either as the mood takes me. In a lot of years cycling I have never wanted to adjust shoes 'on the move' and nor have I ever managed to get laces tangled up in the chain ring - my laced Giros have a place to stow the laces safely out of the way as have others that I owned in the past.

ovi

back in 1997 I used nike mtb shoes and was please when I changed to Velcro and would never go back and can't be bothered with the censored on with other types either. Some pro riders use Velcro only so It still can't be that bad.

Garry H

My abiding memory of lace up cycling shoes are that they got soaking wet and were then a censored to undo. Marketing/fashion driven. Next thing will be velcro again.

cougie

See also the trend for white cycling shoes. There was a good reason all shoes used to be black.
Now if you buy white - you'll be replacing it a lot sooner than if it were darker. It's all about fashion and marketing over function.

rick_chasey

cougie wrote:

See also the trend for white cycling shoes. There was a good reason all shoes used to be black.
Now if you buy white - you'll be replacing it a lot sooner than if it were darker. It's all about fashion and marketing over function.

Or just have two pairs .

Then they'll last even longer.

sanspoof

I've got the Giro empire slx in white. After spending years riding a pair of OK nothwave shoes, I bought the giro's....literally the best thing i've bought. Incredibly comfortable and really light....they are wipe clean too so can be made to look like new after most rides....just buy some extra shoes laces for them as they DO get dirty...

My northwaves were velcro, i've never found having laces being a hindrance, you can get a snug fit that does not loosen up throughout the day.

roger_merriman

Rick Chasey wrote:

Supermurph09 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Just curious, so not rhetorical; why do you want laces?

Not so much a point of wanting laces, happy with other systems but I did like the shoes I linked for lots of reasons so wanted to gauge peoples opinions on laces only.

My take is why take a pair of shoes that you can't adjust on the fly?

admittedly my shoes tend to be touring/MTB types but frankly once I've done them up, thats it. I can't remember ever wanting to stop to adjust them, being blunt they just work.