RACE SHOES

Fancy footwear for blessed budgets; these are the lightest, latest and greatest treats for your feet

Let’s be clear from the start: this is a test of the very best footwear available. We’re still looking at all the usual factors – comfort, weight, stiffness, and so on – but we’re setting the bar very high.

Anyone can benefit from lighter and stiffer shoes, but none of these will transform your riding. There are gains to be had but they are of the marginal variety. Chasing ultimate stiffness and lightness is expensive.

Saving 150g from your shoes has benefits whether you’re 90kg and new to the sport or 65kg and a seasoned racer. If you’re 90kg, however, you can make other gains for free (by avoiding the aggregation of margarine and grains). If you’re a racer with six per cent body fat the proportional weight saving is bigger, and your likely improved cadence and acceleration will extend the benefits.

Our process for testing these shoes was simple – we rode in them lots. We bought a bulk load of cleats and set the shoes up in advance so we could swap repeatedly. Every pair was taken on at least one very long ride and subjected to maximum-effort sprints to judge the key metrics of comfort and stiffness respectively. One rider did all of the testing to ensure comparisons and judgements were fair and consistent. We also regularly switched back to our favourite older shoes for reference.

Everyone’s feet are different – be it width, volume, instep, toe taper or hairiness (okay, that last one isn’t relevant) – so while we can tell you what a pair of shoes is like, we can’t tell you whether you will like them.

As ever, this test is about arming you with the best possible information to help you make an informed buying decision. Only you know the shape of your feet and what you want from a shoe, so check the fit carefully in a shop or at home on carpet if you’ve bought online. Our tester’s feet are size 45 and of regular width and instep but notably low volume. All weights shown are for that size and were made on the same scales.