Happy feet equals happy rider. Through the years I’ve burned through a few pairs of decent cycling shoes. Only one pair has lasted more than two years.
Cycling shoes take quite a bit of battering, they’re exposed to the elements, they become super-filthy because of their proximity to the street, getting the biggest splashes and becoming encrusted with mud on wet offroad rides.
Wet Feet Not Good
In the South African Karkloof classic offroad ride there is a single river crossing which is about knee to waist high. The first year I was the brave man and tried to just wade through, you know the drill, I’m being tough, but the rest of the ride knocked me back down to size. The remaining 60km had my feet squishing in my shoes the whole time. The next year I had the sense to completely remove my shoes and socks and put them on after wading through the river. 5 minutes lost, but more than gained back from happy feet for the remaining 60km.
So, where am I going with this?
As much as I’d like to think that any old thing on my feet will do, snug fitting and comfortable shoes make a difference when riding. This difference becomes most apparent when riding further, and although it might not contribute huge gains in time or performance, the comfort gained during long rides is priceless.
A little shoe history
Shimano LX (can’t remember the number, circa 1995), with one strap and laces, which were comfy enough, but the sole cracked on a very tame bit of offroad. The broken sole was a major pain, but the shoes themselves were good in most other respects. They were a budget model and didn’t shine beyond that classification.
Switched brands to Gaerne. Not pleasant. The single rollerblade style clip made a single pressure point so the shoes were either too loose , with my feet swimming around, or just tight enough and cutting into my feet from the pressure on the single point.
Sidi which I got from my brother. The width of the sole was a little too narrow and I didn’t ride these for long because the size was a little too small too (not the fault of the shoes, my brothers feet were a tad smaller).
My Shimano babies
I’d heard from friends who owned Shimano shoes with 3 straps that they were comfy and reliable (no sole cracking). I decided to go one further and get the top of the range model with only 2 straps which were out of my price range a bit, but I figured to be worth it.
Best decision I ever made.
From the outset they were comfortable. The garish, bright red color did make me a bit unsure, but I’ve never had any fashion sense and favor comfort and reliability over looks any day of the week.
Initially they were paired with Shimano 747 pedals, until the bike with those was stolen, and then switched back to 525s for a while. I rode the shoes for four years in South Africa before heading off to Taiwan. After moving I bought a bike with Time A.T.A.C. pedals, and switched the cleats over. The thread was still fine after all these years. They’ve been matched with these pedals for a further 8 years now.
The two straps, despite seeming like too little, hold my feet perfectly. Laces were my favorite before, but came undone and would loosen over the course of a ride. To date, after 12 years of use, the velcro on this pair is still strong and still holds together as well as it did when I first got them.
The rubber soles of the shoes are still intact, there are signs of obvious wear and I don’t do any walking or portaging in them, but in comparison, the soles of my Gaernes starting just crumbling after a year and my older Shimanoes soles just started peeling off.
The comfort is unparalleled.
Inside the shoes my feet have everything they need. The leather is soft enough to not hurt my feet, while not being so soft that they feel like my foot is in a big inner tube. The inner sole is thin and tough, has stayed totally intact. It just feels good.
The overall construction cannot be faulted and none of the seams or gluing or any other part has been broken. The leather than is sewn onto the top of the straps has broken away quite a bit, but it appears that the leather part is only cosmetic anyway, so doesn’t affect performance.
Despite my reluctance to spend oodles of cash on the top-of-the-range products, there shoes remind me that there is huge value in just shelling out the cash for a guaranteed winner. Although costing more than double what my other shoes cost, the Shimanoes have outlasted them all by more than a decade.
Thank you Shimano. These were (and still are) real winners. And until further notice, these will remain my sole pair of riding shoes.
