As you will probably be told a million times, having cycling shoes makes a massive difference. When I first started cycling, I used to ride in trainers and caged pedals. I have to admit, shoes were one of my last upgrades to my arsenal, but now I couldn’t live without them! They make riding so much more comfortable (and easier). It does however take a little bit just to get used to being fixed to the pedal. I did fall over a few times when you forget you cant just put your foot down when you please. But you soon get used it.
When I went bike shoe shopping, I had two intentions: to get some road bike shoes and to spend around £70-80. I ended up doing neither! I went to a few local shops and wasn’t sold on any for my budget. But my last shop, Cycles UK, had a couple that I liked the look of. So I got talking to the sales assistant, and he spoke me through a few of the options. I decided on getting MTB shoes rather than road purely because I liked the idea that I could walk around without wearing out the cleats. And for the sake of a few grams the fact they are mountain bike shoes didn’t bother me. Cycles UK were having a special on these shoes when I got them, selling for only £99! Carbon shoes for under £100, bargain! I also got a set of Shimano pedals, but only spent around £30 on these so these will be due for an upgrade soon.
I’ve had these shoes for over a year now and ridden over 500 miles with them! And I have to say they are brilliant. They are comfortable, fit well, let the air in nicely but also keep your toes warm on the colder rides. After a year, they are still looking like new. The rubber under-sole is still in tact, the straps are still ‘velcro-y’ and the shoe has kept its shape (and therefore keeping the comfort). The carbon soles make theses shoes feel really tight and strong, and you have confidence that the power from your legs is being put into the pedals!
If you have stumbled across this as a mountain biker I can only apologise, I have not used them in that environment, but judging on the strength of these shoes I can imagine they’d do a good job.
My only (very small) criticism is the velcro fastenings. For the price, I would of liked a bit more advanced screw system that you see on some models. But this would not put my off buying a pair. I would throughly recommend these shoes, especially if you can get a cheap deal like I did.
