Doge

I may have mine to sell. Used 1 week.

PepeM

Couldn't tell me two days ago?

topflightpro

TKP, I've done Specialized and Shimano. Both were solid quality, but neither worked for me.

I ended up going with semi-custom Riivos.

Whatever you do, treat your feet right and get some decent shoes. We spend thousands on and countless hours debating the qualities of bikes, race wheels, tires, handlebars... but for some reason, the thought of spending a few hundred dollars on new shoes every few years seems outrageous. Really, feet are a contact point. Shoes are probably more important than we give them credit.

Matt2.8NJ

I just replaced my 2011 S-Works shoes with the Shimano R321.

OK so far in terms of fitment. Nice quality items, but I've only done 500 miles or so, and the shoes are breaking in, albeit slowly.

mike868y

i LOVE specialized shoes. they work for my feet and specialized stands behind their products like no other company i've ever experienced. i bought white sworks shoes in maybe...2011 and they've replaced them twice now for various failures (the most recent time with the new sub 6 version), no questions asked. people complain about the BOAs but they replace them for free and I just swap them out once a year and its fine. obviously everyone's feet are different but if the spec work for you i cannot recommend them enough.

TheKillerPenguin

I agree with this. It is funny that I have become so detail oriented with everything else yet haven't bothered with the shoe. Kind of silly.

Thanks for all the replies so far.

miyata man

I bought a pair of S-Works from umd to use as rain shoes years ago. At least one BOA a month fails under regular dry use. I distinctly remember Mikey having at least two races negatively impacted by his shoes or multiple BOA failure. They are probably better now, but reliability is sub-par across multiple generations of them by his own admission.

Of my pile of shoes the aforementioned S-Works and Sidi Wire get used the most. The former because they fit so good and, with boa bulk shipping me dials for free, fulfill a lot of lesser duties. I've never found another shoe that can drain and dry out from rain anywhere near as well. The Wire are for go time. Stiff, responsive, and breathable.

globecanvas

Fit is to shoe choice as location is to real estate. My feet are weird, maybe everybody's feet are, I have tried and returned sooo many shoes over the years. The only shoes I have ever found that work for me and are stiff enough are Lake and Shimano, both in wide sizes.

In Shimano, I have had 2 pairs of R320 and they are awesome. When I destroyed the first pair in a crash, I tried the R321s but the odd closure over the top of the foot didn't work for me, it sort of lumped up and didn't fit smoothly, so instead I found some NOS R320s on ebay.

I also really like the Lake CX332, though they took a while to break in compared to the Shimanos.

Ttoc6

I own (and ride in) a set of sworks road shoes from ~2014 and a set of Giro Empire ACC's from 2015. Both are great shoes and I can't really tell the difference between the stiffness of these two shoes. Kinda just depends on what color shoe I want to wear on any given day lol.

I'd highly recommend the Sworks shoes though.

jsk

I have difficult-to-fit feet, wide but only at the front. The only off-the-shelf shoes I've found to fit me pretty well are the wide Lakes, with the top model being the best due to the heat-moldable heel. If I hadn't found these I probably would have gone the custom route with Riivos (he's semi-local to me, had him make some custom speedskates for me in the past).

mike868y

i mean i had some problems with the BOAs when they wore out and I didn't realize you should replace them semi-regularly (and BOA will send you replacements for free) and I had one problem where the stitching failed in which case specialized replaced the shoes no questions asked. once replaced i wore the same pair for about 4 years with a ton of miles with no problems so I wouldn't really consider reliability sub par but as usual you live in your own little reality so...

mattm

+1 on the s-works shoes, they're (almost) worth their hefty price tag. I've only used them and some way cheaper Sidis.

I will say though that I liked the fit of the 2015 s-works shoes compared to this year's model. They widened the toe box and the heel is way tighter now, but you get used to it.

miyata man

Keep it positive, kid. I'm among the very few who stood up against the barrage of short jokes. "In my own world" you cursed freely and openly when two consecutive race weekends were preempted by Specialized shoe issues.

Cleaning/lubing the polymer coating and spots where the wire contacts the shoe are good practice on BOA shoes.

topflightpro

That is my problem as well. I have normal size heels but very wide feet at the toes.

I found that Lakes fit OK, but I didn't like the BOA system on the 236s I had. I wish Lakes were easier to find.

I've been happy with my Riivos, other than the fact that I seem to crack the heel at least once a year. They can be repaired, but it's frustrating.

jsk

That's a bummer, do you think it's from walking on them? Seems like a pretty serious flaw in shoes at that price point. Maybe they're a little too light/stiff...

miyata man

@aaronmcd I couldn't help but think of you. For fit purposes only. (You know you are fully getting weird when you're shopping at a tandem shop that misspells their own misspelled product name in the link address)

Second option, sacrifice a current crank.

gerundium

Have the same issue and currently searching for a replacement set of shoes after riding S-works for 3 years. (2014 model) Figured out that i compensated for the above by actually riding a shoe one size too large...

Anyone have experience with the new generation s works and how they break in? I read that they use a band of dyneema over the top of your foot which doesn't stretch at all, but does the toe box itself stretch in any way?

topflightpro

I don't really know. I think it has to do with occasionally coming down too hard on my heel when stopping. It's been a bit more pronounced this year as I have been racing track.

I have two pair of the shoes now, so it's not a big deal to send them back and get them fixed.

For much of my life, I've just crammed my feet into shoes that were too narrow and forced them to stretch. As a result, I have really messed up looking pinkie toes. They never quite grew right and my toe nail doesn't grow properly.

dz_nuzz

I have beaten a set of S-Works 6s (Sub-6s with boas) into the ground over two years of riding (~30k miles) and I am really impressed with durability. One understated advantage over the older S-Works shoes is that the carbon soles are both not glassy and seem to resist damage a lot better than the older S-Works road shoes which seemed to become destroyed after like 1 week of using them. They are two years in and don't look all that bad, and I walk in them far more than I should.

caloso

I'm on my 3d set of S-Works shoes. Bought this latest pair a few years ago on the Specialized clearance section of the website, which eased the sting a little. Hoping to finish out the season on these, but the carbon is beginning to flake at the heel.

miyata man

Good to know about the S-Works 6. The detents inside the non-replaceable cup BOA dial sits are about worn to nothing on my older pair. Teammates really like the new Bontrager XXX so I might try a pair on at the shop tonight.

Any of you tried the new Sidi Shot?

Matt2.8NJ

I have a similar issue on my S-Works, much worse though on an old pair of Shimano R310 still sitting in my closet.

I was thinking of using this:
https://www.amazon.com/Proguard-Prot.../dp/B004AGQX9C

To stop the flaking process. It's from my hockey days, we used it to repair the toes of our skates.

Ygduf

how do they crack? I've two pair, the latest which I've had for 3+ years without issue other than the cheap-ass not-boas (and now he uses boa dials...)

PepeM

30mm, ~910g or 50/60mm, ~1380g wheels? #41

globecanvas

I have both (roughly). Almost always use the 60s.