sxevegan

I recently received my pair of full custom cycling shoes. There are countless reviews online about cycling components and clothing, but very little information on full custom footwear. In my opinion, shoes are one of the more important contact points when it comes to cycling performance, so I wanted to provide some information on the process of buying the shoes as well as the benefits I’ve experienced since I got them almost 2 months ago.
The cliff notes: These are extremely lightweight shoes that feel stiffer than anything else I’ve tried. They are so comfortable you don’t notice you have shoes on, and the performance is unreal. I’ve DEMOLISHED my 5 sec and 30 sec power records since I started using these shoes.

Full version:

The shoes I’m using are made by Simmons Racing (www.simmonscyclingshoes.com), a custom shop in Cape Coral Florida. The owner (Dave Simmons) and his wife have been making inline skates since 1991, but are relatively new to the cycling market. Every shoe is made by Dave and his wife from start to finish. None of the labor is outsourced. They are handmade in the USA.

Dave’s goal is to build the most comfortable, lightest, and stiffest shoe possible. He’s built plenty of shoes (in adult sizes) under 100 grams. The upper and sole are the same piece of carbon fiber, so it is stiff like nothing else you’ve ever felt.

The process starts with a cast of your foot. He has a video on his website to show you how to cast yourself, or you can schedule an appointment with him at one of the events he is attending. I flew out to Fort Wayne, Indiana to have Dave do the cast.

Your foot is wrapped in plaster and as the plaster begins to harden he has you put your weight on your feet to make sure the bottoms of your feet are formed well into the cast. He does one foot at a time and the process takes about 30-45 minutes. When he gets back to his shop he creates a replica of your foot using the cast. He builds the shoe around the replica of your foot so that the shoe is a perfect fit and conforms to every toe indentation and every bump on your foot. This isn’t just a custom insole or a heat mouldable shoe. The entire shoe is basically vacuum-formed around your foot as it is being built. It is the type of fit that no lacing system, straps, insoles, etc can provide you with. It is hard to describe, but when you put it on your foot you can almost forget it is there because it fits so well and it is so light.




You can customize a whole lot more than the fit. If you under or over pronate, Dave can build the shoe to compensate. There is no need to purchase wedges because the canting is built into the boot at whatever level you need.

The shoe is made for whatever cleat system you are using. I’ve talked to a lot of speedplay users who are limited on their footwear choices because they don’t want to use an adapter plate.

Cleat mounting is also fully customizable. You get to decide where the mounting block is on the bottom. If you think you’d rather have your cleats mounted further back or further forward than your current shoes allow, let Dave know and he can make it that way. Most stock shoes are designed so that the toes curve up. During your casting you can let Dave know exactly how much you want your toes to curve up. If you aren’t sure how much your toes should point up or where your mounting block should be, don’t be overwhelmed. If you don’t have a preference, Dave can build the shoes similar to what you are currently using.


The “lacing” system is up for you to decide on. You can get as few or as many buckles as you want. He can do laces if you want laces. If there is another lacing system out there you prefer (like a Boa type) he can do that too. I went with a single buckle. It is interesting that the custom fit is so good that I can run the shoes without the straps and not notice a difference until I get up to sprint.

I’m still realizing the full potential of these shoes. I knew they would be good based on the inline skating boots I’ve gotten through Dave in the past, but my expectations were pretty quickly surpassed. On the first ride I could tell this shoe was a step ahead in the evolution process of cycling shoes. Remember the first time you ditched toe clips for clipless pedals and you had that “Aha” moment where you realized this is how cycling shoes should work? Well, I had this moment all over again. Since the top of the shoe (the whole upper) is the made out of carbon fiber, the entire structure of the shoe is stiff. Your entire foot feels connected to the cranks, not just your sole. It is impossible to put the feeling into words, but if you are ever racing in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, or Kansas and have around a size 12 (47) foot, I’d love for you to take them for a spin so you can feel the difference for yourself.

They are noticeably lighter than anything else I’ve owned (Mavic, Sidi, Specialized, and Shimano).

I haven’t used aerolab or the chung method to test the aerodynamics of these yet, but I’m willing to bet the cda is lower than anything else I own, even if I don’t have shoe covers on these and I do on the others. Since it is an exact mould of your foot, I can’t see how the frontal area could be reduced any more. The buckle system I chose adds some drag, so if aerodynamics is a big concern for you, you may consider a different style of buckle, but I like these for the ease of on the fly adjustment.

There really isn’t a need to really crank down the strap because the shoe fits so well. When every square millimeter of the shoe is hugging your foot, you don’t need to go crazy with the straps. Think of trying to tighten something with 1 bolt vs using 4. With 1 bolt you have more fatigue at the spot where the bolt is located. If you use 4, the pressure is distributed over a larger area and that distribution will keep you from putting too much pressure on one spot. These Simmons shoes are like the ladder. You don’t get hot spots while riding because the tightness of the shoe isn’t just located along the straps, it is all over.

So how does that relate to performance? At first I thought I was just getting a benefit in the first 6 to 10 pedal strokes and then everything went back to normal, but it was more than that. I could tell my jump was much stronger, and the powertap confirmed it. Pretty much any day of the week I can go out and put out a higher 5 sec power number than my previous record with my Mavic Zxelliums.

I thought that was the extent of it, but then I looked at some other sprints I had done in the mavics and noticed that my 15 sec power was higher on the new shoes as well. Last night I did a 30 second effort and blew my old 30 sec record out of the water. It wasn’t even close, and oddly I didn’t even feel great riding last night.

glrnns280

He used to make my speed teams inline boots 15yrs ago. The 5 wheel type of skates..

bianchi10

thats pretty swanky! Can he make them in different colors and such as well or are you limited to this black?

Commodus

$1500 seems like a lot for shoes to me...

assuming I'm reading his site correctly.

bianchi10

HOLY HELL!

sideshow_bob

$1500 expensive? Really? I don't understand this logic, plenty of us pay $80+ plus per tire that last a month. Or $2K+ for wheelsets, that arguably make very little difference to the vast majority etc etc. But spend on a set of shoes you wear every day for 2-5 hours at a stretch and where comfort is a primary concern and people look at you like you're a freak.

I've never heard of these shoes before this thread, they do look great like the early Bonts (which I've owned many pairs). Like the early Bont's they seem to be lacking a few features that go into the durability category. Some type of covering on the toe box (toe overlap > eats expensive shoes), and the sole needs something more substantial on the heel/toe for walking in them 5g of plastic yes adds weight, but stops you eating a very thin carbon sole very quickly.

Commodus

I suppose if I bought $80 tires that last a month (these exist?) or $2K wheelsets I might have a different opinion.

But as long as I'm rolling on my Vittoria Diamante Pros, and my $500 wheelsets, I guess I'll stick with my $250 Diadoras.

gg-madone

thats what i paid for my silver bont vapors. full remoldable carbon.

do those shoes have any venting? cant tell with those pics.
but they do look sweet

sideshow_bob

Bonts do production line shoes and full custom.

The full customs are the same shoe just built off foot moulds. They are around $1000 give or take, so if you compare apples and apples.

My Bonts have all been straight off the shelf. Fortunately that works for me, but I know people who've benefited greatly from custom fit for one reason or another.

eippo1

Those look damn impressive. If I were racing for money, I might consider them, but I got lucky w/ the fit of Sidis.

bianchi10

I think it depends on what level of rider you are. If you are a racer who does this for a living or even a cat 1 cat 2 racer, I can understand, But I would say the majority of riders on this forum or cyclists in general would say a $2K BIKE is out of their budget let alone $1500 for shoes. If I could financially afford to spend that much on shoes I most def would. my specialized s works are just fine for my level of riding. Dropping $500 on my wheelset caused me to have a shortness of breath for several minutes with a severe case of buyers remorse. I'm sure the shoes have a supreme comfort but it isn't necassary. The comfort and luxury of a $100K car would be nice also, but I will never be able to afford that nor need it.

Inertianinja

Looks awesome. I am considering switching from Sidi --> something heat molded, but this is very cool.

Looigi

Do you have an explanation or theory as to why these allow you to put out more power?

VA_Esquire

I can post a picture of my Sidis that I bought at the beginning of the year and the wheelset I bought in November......Lets just say the wheelset is doing a hell of a lot better cosmetically.

$1,500 is stupid. Ergo...you are.

Jed19

We've been there before. Stupid is spending $1500 on shoes if you are making $70,000/yr. If making $350,000, then not stupid at all. There are those who can afford to blow $1500 on a bottle of wine at dinner.

ravenmore

I'd love to try this someday but that's a bit out of my league. Nice looking shoe.

ravenmore

I remember someone saying in regards to Boonen shortening his top tube due to his back injury that, in cycling, comfort = speed. Mean that, even though he didn't have as agressive of a position on the bike, he was more comfortable and able to sustain harder efforts longer. Not sure if that applies here though.

ultraman6970

Wonder if the guy has a solution with guys that have feet that swell after 30 mins of riding. Cool shoe and I believe you that they work but for me for example a super tight shoe doesn't work at all, because after 30 mins my two dogs swell like almost a full number. Nice design, like your shoes

sxevegan

You can do any color leather. There are quite a few choices you can make regarding the logos as well. For right now, I think he is just doing black carbon, but he was talking about experimenting with some dyes.

Somebody else mentioned scuff guards. He has them on his skate boots so I';m sure he could add them to the cycling shoes as well. If he did, I'm sure you could pick the color. The toes on my shoes still don't have a scratch on them, but it has only been two months (knock on wood).

Inertianinja

i came back to the thread just to look at them again. man those shoes look dope.

sxevegan

It IS a lot of money for shoes. I certainly can't say everyone needs a pair of these. That simply isn't true. Plus, Dave can't (and doesn't want to) handle a thousand custom orders per year. It isn't feasible for one man to make that many.

But, on the flip side, you can also say that 99% of the people on here don't need anything more than a stock caad10 105, but people who are simply riding for recreation are buying ceramic bottom bracket bearings, ceramic jockey pulleys, carbon bars, carbon bottle cages, carbon seatposts, carbon railed saddles, titanium bolts, carbon cranks, etc. I can go on for days. You won't be able to feel a difference in 90% of those items, but the cost adds up to more than these shoes cost....and you certainly can feel a difference with these.

edit: I have nothing wrong with people spending money on the stuff listed above. I was just pointing out the fact that a lot of us buy more bike than we need. The argument that a $1500 shoe is dumb because it is more than we need isn't a good argument to make.

JoelS

Yup, they're pricey. But often high quality niche items are, and these look like they certainly qualify.

Enjoy your new shoes! Shoes that fit right are a wonderful thing.

VA_Esquire

weight?
What if I am wear thick socks? thin socks? no socks? foot swelling? warranty if in a crash?

sxevegan

The weight depends on the size of the shoe and how you want it built. He has plenty of shoes (in adult sizes) under 100g. I have a relatively big foot (size 47 in other shoes)and mine are 258g. My shoes also have a bit more padding than the others, probably because Dave knows the length of the stage races I'll be doing and wanted to compensate for a little swelling in the feet.

For an example you can visually see, look at this photo:


The inside of the shoe is all carbon on the bottom. My shoe has a neoprene liner throughout. If I was just doing 90 min crits, I would have told him I wanted a lighter shoe with less padding. Instead, I told him I'd be doing 100+ mile stages and comfort was my first priority, followed by stiffness, followed by durability, with weight being the least important.

jwill87ta

That is plain old stupid sexy. Carbon insole.