Thanks for tuning in today we're going to be reviewing the DMT KR3 road cycling shoes.
Marketed as light comfortable and fast full-knit road cycling shoes the KR3s
are DMT's mid-level offering they utilize DMT's distinctive full-knit upper construction
but offer Italian design and performance at a more affordable price point. Now packaging
is quite bright you have DMT's distinctive orange coloring on the entire cardboard box and DMT branding
on the side. Really nice quote on top that success comes from taking care of every last detail
and then you can see the shoe we have here today is the white black variation
sizing here is quite specific to DMT. Being an Italian shoe you do need to be careful. I highly
recommend looking at the sizing chart we have the EUR 43 which is actually a US nine and a half.
So I'll go ahead and take out the box and go over the specs.
Now retail price on this is $299.90 so it's about $100 more than the KR4 which have a nylon sole but
quite a bit more affordable than the KR1 which can be as much as $500 or more depnding on
which edition. These are fully engineered knit upper so with DMT all their shoes are actually
have knit upper constructions. You have a single IP1 BOA dial for nice precision and control.
You have an aerated carbon outsole so very stiff and you can see nice large
air vents through here with the three bolt compatibility as well as the Look memory cleat
which is a nice thing to see here. It has eight millimeter forward and backward
adjustment so you can really get a nice fit as well as a replaceable heel pad which is really
nice to see on more premium shoes. In terms of what comes in the box obviously you get the shoes.
You got the other one it's a very sleek styling what's cool here is that you actually get the
BOA tool and that's actually something i haven't seen before. So it's a little tool here and
that goes through the center of the o of the BOA so very you're gonna almost not see it but you can
actually unscrew that take the cap off clean it or replace the lace if you ever needed to. Its nice to see
here it's actually a little bit expensive to buy that separately. You get the warranty information
so DMT is an italian company they provide a pretty nice warranty as far as replacement repair.
You get a nice branded DMT bag and I always like to see these it's a great way to travel with the
shoes. It keeps them clean and you can also store them with these you also get a little a zippered
pocket on the inside so this is great for putting socks or other accessories when you're on the road.
Inside the box you also get a little information on the memory cleat
and it's something you rarely see it's a great way to use a Look keo pedal so. We actually have a full
video on this i'll link to but you actually get the bolts for them so little five millimeter bolts
and they go down the center and let you replace cleats without losing the position. Now let's take
a look at the weight of the KR3 shoes again these are the North American variation and the euro 43
so if we put just the left shoe that comes in at 234. It's quite light for comparison the right shoe
is 236 a very slight variation.
Now let's go over the fit and finish of the KR3 shoes. Although the KR3 shoes lack the bling
bling of the KR1 crystal shoes which actually have crystals embedded in the upper material they're
very sleek and distinctive. They're also one of the most affordable carbon sold road cycling
shoes that DMT currently offers. Now DMT has really invested in the full knit construction. All their
shoes currently have knit construction and these are the full engineered variation so it's not a
hybrid it's actually fully engineered. You see very flexible and DMT offers these shoes in three different
color variations the white and black that you see here. It's a dual tone so you have black down
the middle and white along the sides as well as a black variation which has black and then gray
and as well as a blue color. Note the blue color is not currently available in the US though. There's very
subtle branding on here, you just have DMT on the side you have little orange DMT accents on here
and that's really their unique color. Again DMT in the orange on the back so they definitely stand
out and add a little bit of visibility when you're riding. Otherwise DMT is simply written on the sole
so very sleek you have a high contrast glossy heel cup here to provide really good comfort.
Otherwise it's a tongueless design so you can see it almost looks like a slipper rather than a
cycling shoe so it really wraps around and has this nice flexible material.
They use a variable thickness knit construction as well as different orientations so you can actually
see that depending on where you're looking at the shoe the knit has been designed to maximize
the performance and reduce the weight. Closure wise you have a single BOA dial. This is an IP1
so you get dual direction micro adjustment which is really nice. So you can tighten it
in one direction loosen in the other and then pull up to do a full release. It has a
fabric tab here that helps put the shoes on with this slipper like construction is a little
less convenient to put on as you have to pull this up and then slide
it in. You can see very elastic and you can see the front material is also nice and thin so
it won't actually rub against your ankle aand very good heel support here as well with these little
almost rubbery like material on the inside. That'll prevent your heel from rising
which is a nice detail and very stiff but as you tighten this you can see
this will actually pull inward on this nice soft material and provide a tight fit. In terms
of the sole this is an aerated carbon fiber sole and actually has this little plastic cover on here
and you can pull that off and presumably you could put it back on if you needed to
to prevent if you had colder weather or wet weather conditions. Otherwise it has a very large
air intake here what's interesting about the sole is that there actually is no toe pad here. Instead
it's designed for the cleat to be your front pad and then the rear pad is this nice replaceable
rubber piece you can see the two screws here it's really nice to see a removable piece.
Now that means if you ride these shoes for a few years or do a lot of walking on them
you can always just call the mt get this replacement for cheap and then keep riding with
them instead of damaging this nice glossy sole. It's a nice carbon fiber sole as well it looks
really good but you definitely want to protect it when you're walking so it's nice to have the
cleat on here as well as the heel pad. What's nice about this is it has this a rough material
here to hold your clean in place full eight millimeter adjustability backward and forward
with a three bolt cleat design and it's great to see the Look memory eyelet on here the center hole.
So with the center hole you simply leave your cleat on here bolt that down and then you can take
your cleat off leaving the little center piece and have the new cleat go exactly in the same
spot. I'll link the full video but really nice to see a lot of shoes don't typically offer that.
Otherwise very nice soft comfortable construction you can see more slipper like than road cycling
shoe and with the knit design it goes all the way around and even hides a little toe cap
so very sleek overall finish. Now let's look at the insoles on the DMT KR3 shoes they're
described as an aerated carbon sole and you can see it's very ventilated. The whole thing
has perforations from front to back and what's also cool about this is that you have these
air channels underneath so you can see this little groove that helps funnel the air
through and under while keeping a little gap between your feet and the bottom of the shoes.
That'll help the air that comes in through the front channels go through and then
come all the way to the back so definitely a nice design especially for warm weather cycling.
Here you can see the KR3 shoes on the road as you can see it's a very distinctive style even though
it's only white and black that one piece design is quite distinctive and the contrasting colors are
really well placed we also like the orange DMT logos on there that give it a little splash of
color and overall good-looking shoes and with that knitted upper construction gives a nice premium
look. You don't have any front toe guards or rear guards. Also that knit upper construction is very
soft as you can see here it's very flexible it's almost a little bit odd to wear compared to other
shoes as there's not much structure there so as you move your toes up it actually flexes. That
means the more narrow toe box on here is actually still comfortable now on the road the carbon soles
are quite stiff so good performance shoe. The only downside i would say is that one piece upper makes
a lot more difficult to put on or take off and also has a little bit odd of a feel so when
you're sprinting and you lift your toes up it does stretch so because that knit upper construction.
Also the single BOA dial is easy to use but again we would like to see a dual BOA dial at this price
point just for that little extra flexibility. Let's compare the KR3s with other shoes on the market.
We have here is everything from the budget FLR shoes all the way to very expensive Scott RC SLs.
Comparing the budget FLR F-11 versus the DMT KR3 you can see visually they look similar except
the closure system is different. With the FLR F-11 they actually extend it down further than DMT does
but they use an Atop dial. This is a little more affordable dial similar to the BOA but you don't
have micro relase adjustments so you have to do a full release or micro tension so that's one downside.
You can't just loosen it slightly you have to do a full release. The BOA IP1 dial is definitely
a better dial as you can do micro drops in both directions to really dial in that fit.
You can also see that the knit upper construction for the DMT is a little bit softer than the FLR
and more targeted where the FLR has these little guards on the heel and toe a little bit more
bulk. While the DMT is much softer and it's a tongueless design so you can see here with the FLR
you have the traditional tongue in the center with the laces pulling it together. With the DMT you
have a distinctive a one piece design that's more slipper like so really wraps around you and as you
tighten it it kind of folds in. Now the downside of the $300 DMT shoes is that you don't get a dual BOA
dial system. With the Vaypor S from Bont Cycling, this is about a 400 shoe heat carbon moldable sole which
is a really nice feature you don't typically see but with dual BOA dials. Similar wrap around design
but you can see where this is more slipper like you actually have a full wrap around
with the Vapor S but obviously more expensive. The Shimano RC9 S-PHYRE is another
distinctive shoe, similar anatomic design heel cup a flexible upper. That's a nice thing a lot of
modern high performance shoes are very soft so you don't have those bulky uppers anymore.
Same wraparound design but again this has an LI2 dual BOA dial system as with the DMT KR1
you'd also get a dual boa dial system which really lets you tune the fit a little bit better.
The most expensive shoes we've actually reviewed to date are the Scott RC SLs. You can see
same carbon fiber sole, a non-replaceable heel pad toe pad but good ventilation similar to the DMT
but with these you have a little more tec. You have the Carbitex upper material.
Lighter weight these are closer to 500 grams as the Shimanos are
while the DMT KR3 is a little bit closer to the 600 mark. They're both lightweight and as long as you're
as you're not a weight weenie it really doesn't matter. I think the DMT provide
a good balance between the more expensive dual dial setups and the more budget shoes. So you
get a good balance between the carbon fiber sole instead of the nylon that the FLR has
while still getting the flexibility and ventilation that the full knit upper provides.
Now let's go over the score card for the DMT KR3 knit shoes. We're gonna grade on four different
categories: design, closures, comfort and value. Design would give it an a it has a nice dual
color scheme with that fully knit upper one piece design. It's really distinctive and even though
we'd like to see more color schemes the tuxedo design with the white and black looks great.
Closures would be an A- it only has a single BOA dial we would love to see a dual zone dual BOA
dial setup just for a little bit more flexibility. Comfort would be A, its a very flexible knitted
upper construction so really lets you stretch out and even though it is a more narrow
toe box in typical shoes because of that knit upper construction it flexes.
Overall value-wise we give A- these are italian cycling slippers that piece design
they're very comfortable and they look quite distinct we would have liked to seen a dual BOA
dial at this price point but nevertheless as an Italian shoe i think these give you
a lot of value and comfort. Thanks for watching this review don't forget to like and subscribe
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