Ollie: You've started cycling and you're interested in progressing to a dedicated cycling shoe
but you're unsure what the benefits of shoes like this are and you're confused by all the
different types. Well, don't worry. In this video, I'm going to explain all of that so
that you can best decide what suits your needs. [Music]
Like many sports, football, running, ice skating, cycling has dedicated footwear that can enhance
your experience of that sport. This is my cycling shoe. The main area in which it differs
from a normal trainer or sneaker, if you're American, is that the sole is very, very stiff,
it doesn't bend. Let me try and bend it. It just won't budge at all. In addition, the
upper of the shoe, it is tight and secure and is designed to really encapsulate your
foot and hold it solid, a bit like a football boot or a soccer boot, if you needed that
translation, sorry. There's also holes in the bottom of cycling
shoes and these are so that you can attach your clips which correspond to the pedals
that you're going to be clipping into. Why are cycling shoes like this? Well, the thinking
is that they help you pedal more efficiently. By not having to bend and compress a squidgy
sole, you're not wasting any energy, plus having a nice secure shoe on helps you feel
more engaged with the pedal stroke. Also, by being clipped in, you can pull up on the
pedal stroke as well as push down. This is useful for engaging other muscles such as
your hamstrings, glutes, and hip flexors. This is especially handy when riding out of
the saddle, up steep climbs, or sprinting. I'm now going to cycle through the different
kinds of shoes. Before I do, I'm just going to put a hat on because my COVID lockdown
hair keeps getting in my face and it's annoying me. Anyway. Shoes fall broadly into two different
categories. Shoes that are for the road and shoes that are for off-road. Now, the difference
between these is that off-road shoes like this are also designed to be walked in as
well as cycled in. Consequently, they have a more built-up sole on the underside and
they also are designed to use a two-bolt cleat system. Off-road cleats like this are better
at clearing mud than road cleats. Road shoes are designed to be used with road
pedals. I know I sound like a captain obvious but bear with me. Also, if you take road shoes
off-road these pedal systems will get clogged with dirt easily, they're not designed for
that. They do give a greater contact patch and surface area between the shoe and the
pedal system. This means you have a greater feeling of engagement and more comfort.
Road shoes are typically much lighter than their off-road counterparts but they're not
really designed to be walked in although walking a few meters at the cafe stop is absolutely
fine. The more you walk in them, be aware, you will wear out the cleats on the bottom,
talking of which, they typically have three holes on the bottom of the shoe to attach
the cleat on a road shoe compared to two on an off-road shoe. Here you can see a shoe
with no cleat attached, the three empty holes, and here's a sole with the cleat attached,
note the three bolts. I don't have any here but some shoe designs,
such as Northwave, actually incorporate both a 3-bolt cleat system and a 2-bolt cleat system
into the sole of the shoe so you can use either. If you're going to be doing performance road
cycling such as entering sport [unintelligible 00:03:46], big Gran Fondos, or maybe even
races, then I'd recommend a road shoe as the way to go. However, if you're going to be
riding off-road, maybe doing some cyclocross, or perhaps just mixed surface riding where
you're riding on tarmac some other time but then other surfaces like say gravel, then
an off-road shoe would be my choice and what I would recommend you get.
Something else to bear in mind is that off-road shoes are very popular for commuting especially
if your commute involves any significant amount of walking at any point in it in addition
to the cycling. I wouldn't stress too much about it because if you fall in love with
the sport, which is pretty easy to do let me tell you, then you'll probably end up just
getting both. I'm now going go into more detail about different
subcategories of shoes, the different features you can get on them, and then I'm going to
explain about different price points on what you can typically expect. First up these are
my Fizik Infinito X1s. They're an off-road shoe designed for cyclocross, cross-country
mountain biking, or gravel riding, as well I used these in the rift gravel race in Iceland.
In addition to shoes like this, you can also get off-road shoes that are really built up
a bit like a walking boot like this. These have a membrane in them to keep your foot
nice and dry and warm. They're also designed to be walked in. These are great for deep
winter riding as they effectively combine and overshoot cover that you would add on
to these other shoes built-in to the existing shoe. Some mountain bikers like our friends
over on GMBN often like a flat-soled shoe that they can use on flat pedals as well.
If you're thinking that you might do some triathlons in the future then a triathlon-specific
shoe would be a really good way to go. Generally speaking, they're absolutely fine to be used
as normal road shoes. Unfortunately, I don't have one here that I can show you in my hands
as my tri-curious phase ended a long time ago. Here are some images of our friends at
GTN using theirs. The main difference between a triathlon-specific
shoe and a road shoe is that the triathlon shoes are designed to be put on and taken
off while you're on the bike to make transition between the different disciplines as fast
as possible. They might also have a few holes in the bottom that are designed to help water
drip through from the swim. What about fastening systems then? Cycling
shoes have loads of different types, starting with velcro which is relatively inexpensive,
very simple to use. It's also pretty robust. Next up you have boa dials and other makes
of dials as well but boa are the most common. These are great because they allow for little
millimeter increments of adjustment. Each time you click that dial it adjusts the cable
by one millimeter as it pulls it in which means you can really fine-tune your fit and
get it spot on. You also get ratchets on shoes. These are
lighter-weight versions of the ratchets that you'd get on say a ski boot if you've ever
used a ski boot. These are less common these days. They used to be really common about
five years ago. The next really popular closure system on shoes is laces like on these Giros.
Now, laces have the advantage that they're really lightweight and they look cool in my
opinion of this. They have this retro aesthetic. The disadvantage of them is that you can't
adjust them easily while riding along on the fly, something you can do with boa dials and
velcro straps. If you're wondering about laces getting caught in your pedals as you pedal
along that's not a problem with the cycling shoes because they're much like football boots
designed to have the laces tucked in especially out of the way so they're nice and tight and
secure when you do them up. What can you expect at different price points?
What do you get for your money throughout different levels of shoe? Like with many things
in cycling, the more you spend the stiffer the more lightweight the component becomes.
Shoes are exactly like that. If we start entry-level, you can pick up an entry-level pair of shoes
much like these for as little as 30 or 50 pounds, euros, or dollars if you go through
a shop like Decathlon. What you're going to get is usually a shoe
with velcro closures on it because velcro is the most cost-effective thing. You do find
velcro on some really high-end shoes as well because it is pretty lightweight as well.
Now, on the bottom of the shoe, the sole is likely to be plastic or fiberglass. This is
a little bit heavier and less stiff but less expensive than a carbon fiber sole you'll
get on more expensive shoes. Also, note on these shoes, we've actually got the two-bolt
and three-bolt cleat system on there as well which is quite nice. That means you could
put either a road or an offroad cleat on there. If you spend a little bit more than that then
brands like Shimano have some excellent entry-level shoes as well below £100. On to mid-level
shoes which are categorized as being around 90 to 150 pounds, euros, or dollars price
point, really popular price point, you get something like my Fizik R5 Powerstraps I've
got here. The soles have usually moved on from being just plastic to some kine of composite
material like these are carbon composite sole which is a bit lighter and a bit stiffer than
a normal plastic sole. Manufacturers of shoes claim that a stiffer
sole is more efficient when you're pedaling along. It certainly does feel that way but
a lot of people do dispute this fact. That's worth pointing out. At this price point, you'll
get all ranges of closure systems as well. Velcro, like on these, but you'll also get
ratchets, dials, and laces too. Something else to point out is that mid-level
shoes have a noticeably higher quality of construction. The quality of the materials
used is a noticeable step up from a lot of entry-level shoes. This is something that's
also noticeable in the next rung which is your top-end shoes.
Top-end shoes like this you're talking £150 upwards. They can get very expensive indeed.
These are the best of the best. They're what pro riders in the Tour de France will use
when they're storming up mountains. They have the highest quality of construction in terms
of materials used on them as well, and the soles are typically made of the stiffest carbon
fiber available. Really stiff soles isn't something that's particularly relevant to
me if I'm honest. I'm not the most powerful sprinter in the world, but I'm reliably informed
by people who are powerful sprinters that having a stiff sole that doesn't bend when
they're really hammering out the watts is something that's really important to them.
However, something that is important to me is weight. I like to have as much help as
I can and the more expensive the shoe, as I've said before, the lighter they get. Shoes
like this are typically lighter than a mid-level shoe. Something else to consider is your choice
of upper material as well. Now, I'm quite a simple, traditional guy. I like a nice sort
of plain white upper that's very easy to wipe down, as this means you can keep it clean
if it does get some dirt splashed on there, which trust me, will happen even if you're
riding in dry conditions. If you're going to be riding off-road a lot, then I'd say
go for a black shoe, because a nice pair of white off-road shoes will look great for about
five minutes, and then they will get covered in mud. Just something to bear in mind.
In terms of finding the right size for you, I would recommend you go to your local bike
shop and you try some on because it's just like with normal shoes. You want to try them
on because everyone fits their shoes differently and different brands suit different people
better or worse. It's one of the reasons why you actually see a lot of pros not tied down
by a team shoe sponsor. They want to pick ones that really suit them because it is such
an individual thing. I recommend doing that and also, if you do go to your shop and try
a load on and you find a pair that you love, buy them from the shop. Support your local
bike shop. Don't blummin' try them on in the shop and then go buy them online. Not cool.
I hope you've found this video useful and informative. If you have then, please, give
it a thumbs-up and share it with your friends as it helps support the channel and what we
do. If you've got any questions that we haven't answered in the vid then let us know in the
comments section and we'll do our best to answer as many of them as possible. Also,
if you're interested about the different kinds of pedal systems, so road pedals, and off-road
pedals, then we've got a video that goes into all the detail of the differences between
those. We'll put a link onscreen now. [00:13:12] [END OF AUDIO]