Tips for choosing road cycling shoes

 Tips for choosing road cycling shoes

When it comes to adding kilometers with our bike, we must take into account the cycling shoes that we wear. The feeling of riding that we have on the bike depends on them, that we keep our feet firmly attached ... What are the best ones for us? Here are four points to look for when choosing cycling shoes.


In this post we want to tell you the details to take into account when choosing cycling shoes, so that you can be as good as possible when making your choice. Not surprisingly, on our website you can find more than 120 different models.

 - Tips for choosing road cycling shoes and products


WHAT DO I HAVE TO LOOK AT?
As always, the first thing is to establish a budget.

Once we have it, and if possible, we will have to be a bit flexible: depending on the practice we do, we may have to go to a more technical product, and therefore more expensive, or perhaps it is enough for us to something less technical and cheaper.

In this regard, it is important to emphasize that, as in many sports, the most expensive is not always what best suits us. Therefore, it is very important to know the level of our practice so that they can advise us correctly.

And to know what we are talking about, I will give you a clear example.

The cheapest shoes are based on ...

… Have a more ergonomic housing.
… Its mooring is done with cords or velcro.
… And the sole is made of plastic.
On the one hand, this offers greater comfort, but on the other hand, it makes it more efficient to transmit the force we use. At the same time, it makes us lose touch when it comes to driving.

So, if you like, we are going to mark the points to take into account when choosing cycling shoes:

1.THE SOLE: CARBON OR PLASTIC?
Perhaps it is the point to take more into account of a shoe, and for that reason we put it first.

Tips for choosing road shoes: sole

 
As we have commented previously, and in order not to go to very technical aspects about materials, there are roughly two types of materials:

Soles made with compounds that we commonly call plastic.

Carbon soles.
Plastic soles make their way into less technical shoes. They turn out to be more comfortable shoes, since they flex more.

As is well known by the cycling world, carbon is the king of the weight / resistance balance but, in addition, one of its great characteristics is its great rigidity.

Therefore, by not flexing like plastic, a carbon sole will transmit all the energy of our effort to the pedals.

In addition, for the same reason, it will transmit the vibrations of our bicycle with greater precision compared to the asphalt, so we will have a greater riding feel.

The negative part of carbon is its higher price and that as it is a stiffer material, it is more uncomfortable to wear, so this material is aimed at high-level cyclists who seek greater optimization of energy.

2.THE MOORING
Unlike what happens in Mountain Bike shoes, in road shoes we will rarely see laces: some GIRO model (breaking the rule) and little else.

As a general rule, laces do not offer a good fit for several reasons:

• Due to the high torque generated by the foot inside the shoe, the laces end up losing their fit during the effort.
• Both the loops and the excess of the loose cord can get caught in some of the parts of the bottom bracket when we pedal, which could cause an accident.
• Tips for choosing road shoes: lacing

Therefore, we will find:

• Velcro closure on lower-end shoes,
• Millimeter closures or a combination of these with velcro in medium ranges,
• Precision wheel locks in high ranges (like the one you can see in the image above), including the well-known BOA as a reference. The wheel adjustment allows a homogeneous precision fit throughout the foot.
• One of the problems that occurred until this system reached the market was that, in order to keep the foot firmly attached and not "dance", when trying to hold the shoe well, over-pressure was carried out in the part closest to the instep to the ankle. precisely where the entire bloodstream runs, so the feet ended up going numb.

With the advent of the wheel system, the adjustment is dispersed by the different points of the foot, and this problem is avoided or reduced.

3.TRANSPIRATION
As in other footwear, we can find shells or upper (Upper part that wraps the foot) of different materials: synthetic type of more or less quality, or leather, also of greater or lesser quality.

Today, some synthetic shells are composed of materials that have been specifically developed to achieve certain characteristics that can exceed the quality of leather. For that reason we can see these materials in high-priced shoes.

But it is true that in low ranges a synthetic compound will offer less perspiration. This is why it will be important to check your ventilation system.

4.FOOT SIZE
As beautiful as a shoe may seem to us, it is important to try it on before making the final decision.

You have to keep in mind that, when pedaling, the shoe will be slightly inclined downwards, so the natural tendency of the foot is to slide forward.

A good lashing system will avoid this, but as a general rule we will say that we should have between 1 and 1.5 cm left from the longest toe to the toe.

size

Something important to keep in mind is that in winter we will use thicker socks and that margin is significantly reduced: for this reason the most “Pros” use shoes with half a size larger in winter.