Nine years later, Giro is now a major force in the cycling shoe market thanks to Eric Horton, Giro’s creative director, who has single-handedly ensured every model range since 2010 is lighter, stiffer and more stylish than before. The company also still uses the original Prolight and Trans monikers in the current line-up, which further bolsters its heritage and status as a reputable brand. Exceedingly expensive but ever so light with great ventilation and supreme comfort, Giro's new Imperial shoes are an impressive addition to the US company's range, and a top choice if you want a light shoe that doesn't compromise on durability and foot retention. The upper is light and airy but somehow tough enough for gravel racing. The laces aren't adjustable mid-ride but the stretch and low-structure upper mean they don't need to be. There are other lace up shoes but none of them are as light, and light shoes on your constantly moving feet feel great. Like other types of shoes, cycling shoes of the same size from different brands will vary in length, width, and fit. Most road bike shoes are labeled in EU sizes. Brands provide size guides to help you close in on the sizes they use on their shoes compared to the size of other shoes you wear. Garneau also includes different height arch supports that connect with these insoles. We found the highest one works well to effectively give both of with relatively high arches the support we need.

While the rest of the world found themselves drawn to the Giro lace up shoes when a young, potential saviour of American cycling put them into road cycling race reports, I wasn't paying attention. Ten years later when another American phenom, Keegan Swenson, was again using Giro lace ups, this time for gravel racing, I still wasn't paying much attention. Instead, it was seven years ago watching the impossibly cool, slightly older Taylor Phinney hike through the snow in Therabout Reprise with Cam Wurf, Gus Morton, and Lachlan Morton. The four friends weren't racing but seeing Phinney with his bright coloured laces wrapped around the centre of his Giro shoes is a memory I haven't forgotten. Giro quietly entered the shoe market in 2010 with a four-pronged product line-up comprising the Prolight SLX, Factor, Trans and Espada (women-specific). Giro’s strategy, based around lightweight materials, dynamic designs and affordability, helped it secure a significant slice of the market in a very short space of time.Like: Consistent with how I think about Rapha clothing, their Pro Team road cycling shoes combine traditional design elements and modern styling that works to set them apart from the rest. So while I will lay out the major design criteria here, you should only be aware of them and choose how well they deliver the performance, cost, and look you want from your shoes rather than whether your shoes have one design feature or another. You do get far more protection against scuffing the upper at the front of the Torch than the 7. A rubbery, bumper-type piece about the height of your toes wraps that area of the shoe’s outside. I think I’ve covered this in the section above, but allow me to repeat myself in this Q&A section of the post. Spending more on the best bike shoes gets you better performance in most cases. That sounds obvious but isn’t true with every cycling product.

Fortunately, all the shoes I’ve reviewed are made of pretty high quality. The most you should have to do on some that have this feature is to replace the heel pads on the bottom of the shoes when they wear down to improve your walking rather than your riding. You’ll also want to keep your Boa system clean by using some water on the dials and silicone on the wire guides to avoid things from getting gummed up. Even the single-digit increase in the model number from RC902 to RC903 and the almost identical weight (242 to 244 grams on my scale for a single EU43 shoe) suggests little has changed.Outsole bolt holes – Nearly all road shoes come with 3 bolt holes in the outsole to work with road cleats made by Shimano and Look, the most popular pedal systems. Speedplay, another popular road pedal system now made by Wahoo, uses cleats with 4 holes. While you can find a couple of shoes that come with outsoles specifically designed for 4-hole Speedplay cleats, a simple adapter Speedplay makes can convert any 3-hole shoe to work with their pedals. Normally, if a novel or unique design doesn’t make the gear perform better or reduce cost, it is a wasted effort. With the look of shoes being important to some, design approaches can provide a distinctive or gotta-have look in the designer’s or buyer’s eyes. I can only point out but can’t judge a distinctive look with my admittedly blind-to-fashion sensitivities. You are the best judge of what looks best to you. True to its name, the shoes stay very cool in warm weather. The pair Nate and I tested have two vented slots in the outsole, one that’s aligned with the area underneath my 2nd and 4th toes and another under my arch. Along with this, the Course Air Lite XZ comes with a cushiony, open-cell foam insole that allows the air to flow through. For cooler days, there’s a second closed-cell foam insole.

Sizes– You’ll find half sizes available for most shoes in the more common foot size range. Most also have women’s sizes or at least smaller shoes of similar lasts. Some shoes are sold in standard widths, and others are sold in wide sizes. Like:For the labeled size (we tested a size EU 43.0), the S-Works Torch feels a bit longer than the S-Works 6 and 7. Whereas the 7 had a pointier toe box, a characteristic that might appeal to those with far longer big and second toes than the rest, the Torch is more rounded for those with piggies with more similar lengths. And when they did arrive, it was winter, and my hot indoor trainer rides with a hard-blowing fan were the closest I could come to a summer simulation. I completed testing the SH10 in the spring on some surprisingly warm April days, a few cooler ones, and even a day with pop-up rain showers.Because shoes are sized differently for the same length foot, and my fellow testers and I have remarkably close but not identical size feet, you’ll see shoe sizes from 42.5 to 43.5 in the chart below. However, the last characteristics are based on wearing the right size shoes for each tester.

The Velcro strap featured on Giro’s first range-topping shoe, the Prolight SLX. Apart from the obvious weight savings they offer, the straps do tend stretch over time and the Velcro is prone to contamination.Out on the road, you'll immediately feel what all the fuss is about, no marketing fluff here. The shoes are not only incredibly comfortable but noticeably precise when it comes to power transfer. In fact, the Imperials combine the best qualities of the Empire SLX and Prolight - topped off only by the on-the-fly adjustability of the Boa dials.