Shoe suggestions
 

When I got into road riding years ago I spent as much money on the bike as I possibly could and had little left over for a decent pair of shoes. Fast forward several year and I now realize this was a mistake.

So I’m on the hunt for 2 pairs of shoes. A fully dedicated road shoe and a shoe for mixed surfaces so this will be more of a gravel/MTB shoe.

I would love to go and try out shoes but honestly at the local stores they seem to only carry a couple road shoes and a couple MTB shoes so selection is really really low when you compare it to everything out there.

I was hoping I could use ya’ll experience to help guid my decision. I’m not a racer but I do spend a lot of time on a bike so I need comfort and being in the south something that breaths reasonably well.

Let me know what you think

Mixed use shoe
 

I recommend the Lake CX 237, great shoe with a stiff sole.

Best

Ray

Lake is good stuff and their prices are all over the place, specially is a brand to go if your feet are wide.

Theres a few of those for sale here, check them out.

For breathability if you don’t mind laces and a little different look, can’t go wrong with Giro Empire knit (road) or Republic R knit (mixed). Excellent shoes. Relatively inexpensive too.

Re: mtb/gravel shoes - see relevant discussion here: https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=241287

Do you have wide or narrow feet, high arches or low and what are you currently riding? It would be good to understand what do you like/dislike about your current shoes? Budget might also be useful to know.


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Can 100% stand behind all my experiences with Lake

LAKEcycling.com
 

Ditto.
I have a pair of Lake CX241 wide shoes, they saved my feet. Highly recommend Lake.

I exclusively rode certain models of Specialized shoes for years, eventually buying whatever NOS or lightly used examples popped up on the secondary market. When you find something that works, you stick with it. Occasionally I would try models from other brands as the opportunity presented itself, but always went back to my old faithful shoes. However, the supply has pretty much dried up for me.

Right now I have four pairs, ranging from almost falling apart to brand new. The oldest sees the trainer exclusively, the second oldest is for rainy days, the next is for normal riding, and the newest is for race days.

Recently I tried a pair of Lakes, and they very well could be my next go-to manufacturer. It's really between them and Bont, because they are the only ones that make true wide lasts. I have a pair of Bont Vaypor S shoes on the way. Spendy, but I'm investing in my contact points. How the BOA system is mounted and integrated into the shoe seems to be the sticking point for me. Once I find my new brand/model, I may squirrel away a couple pairs for the future.

I have a wide, rounded forefoot (Morton's foot) with a relatively narrow ankle. I also pronate and require a moderate amount of arch support. After years of cramming my feet into alpine skiing race boots and working with multiple professional bootfitters, I know where my hot spots are.

Giro Factor Techlace. Giro fits my feet nicely. I tried the all laces version and too much work to stop and adjust. These can be found for about 50% of MSRP.

https://www.giro.com/p/factor-techla...-cycling-shoes

Pearl Izumi Elite Road v5

My bro and I just bought a pair. Very comfy and stiff Carbon sole with boa
Hard to beat at this price with its features
50% off here

https://www.sierra.com/pearl-izumi-e...prod-prod816DD

Lake MX241 has good airflow through it for a gravel shoe.

Agree. You gotta lay this out first.

Agree with Lake and can speak to their winter shoes too. Also have had two pairs of Bonts that are super stiff and you can get a deal once in a while

don't take any advice. spend a couple grand with a credit card at competitive cyclist or back country or whoever and order all the ones you want to try in all the sizes you want to demo. put them on in a carpeted room and send the rest back once you've found the one. personal experience is needed.