Selecting Road Cycling shoes

Key considerations when buying road cycling shoes for race or time-trials

In some ways, the design of cycling shoes for road racing is simpler than for mtb shoes because there isn't usually the demand for any sort of grip on the sole. Most road racers or time-triallers won't be clambering around in trees or on off road trails.

Because of this, there is less compromise in the design and many improvements can be incorporated into the top level road shoes.

We cover some of the key design technology below and also list the names of the road shoes that each manufacturer produces, to make your selection a little easier.

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Road cycling shoe design

The first thing you might notice about shoes designed for road cycling is that they are generally narrower than other shoes as there is no requirement for a normal shoe sole with tread. They also use lighter materials as there is no requirement to withstand external abrasion or contact. This all helps the reduction of weight in the pursuit of performance.

Shoe sole materials

Because the sole of the shoe isn't required to flex for walking, road and race cycling shoes use anything from rubber and plastic at the budget end, up to rigid carbon for top competitors.

The decision about how stiff to have your shoes is mainly about comfort and cost, rather than function. Carbon soles give better power tranmission because they don't flex much; they also create a lighter shoe, so that obviously suits the higher levels of competition.

However this may come at the price of comfort. Your foot doesn't get much chance to flex during riding, so its important to get a shoe that fits very well, or you will get fatigued.

Road shoe cleat systems

Most competitive road cyclists use cycling shoes with cleats which stand out from the sole of the shoe as there is no need for walking. Having an exposed cleat allows the shoe to be designed with more rigid sole and this gives a better choice and performance. You can of course still choose to use recessed cleats; this might be appropriate if you are long distance touring, or if you are planning to be off the bike for more than a short while for some other reason.

Upper shoe materials

Most of these shoes use a lightweight breathable material on the top and sides of the shoe to help comfort and keep the weight down. At the budget end you'll find nylon mesh with reinforcements, while the top end you may get synthetic leathers and specialist breathable materials.

All of these designs for the upper part of the road shoe are of course designed not to soak up water in wet weather rides.

List of most popular road shoes available

Here's a list of the manufacturers' main models of road shoe. You can find them all through our left hand menu.

Sidi: the Ergo and particularly the Genius range
Shimano:
Northwave:
Specialized:
Pearl Izumi: