There are many different road cycling shoes, but they all do the same thing. A solid sole and a secure fastening system are the most important in all road cycling shoes.
The Sole Of The Shoe
The sole of the road cycling shoe now come in different materials, they used to be made of leather and you had to nail the shoe plate onto the sole, this was a very tricky exercise.
In those days shoe plates were two metal bars that slotted onto the back plate of the pedal and with toe clips and straps your foot was held tight.
The shoe plate had to be fitted correctly or you could get big problems with your knees.
Now of course every-one uses clip less pedals that screw to the sole and are fully adjustable with a float system so even if you are a bit off with you fitting or you have a problem with your knees or one leg is different from the other this will allow for that and should save you a lot of pain and trouble.
DMT Flash Carbon Soled Cycling Shoes
"If you want to sprint like the Italian Super Star, Alessandro Pettacchi you need to do two things, get a pair of DMT cycling Shoes and, more difficultly, train for many hours over many miles for a long time, oh and have a special sprinters ability!"
Now the sole of the road cycling shoe is made of plastic or more expensively carbon. Plastic can be made to any shape and is fairly cheap to produce, so is the perfect material for the sole, threaded recesses for the different kinds of shoe plates are set into the plastic so you just have to screw you plates straight on.
Carbon soles are now very popular, they also have the fittings for your shoe
plates, but the main advantage is their strength and lightweight, but there is no “give” in the sole so can cause sore feet. Some carbon soles now come with a stiffness adjustability, the other problem with carbon is the price, it is not cheep, but is now the choice of most professional cyclists.
The Upper Of The Road Cycling Shoe
The upper part of the road cycling shoe also used to be made of leather, very comfortable but it stretched and also they hurt your feet where the lacing rubbed on the top of your foot.
When clip-less pedals were invented it was soon discovered that the top of the shoe had to be a lot stronger as now there was no clips and straps around the shoe and the shoe itself had to take the strain of pulling up on the pedal. Now most cycling shoe manufacturers use a mixture of plastic mesh for strength and ventilation and leather for comfort.
The fixing systems now are mostly the same on all different makes of shoes, an adjustable ratchet clip on the top of the shoe where lacing used to be, usually with two, three or some times four clips, is now the norm.
Other systems are being used but all do the same to hold your foot tightly in the shoe, you must try a few to see which is most comfortable for you.
More about Cycling Shoes....
The Shimano TR50 Triathlon Shoes
The Shimano TR50's are specific Triathlon shoes, the difference between these and a normal cycling shoes is the fastening, one big strap goes over the top of the shoe with Velcro to hold it all safe.
We review the Shimano TR50 shoes and explain what to look for in Triathlon specific cycling shoes
