Shoes: Specialized Carbon Pro's (Women's)

[VeloVT]

My boyfriend has Specialized S-Works shoes (carbon sole and a cool BOA closure) and likes them a lot. It was horrendously difficult to find a shoe that he didn't find uncomfortable for some reason -- we spent hours and hours looking.

In general, I think the difficulty of walking in road shoes/cleats is greatly exaggerated. It's really not that bad, even without cleat covers. (I don't have them actually -- though every time I walk over muddy ground and have to clean my shoes before I can clip in I think I should get a pair ). The comfort factor -- at least on the bike -- is more related to fit than stiffness, I think, and making sure you don't fasten them too tightly if you are prone to numbness.

[GLC1968]

Hey Starfish -

I mentioned earlier that I'd bought the carbon pro shoes but hadn't worn them on my century. Since then, I have. I've worn them for centuries, for two day events, and for moutain climbing when it was just TOO steep and I had to push my bike up about a 1/4 mile... No problems!

I have the look-type cleats (shimano pedals) and I don't have cleat covers. I haven't wiped out yet! I do find them to be a tad slippery on wet surfaces, but I just try to avoid those. I also have to knock mud off them after pee-breaks in the woods, but it hasn't been an issue yet. Oh, and the walk up the mountain...not comfortable, but doable. It just motivated me to get my fat butt back on the bike as soon as humanly possible!

For me, there are no better options. I find that I cannot wear my mountain type shoes (even though they are super comfy for all day mountain biking) for long days on the road bike. I don't know if it's the cleat/pedal combination or the shoe stiffness, but they make my feet ache. I've got foot trouble (its the reason I started biking), and only the stiff road shoes will allow me to be comfy for long days in the saddle. Walking around comfort was secondary importance to me, so I didn't give it much thought. Now I'm used to it and I wouldn't wear any other type shoe.

I have worn my mountain-type shoes on 'touring' type rides where we planned to get off the bike, tour a site (like an old plantation or a farmers market), and then ride again. In those situations, I didn't want to intentionally wear out my cleats...and since the riding part of the day wasn't that long, it didn't matter which shoes I wore.

I hope this all makes sense and helps you in your decision a bit.

[Starfish]

Hey everyone, this all does help, very much.

I am confused about cleat and pedal compatibility. I currently have SPD cleats and pedals, and I'm wondering if the cleats and pedals I have can be used with the Road Carbon Pro shoes?

The online specs say the shoes are compatible with SPD-SL setups, but I don't know what that means...don't know what the SL means.

Has anyone had mountain pedals and SPD cleats on mountain shoes, and just switched to the Road Carbon Pro shoes without buying new pedals and cleats?

Just curious. I'm thinking I will treat myself to some new, lighter pedals (probably the Look type Shimano pedals), but just wondering.

Thanks again. This really helps a lot.

[GLC1968]

If you are looking at the Carbon Pro for women, it looks like they don't take the SPD mountain cleats. The picture on specialized's website shows the bottom of the shoe for what I am guessing is the 2008 version, and there are no holes in the middle where the SPD cleats would go. I don't know if older versions are the same or not. Mine also don't have the holes for SPD (my old, non-carbon, specialized road shoes did have the SPD holes).

SPD-SL are the look-type shimano cleats. I forget what the designation is for the regular SPD cleats... It's so confusing! The look-type ones have three holes spaced in a triangle pattern kind of around the ball of the foot. The other mountain-type SPD's have two holes in a vertical pattern near the center of the shoe.

Lets see if this pic works - from Specialized:


The three holes you see are for the SPD-SL cleats.

[Starfish]

GLC, thank you. That answers that...new pedals are also in my future!

Dang!

[Starfish]

Just the final note to this thread. Yesterday, I ordered the Carbon Pro shoes and the Ultegra road pedals. Soon I will have a new pedal system to learn. Only fell over once when I got my first clipless system...hope to improve that for this go 'round!

Thanks for all your input!

[Starfish]

Another follow-up here. I have had these shoes a couple weeks now, and I am experiencing some knee problems in my squirrely knee. Now, I know there might be many factors going into this. But, for anyone who is considering these shoes, you might want to consider carefully how you might be affected by the varus wedge they have built into the outsole.

I felt from the outset on the bike that it might be rolling me to the outside of my foot in a way that is not right for me. Now we are working on shimming the outside of the foot via shoe insert and cleat shim to flatten it back out.

Interestingly, today I watched these videos (at bottom), and either #2 or #3 specifically addressed this development that Specialized has done. John Howard doesn't agree with it. At least for some people (I think me), the varus wedge is not a good starting place.

The shoes themselves, though...the fit of the shoe, the stiff sole, etc, is great. I am hoping we can get this dialed in so that you all aren't reading here that I am selling these shoes and pedals! For now, I am back in my old shoes/pedals until I get this taken care of.

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=21797