Old 01-21-20, 05:10 AM
  #62  
InfinityMPG
Junior Member
 
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 5
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 3 Times in 2 Posts
Yep! I ride with just one pair all year, and they're more than ten years old now — well-built shoes can last a long time. They're the 2009 Pearl Izumi Octane SL shoes, about 200g per shoe. They're black and white, so as far as matching goes, they match with pretty much everything. Most companies have black and white specifically for that reason. Easy to match, easy to sell.

That being said, I also have a pair of 2010 Bont Sub-8 triathlon shoes — also black and white — but I only use them on race day for triathlons since they cut down on transition time. I've also been looking to replace the Pearl Izumi shoes. I wouldn't mind matching equipment by getting something colorful like the blue Shimano S-Phyre RC9Ts, but I'm not a fan of Boa dials. That leaves me with market options like the Giro Prolight Techlace and the new Fi'zi:k Vento Powerstrap R2, which both have limited colorways (black and white, with a red option for the Techlace). The S-Works EXOS 99 shoes would have been nice, but they're nearly impossible to get and only have one color option. If they made those in blue, I'd throw money at Specialized.

In short, I think if you're trying to have only one or two pairs of cycling shoes, black and white shoes make sense for longevity and for a variety of color matching options. If you want to get something brighter to match a colorful race kit, you may start breaking into collector/hoarder status. That's purely a budget call. I admit to being jealous of people who can find shoes they love in bright colors, but as someone who dislikes Boa dials and isn't a sponsored pro, I'm pretty limited in options myself, so black and white works.
InfinityMPG is offline