How do Specailized shoes compare to other brands?
08-23-07, 08:15 AM
#26
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I have Specialized MTB shoes that have been solid, though I did have to change them as I had been suffering through a too-small pair for a while. Well made from what I can tell.
Plus, they were substantially cheaper than the Sidis, and I couldn't find a shop that had my size in the Megas for the Sidi shoes. So... there you have it. I didn't pay $250 for them either, though the road shoes may be more expensive than their mountain line.
Plus, they were substantially cheaper than the Sidis, and I couldn't find a shop that had my size in the Megas for the Sidi shoes. So... there you have it. I didn't pay $250 for them either, though the road shoes may be more expensive than their mountain line.
08-23-07, 08:28 AM
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I just picked up a pair of their new model pro mountain since I ride SPD (the horror!).
It's a pro shoe that looks the part. Compared Shimano and Sidi with them, and the ergo fit and stiffness of the sole won hands down. It has repositioned my foot a little, so riding with them still feels a little like wearing a ski boot to my insteps and arch, but that also means whole feel is so much more rigid. Nice construction, I took out the insoles of all the shoes I checked and liked what I saw of the Specialized the most.
It's a pro shoe that looks the part. Compared Shimano and Sidi with them, and the ergo fit and stiffness of the sole won hands down. It has repositioned my foot a little, so riding with them still feels a little like wearing a ski boot to my insteps and arch, but that also means whole feel is so much more rigid. Nice construction, I took out the insoles of all the shoes I checked and liked what I saw of the Specialized the most.
08-23-07, 08:29 AM
#28
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I've only owned one pair of cycling shoes, and they were $100 specialized shoes from 2 years ago. Granted I have no basis of comparison, but FWIW I've been very happy with them.
08-23-07, 09:33 AM
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Was that before or after Body Geometry?
BTW: I have the BG Comp Mountain shoes.
BTW: I have the BG Comp Mountain shoes.
08-23-07, 10:56 AM
#31
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I have tried BG S-Works BOA shoes but unfortunately for me the shoes I ended up getting shipped from Specialized were defective out of the box. One shoe was smaller than the other and had really bad glue job.
Now the test shoes at the LBS seemed to be ok but what was shipped from the Spec website were not.
I have owned Sidi in the past and currently have a pair of them along with D2 custom shoes... I can only say from the experience that Sidi's wide versions fit well , last a long time and are just great shoes. They are just as wide in the toe area as Spec shoes are…
Most people just buy the normal size and complain that Sidi’s fit small but never bother to check out the wide versions that Sidi does carry.
BTW … I did have a chance to cycle a short distance with the Specialized BG S-Works BOA shoes I tried on at the LBS. I can only say they ride pretty well for the 3 miles i did test them out with... To bad Spec seems to be lacking on the QA side of the house when the shoes I had were shipped out. Not a good sign for 250$ pair of shoes.
I've never had any problems like that with Sidi made shoes...
Now the test shoes at the LBS seemed to be ok but what was shipped from the Spec website were not.
I have owned Sidi in the past and currently have a pair of them along with D2 custom shoes... I can only say from the experience that Sidi's wide versions fit well , last a long time and are just great shoes. They are just as wide in the toe area as Spec shoes are…
Most people just buy the normal size and complain that Sidi’s fit small but never bother to check out the wide versions that Sidi does carry.
BTW … I did have a chance to cycle a short distance with the Specialized BG S-Works BOA shoes I tried on at the LBS. I can only say they ride pretty well for the 3 miles i did test them out with... To bad Spec seems to be lacking on the QA side of the house when the shoes I had were shipped out. Not a good sign for 250$ pair of shoes.
I've never had any problems like that with Sidi made shoes...
08-23-07, 11:08 AM
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one could say the same about you for assuming the shipment was an accident. Maybe Spec thought those shoes were good enough.
08-23-07, 11:14 AM
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Since efficiency is output/cost, there is no way to know whether Specialized moved for lower or higher quality without inside information.
I, for one, switched from Sidi to Specialized because I thought the value was better.
/cp
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08-23-07, 11:18 AM
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^^^^ companies don't outsource or outship their work unless they feel those working in the other country can do their work. A lot of accounting services are outsourced out of the country, but the real tricky accounting work is still kept in house. I would think it's the same for building shoes, which is more labor intensive. I think the chinese know a thing or two about hands on work. They can handle it fine without loss of quality.
08-23-07, 11:36 AM
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I dare say not one company has EVER switched production to China to improve quality. They all do it to save money.
08-23-07, 11:37 AM
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Ok, so I'm sold on the fact that specialized shoes and other items are of good quality, but I'm surprised the only other brand anyone mentioned was sidi. What about Nike and Shimano? I would think there are a ton of other companies too.
08-23-07, 12:06 PM
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I have low arches. I think Nikes are too narrow; Carnacs good but heavy and Specialized just about right. I cracked the soles on the only Sidis I've owned. That doesn't make them bad shoes. That was 1993 when they had fiberglass soles. It didn't take a lot.
08-23-07, 12:53 PM
#38
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you can also look into Carnac's, since no one else mentioned them, and their regular width's do run wide. they stopped making their wide width shoes this year, because most people thought the regular width was wide enough, so that should tell you something...
08-23-07, 01:00 PM
#39
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My first pair of cycling shoes were the low end Specialized BG shoes. They fit very nicely. I"d still be using them but the heel pad was wearing thin.
So I got a good deal on a pair of Sidi Genius 5 (non-carbons) shoes. I like the BG insoles better so I may swap them with a new set from Specialized. Other than that, I really like the straps and the ability to tighten the top strap with the clicking mechanism thing. (sorry, I don't recall the name of that part) It really makes the cup of the heel nice and snug the way I like it.
Plus, I can replace the heel pad when it wears out. Another plus.
If these last as long as my Specialized shoes I'll be even more happy with them.
So I got a good deal on a pair of Sidi Genius 5 (non-carbons) shoes. I like the BG insoles better so I may swap them with a new set from Specialized. Other than that, I really like the straps and the ability to tighten the top strap with the clicking mechanism thing. (sorry, I don't recall the name of that part) It really makes the cup of the heel nice and snug the way I like it.
Plus, I can replace the heel pad when it wears out. Another plus.
If these last as long as my Specialized shoes I'll be even more happy with them.
08-23-07, 01:17 PM
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Shoes can be every bit a personal preference as saddles. I've tried Specialized Pro Carbons, Sidi's and Shimano shoes and my favorite shoes are the Specialized Pro Carbons. I thought that the lorica material used in Sidi's was very comfortable but the footbed was not as comfortable to me. It also seemed like the pro carbon's had a stiffer sole than the millennium sole of the Sidi Genius (this might be an apple to orange comparison as the Sidi Genius I was using was not a carbon sole). The Shimano shoes were ok but they seemed to put my foot asleep after a while.
I would not get a Specialized shoe with the BOA system as it doesn't let you adjust the tightness of the fit in specific sections and I like to have the shoes tight at the top of the foot and looser near the toes.
That's my two cents...
I would not get a Specialized shoe with the BOA system as it doesn't let you adjust the tightness of the fit in specific sections and I like to have the shoes tight at the top of the foot and looser near the toes.
That's my two cents...
08-23-07, 01:43 PM
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I love my Specialized pro-carbons....I loved my MTB Specialized pros as well. They just work great for me. My feet are narrow, but I like a lot of space in the toe box area.
08-23-07, 02:10 PM
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but seriously, i had a 20% off coupon. they were a great deal. overall, i like them. however, the left shoes doesn't feel as comfy as the right. also, there are holes along the top edge of the tongue. they are already tearing out. other than that, i like them.
08-23-07, 02:19 PM
#43
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Then maybe you can sit down and truly read what a person is saying before you go out and start spewing BS or calling someone names.
Oh why bother...
08-23-07, 02:24 PM
#44
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I'm still kind of scratching my head on how anything I had said could have brought out such a childish and hostile a remark...
08-23-07, 02:39 PM
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Maybe, but perhaps the Chinese can do it better and cheaper. Cheaper is certainly not mutually exclusive to better.
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08-23-07, 03:34 PM
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I'd have a serious look at Shimano, the new top models can be thermo moulded for a better fit. Also come in a wide width. My opinion is that the are comparable to the Sidi Ergo 2 in fit.
https://www.bicycling.com/article/1,6...5914-1,00.html
https://www.bicycling.com/article/1,6...5914-1,00.html
Last edited by kleng; 08-23-07 at 03:42 PM.
08-23-07, 03:41 PM
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As to width, I find the Pro Carbons to have a nice roomy toe-box, but like someone else said, my foot != your foot, so go try some on.
08-23-07, 04:16 PM
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you could also look into Lake cycling shoes . They are not a well known as most shoes but they have some nice shoes to cycling with... I think they were the first out the door with doing the whole custom form fit bake in your home oven sole thing... see their CX400 road shoes or the mx version for mt shoes...
https://www.lakecycling.com/category.aspx?categoryID=30
or their normal shoes : https://www.lakecycling.com/category.aspx?categoryID=31
https://www.lakecycling.com/category.aspx?categoryID=30
or their normal shoes : https://www.lakecycling.com/category.aspx?categoryID=31
08-23-07, 06:37 PM
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I have size 13 feet. I can't wear ANYTHING made by Nike because it's WAYYYY too narrow. The Specialized fit me better, at a lower price, than anything else I've tried.
08-23-07, 06:42 PM
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Our company switched some production to china cause we got the same quality for a lower price. The few places we went to here in the tristate area that offered to do it for the same price as china did it worse.
Technically we could've gotten better quality here, but for a lot more, and whatever china made for that specific production run was "good enough."
That said, I wouldn't want some guy making $5 a day laying tiles on the space shuttle. Of course by the same logic, I'm neither wearing nor riding the space shuttle.
Technically we could've gotten better quality here, but for a lot more, and whatever china made for that specific production run was "good enough."
That said, I wouldn't want some guy making $5 a day laying tiles on the space shuttle. Of course by the same logic, I'm neither wearing nor riding the space shuttle.