long lasting, durable spd shoes
 

what would you recommend? what in your opinion is the most bombproof pair of spd shoes you've used? i've just bought a pair of northwaves that were slightly used and after about 6 rides the heel of the sole on the right shoe began to detach. my pair of time aspens have gone three months and are beginning to crack at the toe joint area and the soles where teh cleats are attached are both cracked. when i walk my right shoe goes snap snap snap with every step.

a friend told me that the most durable shoes in his opinion are sidi. but of course, sidis are really expensive. which is fine, but i don't want to drop 2 bills on shoes and not have them last.

thanks for the input and if i missed this thread in my searches feel free to redirect me.

Spend the dough on the Sidi's. "Quality is remembered long after price is forgotten"

nobody knows how to find their size in SIDIs, so they are easy to find 'slightly used' usually a couple weeks old. get em cheap, used.

Specialized's more touring/mtb styled shoes are usually a great pick. I ride RockHoppers from '02 or '03 still. Absolutely my favorite shoes.

Check out particular brands on http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/ or http://www.roadbikereview.com/ . Sidi's tend to get pretty good reviews from people who've owned them 3 years or more. As Cavernmech said, after three years, the shoe will have paid itself off.

I hate to play devils advocate..but
 

Not to step on kieths toes (ie cavernmech), but I killed a pair of sidis really quickly.

Few weeks they delaminated. Which means the upper seperates from the sole in question. I showed the sidi rep and was told, but your walking in them.. uh ok? So I should like carry an extra pair of shoes?

Then one dark and stormy night I bought a pair of disco-y styled gaerne polar shoes off of GB @ nab. Those things refused to die. I bought another pair horrid color.. but bomb proof. Now I will confess there was a problem with some lowere end gaernes, but I did either have my shoe guy fix them or have the person go to the person themselves. I paid for all repairs. Which most of the time cost $5 to $10 gee if only sidi had did that for me.

Im sorry but that company left me with a bad taste there slogan should be "SIDI italian for bad quality" or
" We have your money now mangie-cake"

Maybe the quality has improved? Maybe sidi or distributor should send me a free pair of shoes.. I think ill write them later today.

What else is there?

Carnac? Some of those fell apart too. Adidas.. I have many adidas products. They were all reasonably priced. They all have lasted. From shoes, to shirts, to a trippy watch, even clothing from the 1970s I still have. Pricey shoes but the quality is guarrenteed.

Sorry about the sidi jab, but Im bit sore over losing few hundred on those shoes. Sidi techno they were. I droped another $60 to fix them. Then the sole cracked (for real? yep) I gave them to a homeless lady who walked by my shop in the end.

The moral? The only thing that made me happy about these shoes was seeing the homeless lady smile in the end.

-paul_in_toronto
aka polly

BTW cavernmech I been shopping for a housecoat for you.. har har

I had rockhoppers from '00 until this spring. When they failed, they failed fantastically: while climbing up a rock face, pushing my bike, the sole part interior of the SPD cleat peels off; I fall and the bike lands on me.

Hey Aeroplane...

Do you remember those really old specialized shoes? They were all black. Laces under, Red S on them, they were nicknamed darth vader shoes?

I did those in, in about 2 weeks. All remember is going up the ramp from the dungeon ( underground courier depot located in underground parking level 1? 2? in downtown toronto) and the sole cracked on a pedal stroke.

i ruined the darth vader shoes so quick that performance gave me my money back.. those things were garbage..ive never tried specialized shoes again so i have no idea if they got better..i think it was 2 weeks also..

when it comes to shoes.. ive learned that the more you spend.. the longer they last.. i know paul doesnt like em.. but my sidi dominators are my fav shoe evah!

You know what, I probably should have went with the dominators. Simple shoe 2 strap.

But I had to have the latest and greatest pair of shoes. I was enchanted by the mech on the tecnos.

Then they started to fall apart me, I began to think I was freak of nature. I wondered if any shoe would last

I started out with some non spd shoes. then i decided I have to have clipless, I bought shimanos.
Comfy simple cheap $49.99 or something like that at dukes. I think I got 6 or so months out of them. Then one day !!crack!!

Then i bought another pair used.. few weeks. I bought some nikes.. few weeks
The specialized few weeks..

Sidi was like the top brand back then.. I had seen gaernes..but damn those funky disco styles.

To look at the rep and have him say "well you are walking them" Isnt that the idea? I walkable shoe right?

I just looked at another thread about a guy crashing and bending his velocity rim. The velocity usa is offering to build him new wheels..wow
If sidi tossed me new shoes, id shut up at least.

Another shoe that is surprisingly durable is the louis garneau shoe. I have to say I have never had a pair come back, they have a pretty nice range. Ive always had them back up their product for me. I had some tights that ripped and they sewed them up free of charge, and patched them.

But ultimately you dont want something to fail on you, and you assume at that price level "built to last"

My Sidi Bullets are nearly 2 years old and I ride 6-7 days a week.

When I crashed and broke my hand doing about 24 mph I was wearing my Specialized mountain comps-They took about half the damage of my fall (along with my ankle) and came out pretty well. The buckle broke-but thats like a 15 dollar replacement. Overall the shoe has held up for daily riding/ messengering for about 8 months and hasn't fallen apart yet. It's also got a nice solid sole that has hardly any flex, but still has the walkability of a mtn shoe

I've had great luck with Sidi dominators. I've owned a few pairs so far and have managed to get at least two years out of each pair, even when doing messenger work. Paul, I think you got a bad pair, but I do agree that's not such great customer service.

My first pair of Sidi's I purchased about 6 years ago. They indeed had separation problems. I took them back to the place I bought em and they were fixed N/C The pair I have now have been under me for 2 1/2 years. Lots of Mountain, Track and urban riding....absolutely no problems at all.
Hey Paul....maybe you love the Gaerne's cause you sell em? :)

You could check out the Session SPD from sixsixone:
http://www.sixsixone.com/images/stor...ct/6685-00.jpg
I've got some older sixsixones that are SPD and they're great for biking around the city (super warm too for the winter) - i know this may not be what you were looking for, but you asked for something that was actually "bombproof"

Sidi's are holding up quite well for me (dominators). Very little wear (but I'm not an off-road rider or a messenger) and still stiff, stiff, stiff after a little over a year. My previous Diadora Gekos (which I was quite fond of) feel like sandals compratively.

The quality is there -- reports of 6 year old Sidi Dominators are not uncommon.

I just retired my old blue Shimano 220's and picked up a pair of Sidi Dragons. The 220's are still stiff (carbon with rubber lugs) but the Dragons just feel like a nice pair of heavy wool socks.

I have Dominator 4's that I picked up at Sun & ski for cheap. I liked them so much that I picked up a second pair within a month. So right now, I've paid $260 total for two pairs of doms. Not bad. I'm set up for a while, now.

Another vote for the Diadora Gekos, they have last me about 3 years now. Still using my 7 year old Specialized MTB sports (tan leather and green mesh) as my back up pair during the summer. Both have seen many commuter and mtb trail miles or the years.

I can't attest to their longevity, since I've only had them for a month or two, but I found a pair of Sidi Catapults on Ebay for $75. The feel great and fit perfectly. I don't know how they compare to the Dominators, but ~$200 less, and much prettier blue. Ebay may yield some decent deals for you.