I’ve been using Fizik Terra X5 for a while now and I’m generally pretty happy with the fit and feel. I just wish I could crank down the spot closer to the toes a bit. I have the velco pulled pretty tight.
I bought a pair of Fizik X1 Infinito (left in the pics) with a carbon sole and the insole fits like a glove. Unfortunately, it seems the forward-most loops in the Boa compress my toes unevenly (more on my small 2/3 toes) and it’s not particularly comfortable. I haven’t worn these except around the house so I can return if needed…they were expensive so that always makes me a bit nervous.
Buying shoes is a pain, because I typically need a 49 but the Fizik in 48 seems to work. 48 in Bontrager, Sidi and Specialized won’t.
I was think I could reroute the Boa cable to exclude the loop over the smallest toes, or maybe both toe loops, to even out the pressure. That would still put the Boa loops roughly where the velcro is on my old shoes.
Is this nuts? If it doesn’t help, I can’t return them after tampering with the Boas. Has anyone faced something similar?
Remember there were a few options on routing the laces in order to redistribute the pressure a few years ago on a few different brands… not sure on your specific shoes, though…
Works great. Relieves quite a bit of pressure around the ball of the foot while still keeping the heel cup snug. It’s a trick long distance hikers (backpackers) have been doing for decades.
Here are my Fizik’s with the modification. (edit: I did shorten the boa cable a little bit.)
Conceptually, it should work fine. However, int his case, I think you are going to run into an issue with the angle of the two loops where you want to end the Boa loop.
The two lower loops that you are excluding are angled inwards, creating a gentle arc for the Boa…the two middle loops are angled outward (to accept the Boa from the below loops). If you end the Boa loop there, the angle of the cable is going to be pretty extreme coming out of the loops and could cause pinching across that area.
