I have a new gravel bike on order which will become my go-to for all things road, gravel, training and racing. I’m expecting an equal split of road and tame off-road; I have a MTB for anything technical, so not expecting to be hike-a-biking all that much or trawling through deep muddy sections etc.
As such, I’m looking for thoughts and recommendations for a decent lightweight gravel shoe. I much prefer the look/feel of road shoes, but appreciate these might not be the best choice for venturing off road. I’ve been searching for SPD compatible road shoes, such as the Pearl iZumi Attack Road, or Giro Cadet, but figure these may cause me problems if I do need to walk for anything more than a few metres.
Has anyone used these (or similar) shoes and can share their thoughts? Or know of some suitable gravel shoes which are closer to the road end of the spectrum?
FWIW, I do like the look of the S-Works Recon and Fizik Vento Proxy, but these may be pushing the budget a little further than I’d like.
Another option would be road shoes with shimano SM-SH41. This is an adapter from a 3 bolt to 2 bolt cleat with the little pontoons to support the shoe when clipped in. I use a set of these on some road shoes that were collecting dust.
I recently upgraded to the Shinto s-phyre RX-910 and it’s a vastly superior shoes. I’d rate the 810 a 6.5/10 and the 910 a 9.5/10.
It has a new(ish?) pontoon system around the spd cleat that gives you a sturdier and broader platform. The upper part of the shoe is softer with much better adjustments for tightening.
Aside from bent expensive, I’d consider this to be the most road-oriented gravel specific shoe. I liked it so much I bought a second set of the MX mountain bike version for mountain biking or gravel rides where I may spend more time hike-a-biking.
I have no issues walking with them. They basically just make a road shoe into something like what you linked to above.
I had my doubts since when I first started on a “gravel” bike I had these shoes with speedplays on the bike and those were obviously miserable if you had to put a foot down offroad. I got fed up with my mtb shoes being too flexy for any serious riding and didn’t want to spend money on a road like gravel shoe if I wasn’t going to like them again so slapped the adapters on and have been using them 2 years now I think.
I am shopping for some sort of road like gravel shoe but can’t commit so figured I would mention the option especially if you have shoes.
Fit is the main thing for me. My aging feet are fussy I was using my road shoes on the gravel bike (Look pedals/cleats) which were fine until I need some hike-a-bike in mud. N.G. I switch to SPD pedals and put pontoons and SPD cleats on some old road shoes. That’s worked well. Still looking for SPD gravel shoes that are road-like and that fit well.
I run the QUOC gravel shoe and it is very comparable to their road shoe offering in terms of fit/stiffness but has SPD cleats and a better sole for “walking”.
