A few years ago, I can't say I was very excited by Shimano's shoes. I even tried some on (the previous XC7) the last time I was shopping and they didn't fit right or feel comfortable. I wound up with some sidi dominators, which fit me great, just like the geniuses I've had for almost 10 years. But then last summer I won a pair of the pretty blue S-phyre RC9 road shoes and suddenly Shimano had my interest. With my discounts resetting at the end of the year I was looking for something to buy, and decided on another pair of shoes. Also they were about all Shimano had in stock. The replacement parts situation is not good right now. So here they are, the "gravel" shoe:
They're super light and sleek and cool looking, have a stiff carbon sole, and a BOA IP1 dial like the rc9 and xc9.
The nice thing about these dials is they work in both directions so you can loosen the shoe by just a click or two if you need to, compared to having to fully release the lower end dials.
One thing that differs between these fancy shimanos and other cycling shoes is that you're right on the carbon sole without a foot... board thing in between. I'm no expert on shoe construction but noticed that under the insoles of all my other shoes there's some sort of a wooden? board thing between the insole and sole of the shoe. I assume not having it in there makes the shoe lighter but probably takes a little more work to shape properly. It also reduces the stack enough where I had to lower the saddle on my road bike and if you've seen Phil Gaimon's newest video he mentions it.
These rx8s are really similar in construction to the RC9s (and XC9 mtb shoe), but cost, uh, a lot less at $225 vs $425. I suppose they're considered more on the same level as the rc7 and xc7, which cost the same. S-phyres are pricey. But also very shiny and blue and will make you feel like the prettiest princess. I've even had someone yell "nice shoes" at me and I think he was being serious (you can get other colors, if you really want).
The insoles are even nearly identical between the two and include two different arch supports that stick to the bottom
Like I mentioned, the s-phyre puts the insole right on the carbon, but the RX8 adds a very thin layer of foam that I assume is there to add a bit of comfort and vibration absorption.
The s-phyres have that 2nd boa dial, which is nice, and the interior fabric around your ankle is softer, and they have the cool heel gripping fabric. But it's a little hard to see what makes them cost almost twice as much. I did still consider the XC9s over these RX8s. Between the two, the sole itself is probably the biggest difference, as the XC9 has more substantial lugs and holes for toe spikes, and would be more appropriate for racing cyclocross (well, as long as you're ok with running through mud in $400 shoes). Look close at a world cup race and you'll see a lot of them.
The RX8, on the other hand, has kind of a narrow, minimal sole lugs and is really meant for rides where you aren't having to get off and run or walk. I'm a little concerned about gouging up that fancy carbon on the bottom going over rocky hike a bike situations. There were a few rides last year where I walked a lot (alpine 7 and the miller divide backwards on my cx bike for example), and I'm not sure I'd want to be wearing these. They do have a nice rubber pad to give you a little more grip if you miss clipping in, and will likely be perfectly fine for dry, grassy cx races where you don't have to run up a muddy bank.
The unfortunate thing is that I've only worn them for about 45 minutes on the trainer so far and it'll probably be months before I actually go out on a real ride with them. I didn't have any issues for that short spin with thin socks, but they are a little narrow compared to my sidis, so we will see if I regret not ordering the wide version, or if they'll break in a bit. They supposedly have the same fit as the s-phyres but they seem just a bit tighter across the toes.
I'll also admit that a "gravel specific" shoe seems a little bit dumb and ridiculous. At the same time, that does fairly accurately describe a large portion of my riding, and they look a lot cooler than my sidis, which despite being pretty new look like they could be from 20 years ago.
In other news, I'm going to start posting mostly on patreon now instead of blogger. It works about the same, and I suspect most things are going to be public, but there's a slim chance people will kick me a few bucks here and there so why not.
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=46334758
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