In Issue #110 of Singletrack Magazine, Chipps gave us his review of the Giro Terraduro Mid SPD shoes after a longterm test
The Giro Terraduro was the runaway trail shoe success of last year, as far as I’m concerned. The trail shoe on a stiff, racy last was a great combo. The tread was (just) grippy enough for off-bike use in most weather and the retention system of two Velcro straps and a ratchet buckle kept everything secure. Unlike most things designed in California there was a welcome absence of ‘cooling’ mesh panels that extended the seasonal use of the shoes, but the Giro folks thought they could do better…
The Terraduro Mid runs alongside the Terraduro and addresses a few issues that some, but not all, riders might have had. The regular Terraduro has a very low, racy fit to it and it can feel a little restrictive to riders more used to an SPD skate shoe. The Mid features the same slim profile as the Terraduro, but it crucially uses laces under a VELCRO® Brand Fasteners flap to secure your foot. Laces allow infinite adjustment, never get clogged with mud and if you break one out in the woods, you can always get by, unlike with a ratchet strap.
The Mid has a lace cover that keeps the crud out of your laces and much of the water off your feet. There’s another weather-resistant touch in the form of a neoprene scree-guard cuff in addition to a padded inner ankle bone protector. So, in all, a much chunkier looking and feeling shoe to its stablemate.
Some riders are lace fans and some aren’t. Laces allow you to run the shoe as tight, or loose as you like and, as the Mid doesn’t have very free-running lace runs, it allows you to run your toe-box laces looser than the arch, or vice versa. Other similar shoes from Shimano and Mavic use a speed lace, but Giro has used good old flat laces. They can be fiddly to set up initially, especially as the half sewn-in strap makes it hard to get to the further laces (while the flap’s Velcro sticks to the back of your gloves) but once the laces take a set, they stay put very well.
If you’re a rider who likes to loosen shoes for a climb and tighten them for a climb, or the other way round, then you won’t like laces. If you just use laces to keep shoes from falling off your feet, then you’ll be fine. The neoprene scree guard works very well to both shield your ankle from knocks and rocks – it also helps prevent your shoes filling up with gravel, which some lower-cut models can do.
On the trail, the Mid works as well as the regular shoes, giving a little better protection, clean-ability in the mud, and that multi-adjustment of laces. There’s a £20 premium over the regular Terraduros. It’s worth paying if you love lace-up shoes, or want the easy-clean of a shoe with a flap. Apart from that, you’d probably be just fine with the regular model.
Overall
An evolution, rather than a revolution, of this popular trail shoe.
Review Info
| Brand: | Giro |
| Product: | Terraduro Mid |
| From: | ZyroFisher, zyrofisher.co.uk |
| Price: | £159.99 |
| Tested: | by Chipps Chippendale for 10 months |
Comments (4)
Comments Closed
How did you find their waterproofing? Or do they leak via the cleat slots and the toe box like my shimano am’s do
Like all cycling shoes, once they get wet so do your feet. They do hold off a lot of moisture until that happens and are exceptionally sturdy.
@johnmy – totally agree with @duir’s comments there. I’ve also been using a pair of Giro Terraduro Mid shoes lately, and they do well at shielding you from splashy water, but they definitely aren’t waterproof, and aren’t quite warm enough for full-blown winter action.
How did they fit at foot, this is, you use the same number of your daily shoes or a number above it? Thanks.