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Do these exist apart from resorting to a bodge using the 3 bolt to 2 bolt adaptor?
I'm looking for some breathable shoes for road riding but I use regular (mtb) SPDs and don't have a desire to switch to SPD-SL, particularly as I ride road on my gravel bike so want to keep regular SPDs on it.
I've a budget of about £100 and would prefer at least 1 Boa adjustment. Oh and I do like the look of mesh/knitted shoes (not sure why.
Has anyone got any suggestions/recommendations?
In the spirit of not actually answering the question, what's wrong with MTB shoes on the road why do you want to change? I've done it for years. Every pair of shoes works with every bike and I can walk about too, what's not to like?
I use XC race shoes. These look excellent value if you're a size 44.
I was just hoping for something a bit more stiffer and breathable if I'm honest - if there is an mtb alternative then I wouldn't care if its described as 'road' or 'mtb' or even 'gravel'
Shimano RX8, or slightly cheaper RX6
£100 is a bit light for a stiff soled boa dialled xc race shoe, even before you start looking at woven uppers.
I use Lake MX238s for all my riding, stiff enough for road rides, secure enough not to slip and drop my coffee and cake at the cafe stop.
Shimano RX8, or slightly cheaper RX6
I'm selling a pair of never worn RX6, EU45 but they come up small so don't fit my size 10 feet. Let me know if your interested, they're in the classifieds
I like my Giro Sector that I use for similar riding. They'll be struggle to find for under £100, but the Rincon appears to be much the same with just a single Boa and within that budget.
I use Shimano XC7s but they fail your requirements on price and knittedness. I also have some Leatt Clip shoes which I really like, and I notice that Leatt Pro Clip 6.0 are much closer to your budget and also are knitted/woven. Might be worth a look.
Fizik x5 Terra are fairly "road" looking.
Fizik x5 Terra
Yes I have those and they don't feel much different to my Fizik road shoes - to the point where I used them all last summer on and off the road.
+1 for Giro Sector. They're my 'clean' cycling shoes...
I use Lake gravel shoes, they're excellent.
Lake MX242 are stupidly breathable. They’re basically a soft, wide-mesh sock with perforated flaps over the top held together with boa closures. Glorious in summer.
Lake MX238 - carbon sole, air vents, BOA. Perfect. I use them exclusively on the road bike as I cba with road cleats. Means I can walk to the cafe and if it’s too warm for my winter boots but too cold/wet for the 238s I put neoprene overshoes on them.
There are a handful of Road shoes that have both three and two bolt mountings, I even have an old pair of DHB with it, they tend to be the better road shoes though.
As already said I'd definitely look at XC MTB shoes, most posh ones, with carbon soles etc will have about the same stiffness (for some reason the scale is out of 12) to their Road equivalents with the added bonus that you can walk in them more comfortably during cafe breaks.
Edit: My suggestion is Specialized Recon 2.0 not that I actually have a pair, but I do have the Torch 2.0 road shoe and the Recon looks like the same basic shoe with an MTB sole (to my untrained eye), they have a Boa a 7/12 sole I think, but sadly no trendy knitted upper, they do hit your budget of sub £100 if.you shop about.
Just wear whatever shoes are comfortable and then find/fit compatible pedals.
Sorted!
There are a few
DHB Dorica and Giro Stylus which may be too cheap.
I have the Giro Stylus and use them in summer and they do feel nicer than MTB shoes as they are lighter but I don't actually use them that often as I lose the main benefit of SPD shoes in that I can walk in them and as I never carry spares the chance of a walk is always there!
Specialized road shoes used to come with a two bolt plate as well as three. However mine are 6-7 years old so they may have ditched this. Two bolt cleats are just as annoying to walk on with a flat sole as three so I am going to follow the trend of this thread and recommend XC shoes which is what I did when I got fed up of Bambi on ice.
If you wanted something completely indistinguishable from a road shoe, I think Sidi have replaceable treads, just take them off and you can have the full skating on the cafe floor experience.
Mine are from decathlon, but my feet seem to have swollen this year so they're cripplingly tight and I need something new.