More on the racey type, currently have 4 year old sidi’s, 5s I think.

Time to replace, looking at around £150ish, prefer carbon sole. Favour8ng giro vr90 dirt at the moment having had some giro road shoes in the past.

Anything else worth a look in the sales?

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-xc7-xc701-carbon-mtb-spd-shoes-2019/rp-prod177960

Looks pretty smart. Sizing wise how do they compare to giro or sidi?

The description is a bit off putting. Not sure I’ll be “roosting” any time soon

I have last years shoes and sizing is typical Shimano. Apart from some old Diadoras I’ve only used Shimano shoes and they fit me as expected. In that sense they’re probably suited to very average feet – if you can buy shoes online with ease go for your usual size but if you have wide feet/high insteps/unusual toes etc you might find them uncompromising. The synthetic upper material has a tendency to ‘wrinkle’ over time but it doesn’t stretch so if they don’t fit out of the box they never will.

They’re very similar in feel to my ME7s and ME200s before that but less burly and a bit lighter.

I have the older version of the XC7s and am a big fan.. though I’ve ahd a few isseus with the boa dial coming undone from unexpected strikes

I find these pretty good.
Northwave rebels