Bontrager RL Men's Road Shoe
$179
When the ratcheting buckle on my old pair of Nike Lance cycling shoes finally gave up the ghost, I was happy to have the opportunity to pick up a new pair of road shoes. Like any other category in the industry, there are a huge range of brands to choose from when making one's selection. I personally wanted a shoe that was mid-priced, between $150 and $250, with a carbon sole, a ratcheting buckle, and a comfortable fit. This narrows it down a bit, but not much. My favorite shoe brand has generally always been Sidi, with their Italian manufacturing and precise attention to detail. However, they are prohibitively expensive for many cyclists, especially with the features I was looking for.
I ended up deciding on the relatively new Bontrager shoes. I chose the RL (which presumably stands for Race Lite), the mid-level offering from the company. Their basic model is too heavy and has SPD compatibility, nice for spin classes but annoying after you bolt a Look cleat on and have the little plate underneath rattling around. I really like the shoes' fit, with a "derby" construction which divides the shoe upper all the way to the toe. This allows for a great range of flexibility to fit wider, or in my case narrower, feet. The shoes also have a comfortable, supportive, and well-ventilated insole. I have been happy with the stock arch support from the factory, but this is actually customizable, giving the shoes an unusual level of fine-tuning for various riders.
My major criticism of the shoe is that the buckle is "clunky" and not intuitive; there is a catch of some sort that forces you to push it closed against the shoe after each pull, instead of returning smoothly and automatically like all other shoe brands I have tried. At the time I bought the shoes, about a year ago, I was told this was something that would be fixed in subsequent production, but the newer shoes that have come in have been only marginally better, and nothing like the smooth operation of a Sidi, Shimano, or Mavic buckle. It seems durable though, as the teeth on the strap seem to be staying in great shape.
On the whole, my only quibble with the shoes is relatively minor. I have never experienced any performance detriment from the cleat deformation claimed by some others, and I have been very happy with their efficiency, fit, durability, and style. Overall: nice job, Bontrager.
