Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.
Add new comment
8 comments
*sigh*
They don't get it. What you need for gravel is a durable, stiff flat pedal shoe, preferably with decent waterproofing. Literally no-one is making this because they think gravel riders are converted roadies who want to clip in.
I think it's because "Gravel" is a north american sort of thing, and with mountainbiking as I understand it, they don't go out in the rain, or really do the mud thing. I cannot think why else the new Shimano GRX rear cage is so long, better gear range maybe, but dragging the lower jockey through the filth is never the greatest thing.
Presumably to avoid having to rate these a 4.286
Looks like a mountain bike shoe to me.
Was about to say the same thing....
The gravel will get stuck in the grooves, hence the gravel shoe moniker.
And who doesn't love the ripe banana look? 🍌
What is this shoe like in the rain? Does road spray come up through the sole? Does the rain pour through the uppers?
This is key. If we are going to watch the gravel bike industry rediscover the mountain bike technologies of the 1990s, can they skip the "SPD shoes which get wet, stay wet and aren't any better the next day (or when you want to cycle home from work)
Otherwise-they are summer only shoes