9 gravel shoes put to the test: Shoes for fast racing and relaxed gravel riding
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Gravel biking is booming, that much is certain. No other two-wheeler segment is currently as popular as gravel bikes with narrow lugged tyres and flared road bike handlebars. It goes without saying that the accessory manufacturers are also focussing on this trend and are really pushing the advertising drum for special gravel equipment. However, they rarely reinvent the world. Rather, manufacturers use existing elements from the road bike and mountain bike sectors and combine them to create a kind of hybrid.
Road bike shoes - or gravel after all?
The best example: gravel shoes. Viewed from above, they look confusingly similar to their road bike siblings with their slim silhouette. Only light TPU trimmings, which protect the upper material, indicate that the shoes should also work off the beaten track. If you take a look at the underside, the world looks very different: Is this perhaps an MTB shoe after all? When it comes to the pedal system, all manufacturers standardise on the two-bolt mounting system familiar from mountain biking. The main advantage of this is that the pedal plates are much slimmer and therefore, unlike road bike shoes, do not represent a point of contact with the ground.
We have tested these models
- Fizik Vento Ferox Carbon >> e.g. available here
- Mavic Cosmic Boa SPD >> e.g. available here
- Northwave Razer >> e.g. available here
- Quoc Gran Tourer XC >> e.g. available here
- Scott Gravel Pro >> e.g. available here
- Shimano RX801 >> e.g. available here
- Specialised Recon 1.0 >> e.g. available here
- Specialised S-Works Recon
- Suplest XC/Gravel Performance
More grip!
The tread is much more pronounced than on road bike shoes - after all, you should be able to stand securely off-road and not twist your ankle when pushing. However, while classic MTB shoes have a tread pattern across the entire width of the sole, many manufacturers skimp on rubber studs on their gravel models - which means that the narrow treads make you stumble through the terrain like on raw eggs. The models from Shimano, Mavic, Northwave and Scott in particular could definitely do with a bit more tread.
Does only the sole stiffness count?
The stiffer the better, as is common for road cycling shoes, cannot be applied one-to-one to gravel shoes. A rock-hard carbon sole transmits every twitch of the calf to the pedals without loss, but the constant vibrations from the gravel are also passed on to the feet unfiltered. Tingling soles are just a harmless side effect. In the worst case scenario, your legs will tire even faster than with a slightly softer sole construction made of fibreglass or nylon.
Stiffness values in comparison
In races, where the gravel is supposed to splash under the tyres during hard acceleration, an extremely stiff shoe like the Shimano RX801 or the Fizik Ferox Vento Carbon may have its advantages. On epic gravel laps, however, a more compliant model is more comfortable. This is especially true if you have to tackle some pushing sections. The stiffer the sole, the worse the shoe usually rolls when running - with Fizik, Shimano and Suplest this even goes so far that the heel slips out of the shoe easily.
Twist lock - but more than one?
This is where the closure system comes into play, as it is primarily responsible for the fit of the shoe. Boa-style dials have now established themselves on a broad front because they are finely adjustable and easy to use. However, a single twist lock rarely ensures an optimum fit.
The problem is that if the cable is redirected too often, as is the case with Scott or the Specialized Recon 1.0, the shoes can no longer be ideally adjusted, especially in the toe area. Shimano provides the best solution here. A Boa fastener positioned far back is supplemented by a Velcro strap in the toe area. In combination with the overlapping tongue, the RX801 fits perfectly around the foot. The closure systems from Fizik or Suplest work similarly well.
BOA stands out
Although Quoc works with two separate twist fasteners that allow the Gran Tourer to be adjusted neatly, the handling of the in-house fasteners can't quite keep up with the sophisticated quick-release fasteners from Boa. It's a similar story with Northwave: The in-house X-Dial dial is also not as easy to operate as the competition from Boa. At best, the small dials can be fine-tuned in both directions - as with Shimano or Fizik.
The MTB alternatives
Do gravel shoes combine the best of both worlds, road and mountain bike? Low weight and good power transfer combined with high comfort and off-road capability? We say no and use the Scott MTB Vertec as an illustration. With a comparable weight, the Vertec is equipped with a significantly more profiled outsole, which is favourable for gravel bikers on pushy sections.
The upper material is better protected on the toes and heel from contact with the terrain than the Gravel Pro from Scott and the stiffness of the MTB shoe is on a comparable level to its gravel counterpart. So why should you do without something for gravel that has long since proven to be useful for mountain biking? And this brings us full circle to our current comparison, in which the pure gravel aspirants tend to perform slightly worse, while the Suplest XC/Gravel Performance is the test winner, a shoe that is also listed as a mountain bike model by the manufacturer.
How the gravel shoes were tested
Power transmission (35 %)
To assess the power transmission, we measured the sole stiffness using a defined load (100 newtons) on the test bench. The harder the sole, the more efficient the power transmission. The deflection of most of the shoes in the test ranged from half a millimetre to over a millimetre, which can already be perceived as a clear difference in practice.
Walk/Grip (25 %)
The width and tread pattern are crucial for secure footing and grip on off-road sections. Models with a wide MTB rubber tread are much more comfortable. We also assessed the rolling behaviour and heel hold in the shoes. Models with stiff carbon soles are generally at a disadvantage here.
Closure/handling (25 %)
Comfort and power transmission can only be perfect if the shoe can be precisely adjusted to the feet. Two Boa dials, which can be fine-tuned in both directions, are the ultimate here. The combination of dial and Velcro works almost as well. A single fastener is generally not enough for ideal customisability.
Weight (15 %)
We rate the weight less highly, as this has little effect on pedalling efficiency. Less than 700 grams per pair (size 46) is considered very light, whereas 800 grams is already considered heavy.
