Sidi T2.6 Carbon Shoes

Since I tried out a whole bunch of new stuff at White Lake this weekend, I thought I’d start going over the reviews of the new gear.
At the end of last year, my old biking shoes simply had to go. They had three years of racing in them, and were, quite frankly, very smelly. I am one of those guys who doesn’t get off his bike to pee, so often it runs right down into my shoes. And these particular bike shoes, just some old roadie Shimanos I got for $80 the day I bought my road bike, tend to not let any liquid out. So, often I roll into T2 with stinky feet that look like I just got out of the bathtub after three hours. Anyway, they were pretty beat, and I decided it was time to upgrade.
I went with Sidi’s T2.6 full carbon sole triathlon shoes. I chose these based on some of my friend’s recommendations and because I found them cheap on eBay in my size. The features that won me over were the lightness, the weep hole, and the stiffness of the sole.

Pros:

1.Very light weight: Rotational weight is much more important than static weight on a bike, so getting rid of a few grams on the shoes can make a big difference. These shoes seem very well constructed, but there’s not much to them, and hence are really light weight.

2.Stiffness: There’s basically nothing between your sole of your foot and a slab of carbon to transfer power to the pedal. It doesn’t give the way molded plastic does.

3.Two-strap entry: I’ve had no trouble working the two straps to get them on fast out of T2, and with the help of these shoes have finally pulled off the barefoot mount. The straps provide ample support to the top of your foot so you can get a good pull too.

4.Heel loop: Very nice for taking them off and putting them on while riding.

5.HOT White color: White is the new black in triathlon. White just seems faster!

Cons:

1.Stiffness: Yeah, yeah, I know I listed this as a “pro” already, but it can also be a con. These shoes are so stiff that they make your feet hurt in ways never felt before after long rides. Mine tend to ache around the outside edges (probably because I am a supinator and tend to put pressure on this part of the foot). Its tough, but a small price to pay for knowing more of your power is going into the pedal than into flexing the sole of the shoe. As a result, I use my old stinky shoes in training, and only race with these.

2.Color: Again, white is hot, but also collects dirt like nobody’s business. After White Lake, the insides of these look brown.

3.Lack of walking surface: Of course you don’t want to add weight to the shoe by putting rubber all over the bottom, but the placement of the steping surfaces is just a bit off in my opinion. The front one is too far back and the back one is too far forward. Because of this, to avoid dinging up the carbon at every transition, you need to cover these surfaces with electrical tape.

In summary, I love these shoes and they were a good purchase. Their MSRP is something like $340, but I you look around on the interent you can get them for under $200. A good buy in my opinion.