Everybody likes new gear. Especially this guy. New gear keeps me motiviated and anxious to train. One reason being that is is fresh, new and clean. So when you take the new gear out, you feel so much newer as compared to your old gear. Another reason it keeps me motivated is because it's generally better. Most of us won't spend money on gear that is worse than what we currently have. Or at least I hope not.
So I picked up a new pair of shoes a couple weeks ago to upgrade from my Shimano TR31's. Normally, I wouldn't link to Amazon, I would go straight to the comapny's site, but frankly, Shimano's website absolutely sucks. I couldn't even find the TR31 shoes anywhere on the site at all. Even when I searched for them. I'm not a big fan of Amazon either, especially since they undercut pricing on local bike shops since they don't have a storefront. But that's another day.
Back to the shoes... My TR31's were good for what they were. Entry level tri shoes that can fit both an SPD and SPD-SL pedal. But knowing how much power I could be losing with how much the plastic outsole can flex vs. a carbon outsole, I knew I needed a change. Plus the shoes were a good 3 years old and and seen their fair share of miles.
So on to the Bontrager Hilo RXLs. I picked these up and was super excited to get them on and using them. But I needed to upgrade my pedals and cleats as well to match up with the SPD-SL only setup on these new shoes. I grabbed a pair of Shimano 105 pedals that come with Shimano's yellow cleats, giving some play.
After putting the cleats on my shoes and pedals on my bike, I was ready to rock. First off, it was on the trainer to get a good feel for everything and make minor adjustments in cleat position. It's a little easier to jump off the trainer and have my tools handy than being out on the road making adjustments. A few tweaks here and there and they were feeling great. I still have some fractional adjustments to make, but that's miniscule to the improvements I felt immediately.
First of all, the lightweight feeling of the shoes. I honestly felt like I dropped a pound of weight off each foot. The much thinner upper and synthetic outsole, the shoes felt like nothing was on my feet. They still grabbed my heels well, even without wearing any socks. The shoes are setup for a triathlon situation with lots of venting and breathability. Such as the open top of the foot and vents built into the carbon outsole. There is also a large heel loop to help grab the shoes to put them on during a flying mount.
The next great upgrade is the power transfer. Obviously this is hard to tell on a trainer vs real world, but the amount of pressure I could sustain throughout the pedal stroke was vastly improved. I felt no flexing in my midfoot and that my foot was staying perfectly aligned.
Now, having a wider platform for power and weight distribution is key here. With SPD pedals, I was getting a lot of side to side play that was annoying during high intensity rides. With the wider platform on the cleat to pedal contact, that was virtually completely eliminated. So no more wobbly feet when I take off for a sprint!
Now for some negatives. The biggest thing I can think of is the strap system. It does an alright job, being that it works. But during my first race when trying to mount my bike and strap the shoes on it was a bit tough to get them fully secure like I wanted to. I had to stop and restrap a couple times.
Another thing that is somewhat bothersome is just how open the top of the foot is. It makes for easy entrance/exit, but when it comes down to colder race days or if you only have one pair of shoes, this just doesn't quite cut it. Albeit, on hot days or when I'm training in my basement in the high humidity I create, having such a hugely vented shoe is quite nice.
Overall, I really enjoy the shoes. And at their $179 price point, I don't see much out there that can compete at this level. The only thing about Bontrager shoes in general is that they tend to have a more narrow-minded fit that shoes like Shimano. For some athletes, that is great. For me, so-so. But they are a huge upgrade from where I was and I am enjoying every ride on them.
-Dave
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