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The code is key. Get the code and you can unlock the secret ... Read more

The code is key. Get the code and you can unlock the secret of performance, a pursuit of many a cyclist. Is it a cipher or a shoe? In this case, the Code is the Giro shoe that Levi Leipheimer, sometimes known as a pro roadie who has finished on the podium of a few Grand Tours, literally took out of the box and on his first ride in them won the Leadville 100 mountain bike race, setting the course record and beating the reigning national mountain bike champ in the process. Pretty impressive performance. And the Code is an impressive shoe, whether or not a Giro-sponsored rider fresh off the Tour de France can destroy a field of pro mountain bikers on his virgin ride with their mountain bike shoes. The first big thing about Giro shoes is that they fit great regardless of who wears them. Like their road shoes, Giro went through 16 iterations before they found the last, aka foot form, they wanted to use to design the shoe around. This last has to accommodate for a wide range of feet, accounting for variations in volume, heel width, arch height, toe length, and so on. Shoe makers pretty much have one shot at designing a good last, the first one is what they'll be stuck with pretty much forever, so it needs to be good. Nailing the last is a great first, but any shoe also has to allow for the upper to be adjusted; the material and the straps have to account for differences small and large from foot to foot to foot. Here, too, Giro has done a stellar job. You can see it from the deep, but not too constructed, heel cup. You can see it in the shape of the top strap and two-position buckle. You can see it in the middle strap that goes across the mid-foot to keep it from moving, eliminating pressure on the metatarsal bones by pulling equally from a large swath of fabric on the inside of the foot; when you pull on the Velcro, the entire panel becomes the strap. Minimize

With one quick look at the Giro Prolight SLX Shoes, you'll ... Read more

With one quick look at the Giro Prolight SLX Shoes, you'll know something is different. There are no mechanical closures, a rarity among pro-level shoes. This is in response to the needs of their marquee rider, Levi Leipheimer. Being meticulous about his gear, he wanted Velcro closures rather than a buckle so he could be confident that the shoes would survive a crash; buckles can break and having one go in a Grand Tour is a lousy way to lose a race you prepared all year for.Velcro, great. Simple, adjustable, conforms well to the foot, hard to break: everyone can get into that. But Giro didn't just drape three straps across the top of the shoe. They designed each strap to do something a bit different, so each is angled slightly differently. The top strap holds the heel into the cup, the middle strap goes across the metatarsals to anchor your foot in the shoe, and the bottom strap takes up any loose space in the forefoot. If you take a close look at the medial side of the shoe, you'll see that each strap is fixed on large swaths of material, meaning that you're pulling the entire upper over your foot, rather than creating pressure points under each strap. Another subtle but striking feature is the way the toe box is constructed. One-piece toes look great, but the smooth look often comes at the price of limited adjustability. On the Prolight, the toe area looks conventional, but it allows for a wide range of adjustment on that bottom strap and eliminates the dreaded pucker, even if you have a narrow forefoot.And, because every gram counts when you're climbing 15,000 feet a day, several days in a row, Leipheimer also wanted the lightest possible shoe without losing either stiffness or security. This Easton EC90SLX is the lightest and stiffest sole Giro uses in their shoes. Easton and Giro are divisions of the same company and Giro leaned on Easton engineers here. The result is a super-stiff sole that's only 6. Minimize

Strap on the Nothwave MenAAAs Razer Mountain Bike Shoe and ... Read more

Strap on the Nothwave MenAAAs Razer Mountain Bike Shoe and hammer your way to the front of the pack. Northwave designed the Razer to give you out-of-the-box comfort without sacrificing podium-stomping performance. This is accomplished using the Northwave SBS closure system, which cradles the foot in a Y-shaped yolk and utilizes a rachet-strap to lock your foot in place, and SBS eliminates heel-lift without creating annoying hot-spots or pressure points. Minimize