These shoes have a stiff sole like road shoes and the versatility of mountain bike shoes. Very comfortable so far on long gravel rides with no break in period. Would highly recommend.
For my gravel bike I Wanted the exact feel as my road / 3 bolt S-Phyres, but not wanting to spend 400 on the xc9. In same size, These fit just a tiny bit roomier in toe box than my road s-phyres - excellent. Even with the single boa It's still the similar glove like fit as the s-phyre- super light and stiff but perfectly comfortable. For the gravel riding I do these are perfect. My only wonder is how long the tread lugs will last.
Shoes are very confortable and very light. I am sure enjoying them and I would highly recommend them.
I use these with my gravel bike. Good looking shoe, with great comfort. A little difficult to get your foot in, but once it is in, the fit is beautiful. Great performance feel with a rigid sole, yet easy to walk in.
Dirt roads and paved roads, all with a lot of climbing. I enjoyed these shoes so much on my gravel bike that I put SPD pedals on my road bike and use the shoes for every ride. Still experimenting with insoles to see which goes best in these shoes.
This shoe preforms as well as anything I have tried and at half the cost of some shoes in my closet.
I like these shoes.
Definitely more performance oriented than an all-round product. The Platform is super stiff, not very comfortable to walk around, but still a good solution in my opinion for gravel adventures.
Forefoot is wide enough for my feet to sit without issue and not feeling constricted (9W in running shoes, wear the 42 of these)
I replaced a pair of older Specialized Mountain bike shoes. I find these a very good upgrade in terms of comfort, stiffness and the lacing mechanism is much better than the sliders and velcro on my older shoes.
These RX-8's have such a nice fit and finish. Seem well built and ready to take on some good gravel rides. Very lightweight. Interested to see how the outer holds up through big mud. Overall very pleased
I never liked riding with clunky MTB shoes on my gravel bike. These feel much more natural on a drop bar bike, and infinitely more walkable than SPD-SLs.
These are excellent shoes for long rides on SPD style pedals. They feel almost identical to road shoes while riding, but have enough walkability off bike to be functional for commuting or gravel rides with some hike-a-bike.
The footbox is shaped pretty well, so that my wider than normal feet are comfortable, without having to resort to a wide size, meaning a better fit for me in the heel and ankle areas.
The cleats attachment points are pretty flexible. I can get the cleats very far aft on the shoe, which is pretty unique in my experience, and the cleat interface with the pedal is super secure.
Also, the shoes are really well made with nice details, and they are holding really well so far. Oh and they look great!
I like the stiffness of the shoe and the color. This cycling shoe size was spot on. I normally wear a 12D in New Balance and Nike and the 46 fit me perfect. No break in required and usually that's not the case for me.
I needed a new pair of road shoes. These are very well built and well designed. The single BOA works without over-binding on my foot. I am an in-between size usually a 12 (11 34) so I end up in 46.5 or 47's . Many don't come in 12 sizes so on this me and my narrow feet went up to 47, and got the silver camo a fun color pattern option (black bike shoes are so bleh). The fit for my tween-size gives a tiny 14 extra room length-wise and width is roomy, but I have narrow feet, some may not like that room. It works well to be able to layer a 2nd pair of mid-weight wool socks for winter under shoe covers. The binding is super gradual and magically hugs your foot more toward the upper half, but foot shape like plays in here. I have found there is a slight break-in occurring and I'm comfortable increasing tension to very snughammer-time tension. I have a medium arch so stock insoles work perfect without the added high-arch ones needed. The BOA binding then snugs you into the nicely padded heal cup and damn, they fit so good. The sole is super stiff, walk-able when you need to. I am now riding these for everything, road, dirt, gravel. They are flat out the best bike shoes I've ever owned riding 35yrs. The one feature a little non-functional is the toe velcro adjust, I would like to narrow things up a bit more but the adjust-ability there is minimal then the small strap doesn't really have much velcro to grab hold with, but I got a 14 maybe so enough, but a little more would be nice. Also I've had some warm days recently and can confirm these breath nicely with my slightly roomy fit. I saw a review where someone claimed they didn't breath, but could be a case of too snug a fit or a fatwide foot blocking all the vent holes. Get fit for a little toe-box room and not too small and you're in business. I ride a big mix of roads and have pavedgravel all-road options all day long in the Col. R. Gorge (WA side). I also ride lone-ranger 99.9% of the time, and shoes I can walk in without sub-par pontoons adapted for SPD was a must-have, you could need a long-walk to cell signal or to get found somewhere paved or not. With 3 all-road bikes and 1 road bike I shifted to SPD pedalscleats after 30yrs on Look pedals for a decent all-road option. I have some decent Shimano Torbal's that are great low-price shoes and other mid-range shoes over the years, even SIDI, Diadora. These shoes I scored on a killer Christmas sale for more than 2x less than some SIDI's I wouldn't trade them for, not for overpriced $ shoes. I did not like the SIDIs I had years ago, not enough bang for the buck. When Shimano pops out some new colors, I'm coming back for another pair ) ..... Outstanding shoes, road shoes you can walk in. I'm a total SPD convert
I use the RX800 for Gravel and MTB riding and currently have 1700 mi in the shoes. My focus was on comfort as there are many great stiff, light shoes. I don't have hotspots and they are easy on and off and won't let you down off the bike. I would recommend good shoe covers in the winter as they are well ventilated.
I now have over 500 miles on these shoes, including both paved and gravel roads. Longest ride has been five hours. They hold your heel well and give good room in the toe box. The no tongue wrap design is a weight saver and, along with the BOA hold the foot well. You just need to make sure that the wrap is positioned properly so that it doesn't bug your ankle. BOA closure is great for tweaking the shoe's tightness. My pair were as light as advertised. The sole gives you great power transfer and the upper is quite breathable. Beware they may be too cool on cold days (not a winter shoe) and with the stiff sole, long hike-a-bikes may be more difficult. My plan is to wear them for training, touring and gravel events, including the Dirty Kanza. They are a well-designed gravel shoe and I am quite pleased.
I bought a pair of these shoes as I was leaving for a gravel race in Texas (Im in Iowa) in about 10 days. I only wore them a few times on a trainer prior to the 65 mile race. They were and are the most comfortable cycling shoes I have ever owned and extremely light. Oh, and I won my age group
love the fit, comfortable out of the box (although shoes like helmets tend to be very personal)... they replaced much heavier mountain bike specific shoes..use them mountain biking and rising canal paths and dirt roads on my gravelcyclocross bike..they probably aren't as durable as a mountain bike shoe but I've used them for several months and they seem great.. love the fit and I love the off white color
This is my second pair. I have the silver and wanted a second pair so I got the black. The fit is great and it quite stiff. It is super comfortable. It is worth the money.
Like all my Shimano Shoes these fit excellent. All closure systems work flawlessly. Lightweight with a great finish as well.
I ride gravel primarily and these shoes are lighter and more gravel friendly than my old MTB shoes.
I like theses a lot.
