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Interestingly, although the focus of my time on a bike is cycling to lose weight, I actually want to become a generally better cyclist.  Sometimes that means going for something which is a little more efficient.  I guess if I just wanted to burn calories then I would just lower the pressure in my mountain bike tyres and stick a heavy rucksack on my back.  But efficiency means speed and distance, and that means fun.  And why not?  The best way of getting more enjoyment out of your efforts is to make sure that you are being efficient with the pedal strokes and getting the power to where it needs to be.  Good cycling shoes help here.

I posted about what makes good road cycling shoes and I am interested in seeing how Diadora cycling shoes stand up to my criteria.  Diadora have been making cycling shoes since the second world war so have been around long enough for me to have confidence.  Though one website did suggest that they had been making road shoes AND mountain bike shoes since WW2…erm, aren’t mountain bikes relatively recent?

First a bit of a laughable cycling shoe review that I read, and to protect the innocent I won’t mention where I found it, but the reviewer who had bought a pair of road shoes from the range was moaning that the heal was a hard plastic and they had nearly slipped and fallen over.

Listen, its hard to get your head round I know, but these are for road bike cycling not for walking down to the shops in.  And if you want to get off your bike and do a bit of tourism then you are better getting footwear with a recessed cleat – those specifically for MTB’s or Touring in other words.  The purpose of a road shoes like the Diadora range is to be able to transfer the power to the pedals efficiently, so the sole is going to be hard and shiny as any flex reduces that power transfer.  They are not meant to walk in.

So which of the Diadora would fit my bill?

First I have to look at price.  I am not a professional, I just cycle to get fit, and whilst in my own mind I am competitive, bottom line is I want leg to pedal energy transfer to be efficient, but there is no point in breaking the bank – I won’t ever get to compete with the big boys who, reputedly, are the fittest athletes on the planet.  Lance Armstrong

diadora ergo carbon road shoe

, you’re quite safe…

That puts the Diadora pro-race Carbon evo out then, at £208.94 (best price).  It is the top spec of ‘componentry’ and has a clever buckle system, touted as a ‘Micrometric closure…forged aluminium Micro CL buckle…Multifit Adjust with gel insert. Quick stopper on Velcro straps.’  In other words its comfortable and closes quickly, tightly, and is really adjustable, and the co-moulded carbon sole transfers the power.

But let’s get back down to earth, dropping through to the speedracer R Diadora cycling shoe.  This is more like it, and best buy indicates I could pick up a pair for £78.  The closure is the same as the system for the pro-race: cool!  The sole isn’t as stiff, but I can live with that.  It’s called a nylon-glass sole…by which I think they mean it’s some sort of glass fibre composite, which would make sense.  The venting and upper is very similar to the more expensive models.

Coming down to the Diadora sprinter, which is the bottom of the ‘reasonable-in-my-mind’ range, best price online is £48.  Not bad.   The mech isn’t as techy as the top of the range models, but Diadora still claim that it will hold the shoe to your foot really well.   Personally, although it says there is a double lace system, I think what they actually mean is the Velcro goes through the loop on the other side of the shoe and pulls back over the top.  This kind of system works perfectly well as long as the ‘teeth’ of the Velcro don’t get jammed up with fluff.  Probably ok on most shoes, and my kids have them on theirs.  In fact on my 8 year old son’s pro-running shoes that is exactly the system that he has, and it works fine.

I have discounted the Geko Diadora though because, well, it’s a few years old now…But it is cheap at £26 (best price).  So if you are wanting to go for something which will get you through about a year, and you have a tight budget, I don’t think that there is anything wrong with the Diadora Geko shoe.  There certainly don’t seem any bad reviews around.

Being the kind of person I am, I don’t look at the cheapest model, I usually try and find a mid-ranged price point, just before the value for money curve bottoms out/flattens.  So I am rather attracted to diadora ergo cycling shoes.  My only problem?  I can’t find much information about them anywhere other than they are priced at £65 on the bike store’s websites, and down to as low as £40 in other places (though I wouldn’t necessarily buy from those sorts of places…) and that is down from £130.  It’s got the carbon blend sole; it has the clever buckler system at the top of the shoe; and it’s compatible with the SPD pedal system, which is what I am looking at.  I tried calling Evan’s cycles to get some more info, but they didn’t seem to want to answer the phone!  I just hope that it isn’t a style that is no longer made…

The prices of all these shoes vary enormously, even within one brand or even style.  Shopping around is going to pay off, though my preference would be to ask my local bike shop to see if they could get a pair in at reasonably the same cost (support local…and you can take them back if they fail!).  There is little point in going over £100 for the regular user, and perhaps cut that in half if possible with careful shopping.  Last year’s styles tend to drop rapidly in price, and you should be able to get a pair of cycle shoes for about the same cost as a pair of reasonable running shoes.

So my final thought is this (and this for my own notes!)

Diadora ergo road cycling shoes, with SPD pedal system.

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