Specialized Road Shoe Review S-Works, Pro, Comp

I recently helped a friend choose a new pair of road shoes and thought this might be a useful topic for anyone out there trying to decide which Specialized shoes to buy. I think shoe choice starts with fit and should then move to features. There are a ton of great shoe manufacturers out there, but the Specialized line seems to fit me better than anything else. Sidi for example makes fantastic shoes, but I have never been able to get the right fit. This review is not comparing Specialized shoes to other brands, I am simply trying to review the different levels of shoes that Specialized currently offers.

For this review I am comparing 3 levels of shoes, the S-Works, Pro, and Comp. Those of you with good eyes can see from the picture above that the only road shoe I actually have in my possession is the S-Works. However, I do have the 2009 version of the S-Works shoes which is very similar in design to the Comp and I have the Pro MTB shoe which is very similar in design and materials to its road cousin. Since I am primarily reviewing design, durability and materials, I believe these to be very good representations of the current line.

Overview/Philosophy

When reviewing any product it is very difficult to be completely objective. We all like certain things and will tend to prefer products that have those features. It is also important to understand that value is huge for me. I believe in getting the most for my money. There are some things I will pay full-boat to get the best product made while in other cases entry-level will serve my needs. With shoes, helmets, handlebars, pedals and saddles, I strongly believe you need to get the best that you can afford. These are items you take with you on every ride and are contact points with your bike. The difference between really well-fitting and functional shoes versus so-so shoes can considerably impact your enjoyment of this sport.

While there are lower-end shoes in the Specialized line, the comp is the point where I would draw the line. I know $200 is a lot of money, but a good pair of shoes, with replaceable components will last multiple seasons making the cost per ride reasonable for most people.

Stiffness

Specialized has a stiffness factor rating system on their shoes which I assume is supposed to give the buyer some idea of the relative stiffness between shoes. For the 3 shoes we are looking at, the low is 8.5 on the Comp going all the way up to 12.0 for the S-Works model. What does this mean? I have no idea if this is saying that the S-Works is actually 50% stiffer than the Comp and how this is measured. I will say this, I doubt it is that significant on the shoe and to the rider. What I mean is that I would wager the soles are tested for stiffness (if they are truly tested) apart from the shoe. In reality, there could be different sensations to the rider, but I think this is highly subjective and after owning several shoes, this would not be a factor in my decision making. In my experience, there is absolutely no difference in the 10.0 soles on the 2009 S-Works shoes compared to the 12.0 on the latest version. Absolutely ZERO! Looking at the Specialized scale there should be a 20% difference and one would think a 190 lb. rider could detect that significant of a difference. Perhaps you could tell the difference, but again, I would give the sole stiffness little to no weighting in my buying decision.

Closure system

Specialized uses several different closure systems across their lines of shoes. First, let's talk about the BOA system. There are two types of BOA closures used in this comparison with the S1-M BOA used on the S-works and the L4 used on the Comp. Also, there are two BOA closures on the S-Works model while the Comp uses a BOA and a strap across the toe. I will talk a little more about this design difference in the fit section as I mainly want to address the functionality of each system here.

The S1-M closure of the S-works shoe is a low profile dial that is turned counter clock-wise to tighten the cable and clock-wise to loosen it. There are very small "clicks" which allow for mico-adjustment of the closure. It is very quick to tighten the shoes, but a little slower than the L4 BOA or a traditional ratchet closure when loosening. I find the two closures very easy to reach while riding  and because the loosening function is so simple, it is by far the easiest system to adjust on the bike. The fact that there are two BOA's is another advantage as you can dial the fit of these shoes in while riding much easier than on the other shoes. This is a big deal for me as I typically can't get a good feel for my shoes until I have ridden a few minutes. If you put your shoes on and never touch them this would not be a big deal for you. One last note on the BOA system, it can be adjusted with shoe covers on. For a time-trialist I believe these should would be ideal as the system is low profile and can be adjusted with covers on.

The L4 closure is different from the S1-M in the way it loosens and releases the cable tension. To tighten the shoe you use the same motion. So everything I wrote about above holds true for this shoe. The release requires you to pull up on the Boa which totally loosens the tension. This makes micro adjustment much more difficult. The only real advantage I see to this closure compared to the S1-M is it is very fast for removing your shoes.

The Pro skips the BOA design altogether and uses a traditional buckle that Specialized calls the SL buckle. This functions pretty much like every buckle out there, it uses a ratchet style lever to feed the strap through by biting into grooves on a plastic strap. This is a very good system that allows for fairly precise adjustment. Much like the L4 BOA, it is easy to tighten on the bike, but requires more effort and requires me to look down to loosen. This system would be very difficult to use with shoe covers on and I would imagine is also a heavier system as well.

Finally, both the Comp and Pro incorporate Velcro straps that are extremely common on cycling shoes. The straps, are simple, fast, but lack micro-adjustment and are pretty much impossible to use with shoe covers. That being said, they are pretty easy to adjust on the bike and are pretty much a bombproof design.

Fit/Comfort

There are a few things I want to hit on Fit and Comfort and that would be the upper design, ventilation, closure system, and relative sizing.

There are two types of uppers used across these three shoes. The Pro and S-Works model use something called a Micro Matrix upper which I have a very difficult time describing. The feel of the upper is very strange to me as there is a plastic-feeling coating on the upper and what almost feels like a foam rubber inner. This makes the upper of the shoe very flexible and very soft. I have spoken with several people who have issues with their shoes aggravating their ankles and even causing blisters. This upper material would be ideal for that person. One might think that with the upper being this flexible that the fit would not feel secure. On the contrary both the Boa and buckle systems do a fantastic job of forming the upper to the foot. Another positive to the material is that it is very easy to clean as the clear-coat/plastic finish does not allow dirt to penetrate the upper. After a few thousand miles and in varied riding conditions, the upper has held up well and I do not anticipate any problems with durability. We are getting picky here, but I do have one issue with the material. I am extremely lazy. I like to stand up when I put my shoes on and stomp my heel down into the shoe. You can't do that with these shoes, you have to put your index finger in between the heel and back of the shoe. For the non-slugs out there I doubt you get this, but it irritates me to no end.

The Comp uses a traditional synthetic upper. It feels a lot like leather and acts like it. It is stiffer, but not horribly so and does an ok job of repelling grime, but does deteriorate over time and the shoes do get dirty. They are stiff enough so that I can stand and get in them, but once on my feet, I must admit I prefer the Micro Matrix material. That being said, I think the Comp upper is on par with most other uppers out there and is not bad at all.

Ventilation is important to me as it gets really hot and muggy here in the summers. I find all of these shoes to have good ventilation and honestly, I can't really tell the difference except that the S-works shoes seems to be cooler on cold winter rides. I can only assume this means that the ventilation is better or that the upper material does not hold heat in like the traditional synthetic upper. Regardless of this being true, I could not see there being enough difference to pick one shoe over the other.

The three closure systems all have positives and negatives in the way that they cause the shoes to fit. I feel most secure in the S-Works shoe. However, because of the design, the lower and mid-foot share the same BOA and I occasionally wish I could loosen the shoe across the toe and keep the mid-foot tension the same. This is where the Pro shines, with three individual adjustment points, you can really dial the fit in. The downside is you lose the micro-adjustment capability so getting this fit correct takes more time and effort. Finally, the Comp adjustment would seem the be the worst of all worlds, but in fact is not. because the top Boa controls both the mid and upper foot adjustment, for my foot shape this works really well. I can use the bottom strap on the toes and I almost always want the same tension over the remainder of the shoe. I guess if I had to rate the three systems for dialing in fit I would call the Comp design the best (the downside being the loss of micro-adjustment when loosening), the S-Works second (only because I wish the Boa positions were switched to control lower foot separately) and finally the Pro. The inability to micro-adjust the fit is what I dislike the most on the Pro.

Sizing - in my experience Specialized shoes run slightly bigger than Sidi, but on par with Northwave and Scott. I'm a 47 in everything except Sidi, but these things cost way too much to buy without trying them on. I will say this, the sizing across all three lines does seem to be very consistent. All of these shoes are the same size and fit nearly identically.

I do want to add to the fit section that Specialized does offer multiple footbed and shim options. They have a system called BG fit that is used to guide what works best. I'm nowhere near competent enough to speak to this other than to say if your fit is a little off, there are options to tweak your fit and really dial in the comfort of your shoes. My only complaint with this system is that for what it cost it should be size specific. When I bought these the kit was for size 47 and 48 shoes, I should not need a pair of scissors when paying nearly $50 for inserts and plastic shims.


Weight

Weight is shown in the chart a couple of paragraphs up. The S-Works shoes is quite a bit lighter than the Pro and Comp with the Comp coming in second place.   Personally, I like light cycling and running shoes. Would I pay a premium for weight, no I would not.



Durability

All of these shoes have held up except for the BOA systems. With the L4 Boa I had to replace one Boa after a season and a second Boa half-way through the next. The kits were around $12 each and not too difficult to replace. That being said, these things are going to degrade over time, there is no doubt about it. My 2009 S-works shoes are basically the Comp design and I do wish the shoes had a replaceable heel. I never thought I would say that, but since you can replace the BOA system and the uppers hold up really well, there simply is no sense in throwing them away as they are great shoes.It is 2012 and these 2009 shoes are still used in the rain and when there is salt on the roads and are very serviceable. The shoes have also slid across the asphalt with me in them and other than black streaks on the shoes, they have held up very well.

The S1-M Boa has not held up as well. After less than two months of use, I started having problems with the release. The lower Boa will only release the cable a centimeter or two and then starts to tighten the cable. This has happened on both shoes. I have not replaced them yet, but this has to be a design issue unless I am totally missing something on the correct usage of the BOA. The Micro Matrix upper has held up really well and as I said earlier is very easy to clean making white mountain bike shoes a good choice.

The Buckle system on the Pro has been very durable as a tried and true design should be. That being said, in almost every buckled shoe I have ever owned I have eventually had problems with it. One nice thing about this shoe is that the buckle is totally replaceable much like the BOA system so these should should have a very long life as well.

The soles have held up very well as would be expected and even the heel has not worn too badly on any of the shoes. Overall finish and durability on the uppers and soles is excellent. Expect some maintenance and failures with the BOA systems.

Value and the Winner

This is a tough call. I like all of these shoes a lot. I would be happy with any of them, but most of us have features that are important to us and those features would carry more weight. For me it is fit and and at this point I have to place the S-Works at the top because of the combination of upper and BOA system. That being said, a $360 pair of shoes should be more reliable than this. I am terribly disappointed with the durability of the BOA on these shoes. For this reason I simply can't recommend this shoe to anyone. Great fit is important, but if you can't take your shoes off without  a crowbar it does you little good.

So I think the choice really comes down to the Pro and Comp. At $200 and $285 the price difference is significant. I prefer the upper on the Pro and the BOA system on the the Comp. While I have had to replace the BOA system on both shoes, the L4 system at least got me through an entire season. Unless you have blister issues, I would give a slight edge to the Comp shoe. I have read other reviews that would disagree and it could come down to stiffness. My shoes are actually rated at 10.0 instead of 8.5 and perhaps there is something there. I doubt it, but since I have not ridden the 8.5 version I do not know for sure.