Shimano SH-R300 Shoes

After a few days of researching various bike shoes, I narrowed the list to two shoes: SIDI Ergo 2 and the Shimano SH-R300.

The SIDI were more money, but had the promise of a good quality, long lasting shoe that could be adjusted to fit my foot as needed.

The Shimano was a custom form fitting shoe that had the promise of a perfectly comfortable shoe after I went through 30 minute custom fitting process.

For about $100 less, I ended up going with the Shimano shoes at $250. That is a lot of dough for me to spend on bike shoes!

So, now I've done a few wrides with these shoes, here is what I think.

At first, I thought I made a mistake. My foot seemed loose in the shoe, I wasn't getting much power, and the tongue was rubbing my right foot on climbs.

I then changed cleat location and pushed them all the way back. That helped a lot with the power. Then Iwas a bit more careful with the tongue when I put the shoe on and was careful not to over tighten the shoe, that seemed to fix the rubbing problem.

The extra room in the shoe actually adds to the comfort. A bit hard to describe, but my foot is snug after getting these shoes heat molded, but other shoes were so constricting, I thought that is what bike shoes were supposed to feel like (of course my feet got numb after long rides in these other shoes). In these shoes, they are fit snugly without feeling constrictive. The main benefit is comfort. After a few long rides and many short rides, I really like these shoes. They are responsive and comfortable.

At first I didn't like the way the looked and almost decided not to buy them, but they are actually pretty cool and very visible in dark situations. Being very light in color, I was worried about them looking dingy. I did a 3 hour ride in the rain, and they still look great (and held up fantastic for the ride).

I've read some reviews suggesting that the heel pad on the bottom of the shoe wears out quickly. I've used them for several weeks on over 20 rides and have not noticed any significant wear - and I do a lot of commute miles that requires frequent dismounts. So, I'm not worried about this. I also checked an 8 year old pair of Shimano shoes that I have put thousands of miles on and have not yet worn down this pad, so I don't think this is an issue.