Giro's New Knit MTB Shoes Look Like Something Your Grandma Would Make - Eurobike 2017
With a look that resembles something a creative grandmother might crochet while sitting in her rocking chair, Giro's new Knit shoe collection certainly stands out from the crowd. While most cycling shoes are constructed from multiple pieces of fabric that are cut and then sewn or glued together, the uppers on the Empire VR70 Knit are, as the name suggest, knit into the correct shape out of a synthetic material Giro calls Xnetic, and then bonded to an exoskeleton made from a thermoplastic polyeurethane (TPU).
This style of construction has been present in the running world for a few years, but Giro are one of the first companies to bring it over to the mountain bike side of things. One of the advantages to this design is that the amount of waste is greatly reduced – there's no pile of excess scrap material left over after the uppers are made. It also makes for a shoe that should conform well to the shape of a rider's foot - after handling a set of the Empire VR70 Knit shoes I'm eager to try a pair out in order to see if they're as ridiculously comfortable as they look, and to see how well that Xnetic fabric holds up.
Each shoe begins its life as one piece of knit material.
Shoes that are as comfortable as just wearing socks? Could be - we'll have to get a pair in for review to find out.
The Empire VR70 is aimed at XC and trail riders, with a rubber guard at the front of the shoe to help prevent stubbed or smashed toes, and a DWR coating in case you get caught out in the rain. If the shoes do get completely soaked, the open weave of the uppers should help them dry quickly, rather than becoming saturated and waterlogged. There's a Vibram rubber outsole to provide traction for scrambling around off the bike, and an Easton EC70 carbon fiber inner sole to ensure that there's plenty of stiffness for delivering power to the pedals. Available this January, the shoes will retail for $250 USD.
Giro also had their new Fixture helmet on display - MIPS equipped with generous venting and extended rear coverage for $75 USD.
The Tazz MTB goggle ($55) is another new addition to the lineup...
...As is the Tempo and its wallet-friendly $30 price tag.
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It's is pretty impressive what these robots can knit nowadays. Only look at a modern pair of cycling socks like X-Socks. I tried knitting for three months. Got regular advice from my girlfriends mom, laughter from her dad, kept at it, persevered, blood, sweat and tears... failed. Three months, gone. The thing just kept falling from the needle. So my deepest respect goes to all those who can braid, robot or grandma. I admire your skill.
I run in Nike Free Flyknit and appreciate the sock-like feel and flexibility, but have a hard time imagining how that feeling would translate to cycling shoes, where the 'ultimate' shoes are basically as stiff and light as possible while somehow conforming to the foot.
One feature that does appear to be a benefit is the higher sock-like cuff which looks like it would do a good job of keeping crud out of the shoe, and perhaps an improvement on a typical low-cut cycling sock.
Agree with the other comments re: mud capture however - one muddy ride or cx race and the knit would be gross, if not impaired.
agreed, the cuff seems functional.
too bad it's also so ugly to me that it's the only thing that keeps me from trying these shoes.