Hello everyone i hope your all enjoying the lovely english weather unless your reading from another country in which case you probably are not, lot's of bit's and peaces arriving this week and we start with one for the Ladies, new shoes. Giro have dipped their toe in the shoe market with a few offerings that i touched on briefly a while ago but now we have some lets have a closer look. Top of the pile is the Prolight SLX available in 2 colours black or white simple and safe. The upper is made of Teijin microfibre which is very soft and helps to take your foots shape giving great comfort the 3 strap's D-rings are offset so they do not cause any real pressure points across the top of the foot their are made of Titanium for weight and you will also notice the lack of a ratchet on the top strap for the same reason.
The sole is EC90 slx hi-mod carbon giving great stiffness to weight ratio's and with Ti hardware. The shoe also comes with 2 insoles 1 super light for racing and one slightly heavier ( a little over the top i think) and 3 different arch supports that attach to the insole on a fine velcro style attachment. All in all a very light and good looking shoe with full road test to follow soon. Dropping 2 models lower is the Trans at almost £100 cheaper this shoe takes a cheaper carbon sole and upper material adding 70g in weight but has a buckle and a semi fetish shiny bit which i really like and in terms of value for money about £169 i think is a fantastic value for money shoe. The Trans also comes with a medium arch support but the arch kits are sold separately.
The Trans pictured above is also shown with a Mavic pro-road which is a very light and comfortable shoe for pretty much the same money, the picture doesn't really quite show what i intended here but for anyone who has seen the Mavic shoes they are super thin comfy slippers that feel floaty light on your feet the Giro much like a Sidi is a slightly beefier shoe sitting a little taller on the foot and probably being a little better in the colder temperatures aswell as the Mavics are extremely well ventilated. The 2 brands compliment each other nicely and with Sidi due in to us in the next few weeks you should be spoilt for choice when it comes to proper footwear. MTB shoes in the next blog if that floats your boat but in the meantime Zipp, Zipp have been a big and leading name in aero wheels for years now and hold a huge market share in the Triathlon market and with the 808 Firecrest it's no surprise as they are a truly beautiful wheel in the flesh with their dimpled surface and fat chunk stance they make any bike look a million dollars.
The 81mm deep rims sit at a porky 27mm width but for a reason, im not going to go into all the tech detail quite frankly because it bores the shit out of me but if you really want to read it click
here, basically by testing different rim profiles Zipp have managed to move the centre of pressure caused by wind on the rim nearer to the centre of the wheel giving a much more stable feel and allowing the wheel to be far more efficient.
Even the skewers and hub/bearing covers are shaped to help cut through the air so if your already running Zipps make sure everything is facing the right way or you could be giving away precious seconds on the commute home. Now while on the subject of aero rims we all know EDGE/ENVE dont we ? well you should as this year they are set to place a foothold on the market in the UK with their product. Now i can not tell to much yet as that would be unfair on the UK distributor but there are a few new rims on their way and they look very good and offer some very interesting wind tunnel results but more on this later im afraid all i will say is start saving as the wheels will be offered in complete build packages with Chris King hubs to name but one variety, that should make your life a little easier Grant because i know i dont, sorry but Grant knows who he is and for those of you that dont hes the bloke that will have blinging Enve/king wheels in 2 months time. reference to the wind tunnel bit good news for Cannondale owners but again ill spill the beans later.
Well i need some rest after this mornings early run and bike session but thank you Cytomax for todays energy boost.
Night Yall
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