The XC-30s are mainly black, with a red and black inner lining, and grey accents on the outer. 3 velcro straps secure the foot, and there's not much else out of the ordinary from a visual standpoint.
The XC30s are SPD compatible clipless shoes and the XC in the name seem to allude to Cyclocross. Being SPD, they will interface with SPD pedals which are more often seen on non-road disciplines and are not compatible with the more usual road-going SPD-SL clipless mechanism.
While they arguably supply a smaller contact area and platform than SPD-SL, their smaller cleat profile allows for shoes that can designed so the cleats do not contact the ground when walking out of the pedals.
This is the also case with the XC-30s. They have hard, grey colored plastic ridges that extend from the edge of the shoe sole downward, raising the sole and cleat above ground level. The spacing in between the ridges also allows clicking in and out of the pedals with little interference.
Cycling shoe soles aren't meant to be flexible so as to transfer maximum power to the pedals, so walking in any cycling shoe is strange at first. It's also not recommended to do any amount of extended walking in them, and may even cause injury if used in such a way. I've not had much experience with other shoes of varying stiffness, but the sole of the XC-30 does not seem to flex much if at all for my use.
The sole inner and shoe upper are quite comfortably padded and after numerous rides I haven't found those areas to be a problem. Where I do have issues is the width across the ball of the foot. I have a fairly standard heel width and toe width but I have an unusually wide foot across the ball. Shimano do make a W variant for some shoes but I wasn't able to find a version for the XC-30s available. Had I known then what I know now after riding with them, I would have opted for one size larger, and then adjusted the velcro straps appropriately. I guess I'll know that for the next time I need to buy a new pair, but the main concern at the time was reducing movement of the foot within the shoe. As it is now, I need to let my feet out of the shoes every 90 minutes or so during a ride otherwise I start feeling pinching along the outer edge of my foot.
I did have to retorque the cleat bolts after a short ride when they were first installed, but I hear that this is the norm for most new shoes. The bolts themselves (2 per shoe) require a small dab of grease or anti-seize when installing. I used the same as what I used when installing my pedals to the cranks.
I'm also quite happy with the durability so far. I've come off the bike twice now and landed/slid on the outer of my right shoe and there only seems to be a small scuff showing. The velcro straps also seems to not be losing any adhesion. This was something that always plagued me during my younger not-coordinated-enough-to-tie-laces years. Being velcro, there is little limit to how loose or tight you can have the shoe which is great for people like me whose feet seem to expand and contract with the seasons (see fat fluctuations).
Cleaning is easy and the underneath doesn't attract much debris, apart from sticky mud or similar. So far I haven't had anything collect on the bottom of the show that caused the clipless mechanism to fail.
Ventilation is standard, but during the colder months don't expect the lining of the inner to keep your feet warm. The cold goes through these shoes readily and a waterproof overshoe is recommended if riding through the wet or cold.
Apart from the sizing (which mostly boils down to my inexperience) I'm extremely happy with these shoes and they haven't failed me yet over the couple of hundreds of kms I've ridden in them so far.
The Good:
- Price. I paid around $70 instore, but you could probably find them cheaper now.
- Build quality. Has survived well through scrapes and crashes.
- Clipless. As with the previous pedal review, anything that gets rid of those horrible toe-clip pedals is welcome.
- Maintenance. Cleaning required is minimal and they look good.
- Adjustable. Velcro straps allow freedom in fitment (to an extent).
The Bad:
- Weight. You could probably get a lighter shoe but you would probably pay more for it.
- Width. Could be stock availability, but I couldn't find a W variant anywhere instore.
- No included/pre- grease. You need to supply your own grease or anti-seize compound when installing cleat bolts.
- Hard to walk in and get used to. This is common with all cycling shoes.
- Not the latest. I believe there is an XC-31 out now.
- Overall:
For the price, and how they perform I can't complain. Obviously they are not going to be the lightest or stiffest shoe, and while they look good they are definitely an understated affair. Basically, like the SPD pedals in the previous review, they are an inexpensive workhorse of an item that gets the job done without much fanfare.
Score:
9.0/10
Up next (I think I'll do them all together):
Elite Super Jossanova water bottle
Elite Mejio bottle cage
Airace Fit Tele Road mini pump
Plus a whole lot of other small items.
Basically, all my bike accessories.
