Why these Shoes; and the Trials of getting them
SPD pedals aren’t much use without adapted footwear, costing much more than the pedals themselves. Preferring to buy in-store than on line, I visited most retailers around me and was disappointed by their offer. I hope that north of the Channel you have a wider choice. What I wanted were shoes that are relatively supple and casual in style that can be worn comfortably off as well as on bike. With one exception, all that was on offer were grossly over-priced models dedicated to would-be Bradleys; to my eye so unsightly and rigid that one’s progress off bike is like that of an aesthetically challenged and particularly inept penguin. The exception was a store that on line offered the Chrome brand, yet which when I visited had almost none in stock. Over here at any rate, it sometimes seems that ‘actual’ shops are just begging to be wiped out by their internet competitors. I resigned myself to buying on line. That’s where I discovered DZRs, designed in the States but made in China.
British outlets seem to be the only ones in Europe offering them. However, most restrict the sale of DZRs to the UK, apparently at the request of the supplier (a practice, I think, now banned by EU law). An exception is Always Riding whose prices seem competitive and who display informative customer comments. Not having the specific models I wanted, I found myself on eBay and ordered, from their UK based Victoria Cycles store, a pair of Dice (in brown) and Mamba X (in blue).
The Tribulation of Delivery
Delivery took 2 weeks. That's too long. My orders from elsewhere in Europe arrive in less than a week and they take just one from the States. Such a long delay is common from the UK and seems wholly imputable to Royal Mail. It doesn't much help British exports.
I had ordered size 43, that of my regular shoes. The Dice arrived in that size and are a perfect fit. The Mamba however were delivered in size 44. An unacceptable mistake except that… they also fit!
Another hiccup : The plate inside the shoes, into which screw the cleats and which are supposed to slide back and forth, is stuck in one of the shoes of each pair. This is a manufacturing fault. Again I’m lucky; by chance their positioning suits me.
A final detail: the soles have to be cut with a Stanley knife to reveal the fastenings. Apparently this is a brand feature to remind us of the good old days when shoes had to be cut up manually to take cleats. Marketing quaintness maybe, but it’s annoying.
How they perform
Off bike, these shoes remain fairly comfortable all day. They look smart (to me, at any rate). But with relatively stiff soles which have a hole in them, you wouldn’t want to wear them on a hike.
On bike, when pulling up on the pedals you feel that the extra effort is being efficiently transmitted. Probably less so than with professional cycling shoes, but I have no experience of them. Although they’re relatively supple, their fabric doesn’t seem to suffer from any tendency to stretch under the strain of pulling. They seem strongly made- indeed very strong but time will tell.
The soles are relatively thick to avoid the cleats clacking when walking. Therefore, their connexion with the SPD pedal mechanism isn’t as automatic as it probably is with professional shoes. However with a little bit of wear and progress through the learning curve, the clipping action becomes easier and usually occurs first time.
To provide relative rigidity to the shoe, the lacing system is slightly more complicated than normal.
Conclusion
I was rather disappointed with the manufacturing fault mentioned above. Nonetheless, knowing that there are not many such dual-purpose shoes available, the DZRs meet my requirements and I’m globally pleased with them.
Note: the cleats shown in the pictures were not included in the box. I think that’s the case for all non-US sourced deliveries. However, cleats are normally provided with pedals (at least with Shimanos).
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