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I’ve had old school lace up, Velcro straps, ratchets and Boa dials. In the market for a new pair of shoes (road), currently fancying Velcro straps , I find them pretty good for adjusting tension, especially with three straps. What are your thoughts and can you recommend any , thanks .
Laces. I have very narrow feet and the Giro Empires are wonderful. I also picked up a new pair of electric blue ones in the US for $75 instead of the £260 I paid for the first white pair! I've had velcro and Boas too. I prefer Boas, but laces give a much better overall fit for my stick feet.
Tried velcro and ratchet straps, but now have boas on both pairs of shoes. Can't see me going back.
Keep wondering if the laces will get caught in the chain wheel teeth or are they really short .
The Empires have an elastic lace keeper. Never snagged mine.
I love them for the road but I’m not sure how much I’d like them when full of mud. Prefer a Boa dial for mtb shoes.
Boa for me.
BOA on the road for me, the way they stand by their product is exceptional. I use flats off road so I think that gives a choice of laces, laces or laces with a cover for this time of year.
I’m not sure how much I’d like them when full of mud.
I ride velcro off road. Wet muddy laces would not be my first choice.
I used to worry about my feet swelling and expanding during a ride and not being able to adjust them on the fly. In fact after several 12hr TTs and one 24hr, I've found this not to be an issue. I'm not going to be troubling the sprint in one hour races, so the need to tighten down the shoes in the last few km has never bothered me either.
Oh and they are more aero too - that was one of the reasons for choosing them. I use Specialized sleeves over the laces in TTs.
I’ve had some Fiziks that only had one Boa dial plus one Velcro strap and they seem to gradually work loose . Does a double Boa dial stay at the tension you fasten it to or do they also work loose?
I had one of the first Boa iterations come apart in my hands in a shop once, no doubt because I had done something stupid. This probably set up a vicious 'confirmation bias' circle, but I've since seen a buddy have to DNF a race last because his Boa took a knock in a crash, also happened in a pro CX race recently.
Velcro and/or ratchets for me, usually adjust once during a ride then leave well alone.
Bontrager XXX road shoes. Had a gazillion different types over the years, then about 3 years ago splashed out on a pair of the Bontrager, not cheap but really liked them. Comfortable for long days in the saddle. 2 x Boa and one Velcro strap. I’ve not had to touch the Velcro, the boa you just push down and turn to the tightness you want and job done. Easy to adjust while riding.
New model out now with just Boa, will try them when the weather warms up.
I’ve seen ratchets snap twice, once before a race and once on a cycling holiday.
Laces for me, just because I can't stand the thought of people thinking I'm intellectually handicapped and have to use velcro fasteners because I don't know how to tie laces. Functionally, velcro.
BOA for me on Fizik shoes. Maybe it’s the shoes that fit my shape but rarely have to tighten them, the shoes just fit
Boa or ratchet on various shoes.
Dont really give either of them a second thought.
Boa on winter mtb boots are 5+ years old and no issues. Now watch that jinx this mornings ride!
Boas for me. IIRC they’ve a lifetime warranty and they’ll send you the parts if you break one.
Second place is ratchet straps but in the mud you need to know you can get spares.
Laces.
Anything else is just a solution to a non existent problem.
Laces for MTB, velcro for road.
Laces are decent, if they're not slippery laces as you cna adjust tension across the foot and they kinda grip the eyes.
triple Velcro straps are ok as an alternative.
I've used some of the speed lace types, with the woggle/toggle whatever it's called. found them to uneavenly tension the shoe, or at least not allow that much adjustment. I cound get the collar part tight, whilst not cutting off curculation to my toes, but over a ride it'd even out and my toes would end up with too much tension mid ride and any adjustment of the collar bit would just lead to more tension at my toes.
Havent tried the boa, but I'd think, for me it's be the same as the speedlace, unless there are separate toe/mid/cuff areas.
Ever since I had to use gaffer tape round my shoes because the Velcro could not cope with that really bad year at mayhem I’ve always gone with ratchet plus Velcro. The faux boa on the north wave winter shoes I’ve got is ok but much less easy to release than a proper one.
I much prefer things you can tighten up while riding, mostly because I never seem to tighten shoes up enough so need to faff once I get going.