Boa’s product menu is expansive and confusing, so for clarification, the L6 has a soft rubber grip surface with a one-way turn-to-tighten dial to release you pull up on the dial. The most expensive closure employs a Boa L6 dial with a hook and loop power strap. Like the lace-up shoes, this shoe has a pocket to keep the end of the speed lace from flapping in the breeze. Pull the cord tight and slide the lock to the tongue to secure. A speed lace is a thin non-stretch laced cord loop with a sliding lock. The mid-priced closure is a speed lace system with a hook and loop power strap. A stretchy pocket at the top of the tongue provides a place to tuck the laces out of the way. Crank Brothers uses a round lace and fabric guides for the lower part of the shoe, with two lace-eyelets at the top. Something that makes the Crank Brothers shoe line unique is that the rider can choose from three closures for every shoe. ![]() ![]() Lace-up closure is the least-expensive option Amy Colyar Three Closures ![]() And, hopefully, the hard lessons Fizik learned in those 10 years will help CB avoid some of the pitfalls that often plague first-time shoemakers. That experience and Fizik’s resources helped bring the Crank Brothers shoes to market. Crank Brothers is part of the Selle Royal empire, which includes Fizik, a brand with over 10 years of experience in the cycling shoe market. Though they’re new to the shoe game, Crank Brothers aren’t starting from scratch. The sole lugs in the “off pedal areas” in the toe and heel were optimized for hiking up and down slopes. One interesting detail: the lugs have rounded corners because CB’s testing showed that lugs with squared corners wore faster. The MC2 rubber is high friction, low-rebound, compound, and the “on pedal area” shape of the lugs was designed, the company claims, for optimum pin connection and surface contact with Crank Brothers’s flat pedals. The company used in-house lab testing and field testing with athletes worldwide to explore different rubber compounds and tread patterns before settling on the final mix. However, if you like the shoes’ look but use other pedals, the Crank Brothers shoes use a standard cleat mounting pattern and are compatible with Shimano, HT, Time, and other pedals that use a two-bolt cleat.įor the flat shoe, the design team turned their attention to rubber compound and lug shape. I suspect the pre-installed cleats will motivate your local bike shop to try and sell you a new set of Crank Brothers pedals to go with your new Crank Brothers shoes. The shoes come with cleats for Crank Brothers pedals pre-installed with a shim under the cleat, which CB advises you remove once the sole wears down a bit. The clipless shoes come with Crank Brothers cleats pre installed. The shoes have a cleat pocket shape, depth, and position as well as an MC1 “mid-friction” rubber compound, all designed, they claim, to provide optimal entry and release performance with a Crank Brothers pedal. So, they came up with what they call the “Match System.” Essentially, they decided it was time to take control of the interface and design shoes that let their clipless pedals perform optimally. Because CB only made the pedal and cleat, they didn’t control the crucial interface between the shoe and pedal. A shape that, let’s be honest, was probably designed for use with Shimano’s SPD system. And particularly with some of the pro athletes we work with, seeing them make modifications the cleat track to move the cleat towards the heel for more stability.” said Megan Tompkins, Crank Brothers global marketing director.Įssentially, Crank Brothers’ pedals’ performance was compromised or inconsistent because every shoe had a different cleat pocket depth and shape. We’ve seen a lot of modifications to the cleat track just to make it easier to clip in and clip out. We’ve seen riders having a lot of interference when they’re clipping in and out. “One of the things we’ve seen over the years is a lot of incompatibility. The Mallet with lace closure (left) and the Stamp with Boa and power strap (right) Matt Phillips Why Shoes?Ĭrank Brothers says they’re entering the shoe market to provide riders a more seamless experience with the company’s pedals.
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