This pair of Shimano M-230 shoes came in the post about a month ago and even though we are still in the grips of winter, I'm still managing to get out up to 4 times a week, consequently the new shoes don't look that new any more.
That said, this latest offering from the the big 'S' is the top of the line Expert/Performance competition shoe. Not as light (807grms) or as stiff as the Elite M-310, but it's still got a carbon sole and custom fit heat moldable insole and uppers to give a precise fit with no pressure points.
I seem to have developed a bit of a bad habit of wearing out riding shoes prematurely of late. There was a time not that long ago when a nice pair of Italian riding slippers would last up to 4 seasons of riding. My last 3 pairs of shoes only lasted 2 1/2 years between them. Yes I'm doing a shed load more riding than I did in the past, but man, stuff just doesn't seem to last like it used to.
So this pair of Shimano shoes seem pretty well made with lots of rubber 'Armor' around the outer edges of the shoe, multi layed materials to add some durability, a nicely tucked in main buckle and some good deep tread on the sole if you have to portage nasty terrain. The 'Wide' model that I'm wearing has good room for those of us with wide fore feet and the added bonus of having room for thicker winter shocks and will I'm sure be great on hot days, letting more air flow around my feet. Something the Italian slippers were not to good at.
I've got 8 weeks of prep riding to do for a two week tour of Bhutan in mid October, which in it's self is about 700k's of mixed riding from 2000m climbs and descents, to virgin single track and everything in between. So these shoes will get some thorough testing long before summer even kicks in.
Stay tuned to see if they hang in there.
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