Specialized S-Works Vent Road Shoe

The design team has eliminated stitched seams in favor of a bonded approach that eliminates friction inducing transitions, ensuring comfort and fit. The best cycling shoes disappear. The entirely-new, engineered mesh upper and tongue system lets air flow freely throughout the shoe, while an added a layer of Dyneema® Mesh keeps maintains a serious control of your foot, ensuring pro-proven power transfer. The upper moves and conforms where required, but is strong and stable where it needs to be, and retains a consistent flex and feel. The informed shape of the opening and closure process is anatomic, which drives the placement and function of the BOA® S3-Snap Fit System, which draws the upper perfectly without creating folds or pressure points. Dual alloy dials with durable spring clutch internals create the option of micro-adjustment made on-the-fly in precise 1mm increments. Specialized keeps a toe-box Velcro closure, smartly allowing for the capability of isolating this key and isolated pressure zone during the ride. At the rear, the PadLock™ heel construction cradles the heel so it can't slip and reduce energy. This is proven to improve acceleration.

Body Geometry features of the shoe include the Varus Wedge, Longitudinal Arch, and Metarsal Button. As a key construction element of FACT carbon outsole, the 1.5mm built-in Varus Wedge stabilize the natural movement of your forefoot and improve knee alignment by creating a natural with the inner portion of the foot raised that 1.5mm from the outer portion. This creates a more natural position and angle, which also can improve power and efficiency. The Longitudinal Arch is comprised of two aspects. First is the molded arch support in the outsole itself. The second lies within the arch of the insole. The Body Geometry footbeds are available in three arch height options to best support the natural shape of the individual, preventing arch collapse and again creating an optimal foot support for power delivery without fatigue. The Metatarsal Button is also in the insole. It lifts the foot under the zone to the rear of the toe bone structures, creating a more natural shape. The foot, like the hand, has a natural curve- it is not flat. If the foot is too compressed, the structure flattens, with the potential to impinge nerves and surety of reducing blood flow, which results in numbness and potential damage. You can see the progression of the support and comfort choices made to ensure foot health and performance. This is Body Geometry, and it has improved cycling experiences for countless individuals.

From the foundation of the ideas and execution to the foundation of the shoe the excellence continues. The designers used the 66g FACT Powerline™ EXOS vented carbon outsole. Specialized has increased their sole stiffness chart over time, with this one carrying a 13/15 rating. While wonderfully rigid, the Vent port system strongly impacts the engineering. The carbon also can mitigate vibrations transferred through the pedals, but also creates the base for the Body Geometry elements. A hallmark of the Vent is the mesh-lined outsole design that features a forward facing Mouthport, which allows air into the sole and under the footbed to assist in keeping the foot as cool and dry as possible, then allows it to flow out rear sole ports. The cleat mounting zone is for the 3-bolt pattern all major road pedal systems can attach to via titanium cleat nuts. These allow for 5mm of adjustment rearward, and have reinforced bases to be safe and secure under the carbon. Composite heel and toe zone prevent the carbon from damage when stopping or walking. The rear is replaceable.

Specialized has gone as far as any company is developing cycling shoes with a fit that works for more foot shapes and sizes, making it feasible many people to enjoy this incredible S-Works Vent Road Shoe. It may well have the best over/under ventilation system ever offered in a full-featured road cycling shoe. This isn't a specialty shoe, but an all-season road shoe with an exceptional ventilation system. It is simple to add packable protection for a cool morning, and certainly much easier than "creating" your ventilation during warm and hot weather.