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Cannondale Carve cycling shoe review
Finding good cycling shoes is always a challenge. Whether you have wide feet or small feet, it’s not always easy to find a piece of footwear that is comfortable yet versatile and durable yet affordable.
I literally stumbled upon the Cannondale Carve shoes last summer when I was searching for a last-minute set of replacements after my ancient Shimano shoes gave up the ghost. In my area, riding clipped into SPDs or Eggbeaters isn’t the most common practice and it’s sometimes hard to find shoes that are wide enough for my feet and versatile enough to be well suited for cross country rides and freeride-style trails. There are a handful of small shops in my town and I checked out each one, stopping to try on any shoes that weren’t carried elsewhere.
Cannondale’s ‘apparel’ lineup includes lots of different gear, with items like jerseys, shorts, gloves, and shoes being well represented. And, given that Cannondale acquired clothing manufacturer Sugoi in 2005, the company has access to a great team of designers moving forward. Couple that acquisition with a distribution agreement with shoe manufacturer Diadora and Cannondale has a complete clothing lineup for cyclists who demand quality gear.
As I mentioned above, I didn’t go out looking for Cannondale’s Carve shoes – I hadn’t purchased a new pair of SPD-compatible shoes for years and only recently switched back to clips from platform pedals. That being said, I knew what I was looking for: a durable shoe that wasn’t really stiff – riding every section of every trail isn’t always an option out here – but didn’t suck for tough, out-of-the-saddle climbs. I settled on the Cannondale Carve shoes because they fit well, were supposedly compatible with the type of pedals I run, and they were in the price range that I established before I went shopping.
Product specifications:
The Cannondale Carve shoes have a reinforced rubber outsole designed to offer good traction in all conditions, injection molded heel cups and ‘toe boxes’, three fitting straps (ie. no buckles) to accommodate different foot sizes, and lots of reflective material for those times when your ride back into town is a little later than expected. Made of synthetic leather and a quick drying mesh, the shoes offer good durability and decent breathability.
Additionally, the pedals are compatible with the clip systems of Shimano, TIME, and Crank Brothers.
MSRP: $100 usd / $150 cad
Manufacturer website: http://www.cannondale.com
The Good:
I’ve ridden the Carve shoes in conditions that varied from very dry to very wet and, overall, they’re solid performers. They worked well for cross country, although I’m not a racer and I’m concerned more with overall comfort than with optimum power output, were still comfortable at the end of all-day, and didn’t feel sketchy when hitting jumps, riding logs, or launching off the odd six or seven foot drop.
Shoe buying tip: When you’re looking to make a shoe purchase, it’s always a good idea to visit your local bike shop to try shoes on in person. I know that it’s tempting to save a few bucks by purchasing online but there are a few things that I think are better purchased close to home, and shoes are on that list. There are just too many variables that can make one shoe fit better than another, and you can save yourself a world of headaches by staying local for purchases like these.
When I started shoe shopping, I decided to limit my search to shoes that didn’t have buckles. I did this because a lot of the riding I do requires the occasional walk through excessively rocky spots, spots that have been known to claim exposed shoe buckles, and to keep it simple. In my mind, the fewer things I have to deal with after the fact, the better.
During fitting, I was impressed with the way the Carve shoes felt in the heel and in the toe. Most of the other shoes I tried in this price range felt too ‘loose’ in the heel and too crowded around my toes. It’s obvious that a lot of thought went into ventilation for this shoe, since the synthetic leather is perforated in key spots to increase air flow; also, the integrated mesh is intended to help keep feet cool. While I was a little put out by the colour (a flashy silver I could live without), I needed something that day and these things were the closest match to what I was looking for.
After spending a bit of time installing the cleats for my Crank Bros. Pedals, I headed out to my local riding spot for a quick ride. The first thing that I noticed with the Carve shoes was that they really did a good job keeping my feet cool. I felt cool(er) air keeping my feet happy, even though the temperature was quite warm (for British Columbia in the summer).
I was concerned when the shoes started to rub uncomfortably against my heel after first couple of rides but the rubbing went away once I’d figured out the ‘sweet spot’ for the fastening straps. This was something that took a while but was worth the fiddling – I’ve had no fit issues with the shoes since then.
In terms of durability, the Cannondale Carve shoes held up pretty well. I was a little concerned about how the synthetic leather would hold up during hike-a-bike sections – many of the rocky sections in my area of British Columbia are made up of rough, granite baby-heads that cut and rip shoes and boots – but I haven’t had any major complaints. The uppers are a bit scuffed from moving around both on and off the bike but the marks don’t hinder overall performance and I think that the colour of the shoe covers up some of the larger scrapes.
The shoes’ soles have held up fine. After the initial break-in period, Carves have enough flex in the toe area that they were comfortable to walk in (although it was still easier to ride than to walk) and I didn’t have any separation anxiety where the uppers came apart from the soles.
The Bad:
While I was impressed with the overall performance of the Cannondale Carve shoes – they fit pretty well, they were good when clipped in, they held up well in varying conditions – there were a number of things that could have been better.
When I’m not testing new gear, I run Crank Brothers pedals on all of my bikes. I really like the smooth release of the Egg Beater pedal and never had any real issues with entering the pedal. Before I made the shoe purchase I asked about shims – Crank Brothers includes four plastic shims with each set of pedals to create cleat clearance for shoes with ‘tall’ soles – and was told that I needed two on each shoe to get the clearance I needed.
After I made it home, I tried the shoes, without shims, on the Candy SLs that are installed on my cross country bike and had no clearance issues. When I tried to clip in to the Mallets that are on my trail bike, I realized that I’d have to go with the shims because I couldn’t get the cleats to enter the pedals. Instead of installing one shim at a time, I went all out with two on each shoe. I went for a ride, didn’t really like the feel (too loose), and removed one shim from each shoe. That did the trick and the sole clearance has been good ever since.
During the first few rides, I spent quite a bit of time playing around with the tightness of the shoes’ straps. It took me a while to find that ‘zone’ where my feet wouldn’t go numb after twenty minutes but wouldn’t move around too much during longer climbs. When I did find the sweet spot, I found that there was a little more foot movement inside of the shoe than I was hoping for but I can live with it, especially since I was going for a shoe without an extra fastening feature (ie. a buckle).
That being said, I’m not sure that competitive racers or really aggressive climbers would appreciate that extra bit of movement. While it leaves me a little bit of room for an extra pair of thin socks and lets me wiggle my toes while I’m taking a break, it does translate into a lower efficiency ride.
My last criticism is of the available colours. I ended up with the silver version of the Cannondale Carve shoes and I can’t say that they’re the most appealing piece of footwear I’ve seen. And the orange alternate colour doesn’t do much for me either. What happened to plain old black? I know that it isn’t the most exciting colour but, to me, there’s nothing cooler than a really fast rider on a plain bike with understated clothing and a low key paint job on their bike. And since I’m wearing shoes that look like they could’ve traveled through space or seen use by 22nd century robots, I think that automagically excludes me from that list.
Scoring:
First impressions: 6 / 10. I really wasn’t that excited by these shoes at first. Aside from a decent fit and good venting, I disliked the shoe’s colours and the fact that I had to mess around with my pedal cleats before I could get out for a ride. While the pedal ‘issue’ isn’t strictly Cannondale’s problem, I would have like to see a ‘recommended’ setup for major pedal brands in the product documentation.
Performance: 35/40. The Cannondale Carve shoes are solid all-round performers that are equally at home on long cross country rides as they are on technical all mountain runs.
Durability: 16/20. The shoes held up well, although they did ‘scuff’ fairly easily. The sole held up well and doesn’t exhibit a whole lot of flex while pedaling.
Pricing: 15/20. The Carve shoes are competively priced and the MSRP is comparable to offerings by Shimano (SH-M120), Answer (XC-1), and 661 (Stinger).
Wild Card: 7/10. Ugly colours, even though the silver probably covers up more marks and scuffs than a similar black shoe.
Overall: 79/100. Very good.
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Summary:
The Cannondale Carve shoe is a decent multipurpose cycling shoe that works well for many different types of riding without drawing attention to itself (well, other than the colour). It’s well priced, comfortable, and does well on the trail.
The shoes are a good purchase for riders who are looking for performance-oriented footwear that is durable and comfortable but doesn’t break the bank. They fit my wider feet reasonably well, kept them cool in warm temperatures, and provided ample means of adjustment. They continue to perform as well today as they did in the first weeks that I used them.
While I have no problem recommending the shoes to riders who are interested in using them for non-competive cross country riding, all-day all mountain rides, and even light freeriding, I’m not sure I’d recommend them to racers looking to squeeze every last ounce of performance out of their gear. The three-strap fastening system is great for my needs but it doesn’t provide the fit of shoes that include additional fasteners that really allow the wearer to cinch the shoe into place.
1. Posted by Ashwin | 7:18 am, 16 January 2006
Is the minimal tread under the arch enough to keep your foot stabilized when placing the arch on the pedal? One of my pet peeves of cycling shoes is hard plasitc under the arch. When missing a clip in or riding unclipped on technical sections my arch often is the only part of the foot on the pedal. Having no tread there makes for some dangerous conditions.
Also how is the sock liner that comes stock with the shoes? My other pet peeve is that the stock sock liners on every pair of shoes except the Specializeds are junk. And even the Specialized Body Geometry soles are only a small improvement.
I totally agree that 3 straps are the way to go over buckles (unless it is totally muddy). Buckles are hip, but they smack rocks and even can trap your feet in crevaces. They are easy to tighten shoes on the fly but usually difficult to loosen on the fly, which you have to do later in rides when your feet swell.