Blog July 9, 2019 The new Giro Factor Techlace warrants a double-take when you first see it. Wait, are those laces or Velcro? The answer is yes. The Factor incorporates Giro’s new, which combines the advantages of laces and Velcro, and marries it to the strengths of a Boa dial. The Best Women’s White Sneakers, From Platform to Running The Best Running Shoes for Flat Feet The Best Soccer Cleats Reviews Go in-depth with the coolest new cycling gear every month by subscribing to Bicycling! Giro Empire VR90 Shoes Though several brands now offer road, trail, and even “gravel” lace-up cycling shoes, Giro can be credited with the resurgence of laces thanks to the popularity of its Empire road shoe, first released in 2013 and then updated with the blinged-out Empire SLX, followed by the laced, XC-oriented Empire VR90 trail shoes and Republic platform of commuter and touring shoes. Giro Empire SLX Road Cycling Shoes In riding the Empire SLX, VR90s, and the Republics, we thought that the shoes fit great, are comfortable with no hard edges or cables, provide more-even pressure than buckles or a Boa, and are efficient-feeling several points of contact help the shoes secure very well to the foot. Most of us found that once we got the shoes tied to the right tension, we didn’t need to touch them again until after the ride. Giro also says laces make for lighter shoes because they require a less structured upper. And of course, they are stylish as hell. The one complaint some riders had: On-the-fly adjustments were difficult-to-impossible to perform on the bike. And laces made the shoe slightly less convenient to take on and off compared to buckle, Velcro, or Boa systems. Techlace, a hybrid system in which Giro’s woven laces are secured and tensioned with Velcro straps. To complement the Techlace system, Giro is also incorporating the Boa system in its shoes for the first time. Techlace will be featured on at least two new: road shoe platforms the Factor Techlace and women’s Factress Techlace road race shoes, and the lower-priced Sentry Techlace and women’s Raes Techlace road shoes. Giro Factor Acc Carbon Road Shoe The shoe replaces the Factor ACC, which was one step down from the company’s top-of-the-line Empire SLX, and features the same last (3D shape of the upper) as its predecessor and the Empire. Two Techlace “bands” secure the midfoot and adjust for foot volume, and a Boa IP6 dial goes across the top of the instep. The Boa dial provides 1mm of adjustability per click, compared to 3mm of adjustability per click for an average buckle system, and 1.5mm per click on the old Factor’s buckle system an improvement that Simon Fisher, senior product marketing manager at Giro, says is “significant.” The IP6 Boa dial enables you to twist forward to tighten, and backward to loosen, and pull the dial out for a quick release of all cable tension. With the Techlace system, laces are replaceable: You can remove the cover over the plastic housing for the lace ends (Giro calls it a coupler) to fish out the laces and replace worn ones, or trade-in different colored laces. This will also allow users to customize the amount of Velcro “landing pad” used, so that riders with higher-volume feet can get longer laces and take full advantage of the Velcro straps (and those with smaller-volume feet can get shorter laces to avoid the “dog ears” look of Velcro straps hanging off the sides of their shoes). On an aftermarket basis, Giro will offer 12 lengths and six colors for the laces, as well as Boa dials in four colors, to allow users to customize the look of their shoes a fun option for people who want a hit of color, or maybe want to coordinate team shoes. Besides the new closure system, the Factor Techlace features an ultralight, microfiber upper designed to be highly breathable and durable; a stiff and light Easton EC90 SLX carbon-fiber outsole; insoles with adjustable arch support and an anti-friction and anti-microbial top sheet; and a new scuff guard that protects the inner heel areas against crank rub. The Factress features the same construction as the Factor, with a women’s last that is slightly lower volume and more narrow in the heel. Claimed weights are 210 grams per shoe for a size 42.5 Factor and 195g for a size 39 Factress. They’ll retail for $350. The less-expensive Sentrie and Raes will be $250, and will have a Boa L6 dial (there is no micro adjustability to loosen the shoe, only to tighten it, though you still get the quick-release), and a bonded and welded upper and more-affordable outsole. Claimed weight is 245g for a size 42.5 Sentrie. We did two rides in the hills of a three-hour, 50-mile ride with about 3,000 feet of climbing, and a five-hour, 60-mile ride with around 7,000 feet of climbing. The first thing I noticed about the new shoe was the supple feel of the upper and the cushioned tongue, which made it feel immediately comfortable compared to other road race shoes I’ve tried. I could pull the Techlace system down quite tight on the Velcro closures so that the shoe felt very secure without the sensation of being squeezed. Once on, there was no perceptible give or wiggling around in the shoe I got a second-skin, secure fit that stayed that way through our six-hour climbing fest without any need for adjustment. Giro credits part of this quality to its woven laces, which stretch to provide what it calls “spring tension” so that as your foot moves around or swells, the laces expand or contract accordingly to minimize the need for adjustments. Pedaling efficiency felt excellent, too; the shoe doesn’t flex under hard efforts, without being overly stiff as to cause discomfort. While I did get a hot spot on the ball of my left foot toward the end of six hours in those shoes, I can’t think of many road shoes that haven’t made me feel similarly after a ride that long on a hot day, and I’d like to see if this goes away with some breaking in and better cleat positioning. The Techlace combined with Boa makes this a very easy shoe to get in and out of, too probably even easier than some Velcro closures, because the laces won’t catch on the eyelets like thicker Velcro straps can, allowing you to quickly and fully loosen the bottom half of the shoe. And the patent finish looks to be easy to clean, even in the white-and-black colorway. In creating the Techlace system, “We wanted to do something new, something innovative, and something we could protect,” says Fisher. Look for a full review of these shoes in the future, but for now, it seems Giro has certainly managed to come up with not only an innovative but also highly functional solution that provides the best features of some of our favorite cycling shoes.
