Take a glance at the tootsies of today’s street-going youth and you’re bound to notice that knitted creps are all the rage at the moment. The style — which, to be clear, is not without technical merit — has found its way into the world of cycling and 2018 is shaping up to be the year of the crocheted-kick.
The latest knitted shoe to land at BikeRadar is the Fizik Infinito R1 Knit and we’ve spent the day fondling these featherweight slips.
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The Fizik Infinito R1 Knit — first revealed at this year’s edition of Eurobike — is one of two options available for the Infinito R1.
The Infinito R1 shoes use Fizik’s standard Microtex fabric at the cost of a slight weight penalty.
Fizik decided to develop the R1 Knit for two main reasons; the knitted fabric adds a degree of comfort-improving flexibility while, as you would imagine, drastically improving breathability too. Using a fabric that has more holes than fabric also reduces weight considerably.
Fizik claims that it has been working on the knitted version of the shoe for quite some time — the original incarnation was based around the R1B ‘chassis’, but it found that the fabric didn’t provide the stability and support required in this form.
This led Fizik to develop the shoe as it is pictured here, with the fabric supported in key places by a more rigid exoskeleton.
Although the knitted fabric has been treated with a water repellent coating, we can’t imagine many will be thinking of using these in inclement climes.
Retention is taken care of by two BOA dials and there’s a whopping eight vents built into the fully composite sole of the shoe — very airy kicks indeed. A chunky replaceable plastic heel should improve longevity.
The shoes cost £349 / $450 / €380 and our size 45 sample weighed in at 322g — this is very light for a shoe that is claimed to be among Fizik’s stiffest, but isn’t quite as feathery as the likes of Lake’s CX 301s and Giro’s Prolight Techlace, which we tested earlier this year.
Keep your peepers peeled for a review in the next few months.
