Specialized 2FO Flat shoes review

Specialized 2FO Flat shoes review

Flat-pedal shoes let down by overly stiff soles

Our rating

3

130.00
90.00
200.00

Published: March 7, 2016 at 10:00 am

Our review
Grippy enough, but very stiff sole kills feel. A shoe best suited to warmer climes Buy if, You live somewhere warm and get on well with flat shoes that have more of a clipped-in feel

Pros:

Fairly grippy, efficient and well made

Cons:

Very stiff-feeling, not suited to cooler climates

The 2FO in the name stands for foot out, flat out, but there are a few issues that stop Specialized's shoes – in flat-pedal format, anyway – from hitting full pace.

The SlipNot sole is sticky enough, while the hexagonal tread pattern becomes more tightly packed in the midsection, with a slight angle improving off-bike traction. On the pedal they hold fairly well, somewhere between the nailed on grip of Five Ten's Impact and the slightly less grippy Vibram seen on many other shoes. They do however grip nicely when walking over muddy ground.

However, the sole itself is very, very stiff which gives a rather wooden feel – too much like its clipless brother, in fact. Pedalling efficiency is great, but it’s just hard to know what the pedal is doing underfoot.

The upper has decent toe protection, but the highly perforated outer lets in water and gets chilly in the cold. If you’re mostly riding in the warm then the ventilation will be a boon, but if you're reading this in the UK, these aren't ideally suited to typical conditions outside the summer months.

The reinforced eyelets and quality laces make them easy to tension, but we found the lacing dug in onto the tongue rather uncomfortably across the instep, something not helped by minimal padding. While we love the clipless 2FOs, these flat-pedal versions are slightly lacking.

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