Trek RSL Road shoes review

The Trek RSL Road cycling shoes are, technically, the second-tier kicks in Trek’s revamped road shoe line-up. The spec list is pro-level, though, and can be seen sported by riders of the Lidl-Trek men’s and women’s WorldTour teams.

A stiff carbon sole, lightweight and well-ventilated construction, well thought-out fit and double Boa Li2 dials are all present and correct.

That said, Trek doesn’t supply insoles with arch support, while the cleat bolt holes don’t allow much movement – both of which are significant factors for many people’s bike fits.

For road cycling shoes focused on top-level performance, at such a high price point, these omissions will represent a misstep for many.

Trek RSL Road shoes details and specifications

The Trek RSL Road shoes feature a full-carbon sole, which measures 14/14 on the brand's in-house stiffness scale.

The numbers themselves are meaningless, owing to the fact that the scale is unitless, other than to say it’s as stiff as Trek goes.

There are two ventilation slots under the toe box and a further two under the foot arch.

Standard 3-bolt cleat fittings are supplied. These are essentially fixed, save for a millimetre or two of wiggle room.

Inside, Trek says the last has been designed to suit more riders' feet than its previous-generation road shoes – it’s shared with the third-tier Velocis and top-tier RSL Knit shoes.

Trek supplies one standard insole, but no spares with extra arch support (or inserts to customise the supplied insole).

Not all insoles are made equal, but Trek’s BioDynamic version, with low, medium or high arch support options, can be bought for £26 apiece.

The foot is covered by a TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane) upper, with perforations for ventilation. Trek describes this as ‘MetNet’, with the cross-style design also said to help the upper conform to the foot.

The shoe is fastened using twin Boa Li2 dials, which offer micro adjustments for tightening and loosening on the move. These are well-tested and well-regarded.

The toe and heels feature protectors, while the fabric surrounding the Achilles tendon, when worn, has an abrasive quality to help prevent heel lift.

On the scales, the shoes weigh 267g each in an EU45 (279g in my test EU47 set). This is competitive with rival shoes.

Northwave’s Veloce Extreme shoes, by stark contrast, weigh 336.5g each, while Shimano’s S-Phyre RC902s each tip the scales at 269g.

Sizing up large

As Simon von Bromley found in his review of the Velocis, the RSL Road shoes also seem to size up a little larger than advertised.

I will normally fit well in an EU46.5-EU47, but I was left with a good amount of spare length in the toe box on my set of size EU47 test shoes.

Unlike Simon, though, who needed to opt for a whole size smaller than his usual, I struggle from a previous toe-crush injury, meaning I tend not to mind if I have a little extra room. A size EU46 Bontrager Velocis shoe has proven slightly too snug in the past.

It’s also worth noting that, once inserted, my own G8 2620 footbeds, which are cut to an EU47 size, left a significant gap at the end of the toe box.

Sadly, although you can have the RSL Road shoe in sizes EU36-48, Trek doesn’t make half sizes.

I also found the shoe to be quite voluminous. To fasten the shoe down onto my foot, I noticed the upper got pinched inwards on the tongue as the wire tension increased to the level I needed it to be.

I have quite slender, low-volume feet, but even with my footbeds in place (which have significant arch support, effectively raising my foot in the shoe), I was left feeling there was too much upper material for my needs.

For context, I asked a friend to try the shoes on – he has much thicker and wider, but similarly long, feet. He reported that the space inside the shoe was a decent fit for him.

Of course, fit is subjective, but the point stands that Trek’s nominal sizes tend to come up large – it’s certainly worth trying before buying if you can.

Trek RSL Road shoes performance

With my insoles installed, though, I’ve had a largely positive experience using the RSL Road shoes.

The sole feels very stiff and although it’s open to debate whether this brings with it efficiency gains versus a less stiff sole, I found it a great foil for hard efforts.

I’ve been able to cover long (100km-plus) rides in comfort, and the heel cup shape and fabric stopped any unwanted lift.

I also liked the fact that the last offered space for my own insoles to fit without pushing out the edges of the shoe upper.

With them in place, as I’ve mentioned, the volume of the shoe is filled to a greater extent, which largely tackles the sensation of the upper pinching in on the tongue when fastened.

The Boa Li2 dials do as advertised and the connecting wires distribute the tension well.

It leaves me feeling that, irrespective of what Trek's rivals do or don’t supply, for the punchy £349.99 ($449.99 / €399.90 / AU$599.99) asking price, Trek would have done well to include customisable insoles with arch support.

I fitted my cleats as far back as they would go, which gave me a position a few millimetres forward from where my bike fit says it should be (which is, admittedly, further back than average).

I didn’t suffer any negative side effects from this, although it’s worth bearing in mind if you’re sensitive to cleat positioning.

The ventilation has also proven impressive. In one ride, where temperatures hit 28ºC on my Garmin bike computer, my feet were (perhaps) the only part of my body not overheating.

There aren’t many shoes as expensive as the RSL Road. That said, its knitted sibling costs a little more, while the Sidi Shot 2S stands out among the shoes we’ve tested at £425 / €419 – these also don’t come with spare insoles.

Specialized’s S-Works Torch (£385 / €440 / $450) is a clear rival and Specialized also doesn’t supply insoles with arch support.

Shoes that offer customisable or spare insoles include the Northwave Veloce Extreme (£359.99 / $429 / €399.99), Giant Surge Pro (£299.99 / €360 / $399) and Shimano S-Phyre RC902 (£320 / $425 / AU$549 / €360).

Trek RSL Road shoes bottom line

The Trek RSL Road shoes have proven to be very competent race-level shoes. They deliver all the fundamental performance anyone could ever need.

Despite the slight sizing issues I’ve had, I found them to be very comfortable in use and cool in warm temperatures.

If Trek made half sizes, I suspect I’d be dealing with shoes I’d happily carry on using until they fell apart.

In any shoe at this price point, it’s not unreasonable to hope that spare insoles, or insoles with customisable arch support, will be supplied. If you need that kind of support, you’ll need to pay extra here, while the level of cleat adjustment isn’t high.

This may well be worth the investment if the RSL Road shoe delivers an otherwise perfect fit for you.