The Specialized Comp shoe looks good, but has room for improvement.
This story is going to provide the moral right in the beginning: Don’t cheap out on footwear.
Really, I already knew better. I’d worn the same pair of Sidi Dominator 3 mountain bike shoes for 10 years. No, that’s not a typo. Not a single thing broke. I only replaced them because the soles were worn to next to nothing. They still fit perfectly and were in serviceable shape otherwise.
So what would follow a full decade of riding in clownish-yellow Euro-trash Sidi Dominators?
I turned to Specialized. They’re stuff is always a good value, I reasoned, so I could save some clams versus the Sidis, which threatened to lighten my wallet by about $200. Plus they looked really cool and had a nice ratcheting closure just like the Sidis. With $140 sucked out of my coffers, they were mine.
It didn’t take long for bits to start unraveling. Just extraneous long bits of the ratcheting mechanism.
Here are the real deal-breakers, though: First, the ratchet is weak. It barely seems like its catching and buckling my instep in very securely. Even worse, the heel slips around.
I’ve been wearing the Specialized Comps for more than a year, and they have not warmed up to my feet at all. I’ve tried adjusting little the little screwed-in bits, but nothing has worked. I’d replace them, but I haven’t exactly been impressed with the new-fangled closures on the current generation of Sidi Dominators, either. My wife tried a pair that’s a few generations newer than mine, and I was underwhelmed.
No clowning around: These shoes gave me 10 years of great service - well worth the $200 pricetag!
So I’ll just have to watch for some other brands. I may even give Shimano a try.
In the meantime, I feel a bit bad hosing Specialized with invective about the Comp shoe. It’s actually my favorite of the big brands, with a solid lineup of bicycles at all price points and usually decent soft goods. I can’t blame Specialized too much for the heel slippage, I suppose, because everyone’s foot is different (and my feet are on the narrow side). But seriously, a company that rarely gets anything wrong should be able to get a decent racheting buckle on its shoes.
If you have any mountain bike shoe suggestions for me, speak up!
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I was about to get a pair of Specialized Comp shoes myself. Your review is a little bit discouraging but I’ll give them a shot. I’ll report my findings within few months. Thank you for great review.
Don’t be too discouraged, Alex! It’s totally possible that Specialized improved the buckle. And maybe you’ll have the right heel to fit in the shoe. good luck!
I have a pair and the ratcheting closure on one shoe never worked correctly and eventual gave up entirely after only a month of use, the hard plastic loop that the Velcro straps run through are poorly placed and dig into the tops of my feet so bad that I can’t tighten them up, is that what they call body geometry?
When I tried to contact specialized customer service about the ratchet all I got was the run around, despite all their hype specialized products are junk, their warranties are meaningless and their customer service is non existent.
I have purchased three items from specialized and have been disappointed all three times.
I’ve had a pair of the Spec Comp shoes for about 4 years. I tried on lots of shoes and they were the most comfortable for my wide feet. I guessed right away that you have narrow feet based on your love of the Sidi’s.
The old ratchet buckles were changed a few years back – I broke mine and replaced them with the newly designed ratchets for pretty cheap. They have worked much better – no sticking, less likely to get caught on things. I can tell from your pic that you have the old buckle with the red lever sticking out the side. Did you get a closeout on an old model?
Anyway, they still didn’t make it to 10 years, as the toe began to separate and the strap just broke last weekend. But I subject them to a lot of all-mountain abuse, and for the price and fit will be buying them again.
Guilty as charged – I’ve got a long, skinny foot.
I gave up on my Specialized shoes a few weeks ago and bought some Dominator 4s. Love those things. Looks like Sidi re-worked the buckles, too.
I picked up a set of the aftermarket Specialized buckles, too. I plan to keep them as backup for those soggy 24-hour races. By the way, I melted a tiny section of sole while drying the Specialized shoes out by the campfire. Lucky for me my wingman Zilka had my back and rescued my shoes before they turned to flaming goo.