Comfort
Ventilation
Stiff sole
Looked fairly well made

Overall durability

Bought these shoes on the spring of 08. For the most part they were a good shoe. They had good ventilation, the sole was nice and stiff and they were reasonably light for a shoe in this price range. They were true to size, very comfortable and the the uppers were very durable compared to the Carnacs they replaced. The only problem was the carbon sole on the left shoe failed this spring. This is the foot that I unclip with at a stop. It cracked in half across the shoe right behind the cleat. Had to be some kind of manufacturing defect. Never had a shoe fail like this before and they were out of warrenty. The cleats were not overly tight and never saw anything developing. Periodically checking for the cleats loosening and never saw a crack developing.

Similar Products Used:

Sidi
Diadora
Northwave
Shimano
Vittoria

- Stiff carbon sole
- Exceptionally adjustable ratchet straps
- Reasonable price
- Good top-side ventilation
- 'Tongue tag' to keep the tongue in place
- White

- None so far

After 3 years of road riding with an SPD mountain set-up, I decided to go for it and finally go 'full roadie'. I've been in Shimano mtb shoes w/o a carbon sole. I'm a clydesdale, so I'd gotten to the point where I felt I needed 'more' under foot. My shallow side wanted white shoes, my tech side wanted a carbon sole and ratchet strap, and my fiscal side wanted inexpensive. I found all in the Typhoon. As in all the reviews I read prior to pulling the trigger, the toe box is very roomy, so if you have even a moderately narrow foot, you'll feel like you parked a motorcycle in a 2 car garage.

Strap and ratchet system are second to none.
Very stiff - comfortable - wide vented toe box.

None

I have had 3 pairs of Shimano shoes size 46 and my last pair being R300 custom fit. I have a wider left foot and found that even the R300 shoes when custom fitted never felt perfect because of the shape of my foot. So when I was due to purchase a new pair of shoes a mate recommendde the Northwave Typhoon.

I was able to fit into size 45 in these and they are slightly wider and have a roomier toe box compared to the Shimano shoes. The straps and buckle system are by far the best I have used. The ratchet works precisely and the single click release and mirco adjust are perfect.
They just fit me perfect, very comfortable and great power transmission.
Cleat adjustment allows lateral movement, good ventilation. I got the 2010 white/black model.

Similar Products Used:

Shimano R300

Reasonable forefoot width with solid heel support. Good sole stiffness, no hotspots (I run Speedplay Zero cleats).

Agree with previous reviewer - these are pure white, and I wouldn't want to mess them up in nasty weather. Then again, not much of an issue in San Diego! :-)

Very nice road shoe! Slightly wider than Sidi standard width, not quite as wide as Northwave Aerator from a couple of years back. Despite comfortable forefoot width, heel is held solidly in place, including during hard effort out of saddle climbs and sprints. Carbon composite sole is plenty stiff, I don't notice appreciable stiffness difference from full carbon soles on other shoes. No hot spots. Uppers are very well finished both outside and inside - extremely comfortable. I've worn mid- to high end Sidi, Carnac, Diadora, Adidas, Mavic, and other Northwave road shoes - like Typhoons the best. Note - I wear a 12 in street shoes and most cycling shoes, but the 46 (Northwave says that's US 13) Typhoon fits me better. Consider going 1 size up from whatever size you normally wear. I haven't raced in many years, but would happily have worn these for racing back in the day. Great shoe - highly recommend!

Similar Products Used:

SIdi Genius 5.5, Northwave Aerator, other shoes from Mavic, Adidas, Diadora, Carnac

The upper shoe is soft and forgiving and os much more comfortable than the Specialized or my old Sidi. Time will tell whether this means they do not wear as well, a few rides in it is too early to tell.

The tongue, adjustable top leather fastener and the 'SBS' ratchet system are very good and much better than my old Sidi ratchet system although I suspect all manfuacturers have moved the game on in this respect.

Sole is nice and stiff so I notice no + or - compared with my Specialized here.

You can feel the air coming through the toe box and it is a good feeling on warm weather rides. I suspect you have to take the inner sole out if you want the air flow under your instep to do it's thing too but I have not felt the need.

I don't mind getting caught in the rain but I would not want to ride these in the wet intentionally as the bling white finish (I didn't care but that's what they came in) may well suffer and the toe would probably encourage water in.

Now in my 40s my riding was negligible in recent years due to parenting and work mostly then a knee op this year. I bought Specialized BG a couple of years ago and whilst supposedly ideal for wider feet I did not find them as comfortable as my old Sidi Genius 2 that saw about 12 years before being retired.

So, I decided to relegate the Specialized to wet or winter riding, the first time I will have the luxury of different shoes.

I wanted to try Northwave as they are also reputed to be good for wide feet. The Typhoon SBS were on a special at Sigma and I bought some other things, got loyalty discount from previous purchases and so I probably paid less but certainly no more.

I like these, ideal as a summer shoe. Early days but I am very very happy.

Size 46 by the way.

4 stars given for value because like many pastimes, cycle shoes probably cost £10 to make and the pricing is hideous from all shoe manufacturers. We can buy craftsman-made smart or casual shoes for this money in the West and two pairs in the East.

Not sure what currency the review will show, 125 is GBP

Similar Products Used:

Sidi Genius 2
Specialized Carbon BG (no obvious name on them)