Pearl Izumi Vaper

Price Paid:  $80.00 at P.I.outlet store

Favorite Ride:
wherever my will takes me

Bike Setup:
05 Allez Elite w/ full 9 speed ultegra,neuvation R28 aero2's

Summary:
I got the red ones with the yellow flames.Fit was good and stayed comfortable even after multiple hours in the saddle.I had no problems with the tongue unless i rushed putting them on.The problem was that the velcro straps wore out very quickly to the point where i would have to readjust them every 15 minutes or so.Took them back to the P.I.outlet store and they said that they had a bad run of velcro and would replace them no questions asked or if i wanted an upgrade i would have to pay only the difference.I went for the vipers,light blue w/dark blue flames and the dial type retention system.Those seemed to fit a little bigger for the same size but had a neoprene sock type padded tongue that was way more comfortable. The dial does put a pressure point on the outer edge of my feet and i will probably be heading back to the P.I. outlet to see about my options.Pearl izumi stand behind their products and have replaced both gloves and shoes that were well used but had problems of some sort, Aside from wear and tear.
, so i feel i have always gotten my money's worth.

Strengths:
Comfortable,stiff,good looks

Weaknesses:
weak velcro

Similar Products Used:
Various performance and specialized and shimano shoes

Price Paid:  $160.00 at Revolution Cycle

Favorite Ride:
Tuesday night club hammer-fest

Bike Setup:
2002 Guru Classic (custom) with Ksyrium Elite, SPD-R

Summary:
I really can't say enough good things about these shoes!

When the sole of one of my crusty, stinky, 3 year-old John Lucks (good shoes, too!) finally split in half, I was in the market.

I happened upon these 2003 Vapers this summer in a 'sale' pile at a LBS. I remember admiring them in magazines and reading good reviews ... and here they were ... in my size! (They were on clearance because they're an 03 model ... ridiculously cheap for carbon-fibre)

I tried them on and was immediately impressed with the comfort, good fit (I have wide, hard-to-fit feet) and extremely light weight.

Now that I've ridden 'em for a few months, I love 'em even more and would buy another pair, just to keep in my closet for when these wear out. Unfortunately, this was the only pair in my size 44.

By far, the best shoes I've ever owned. (I have had none of the comfort or durability issues expereinced by other riders.)

I wonder why Pearl discontinued this model.

Strengths:
Extremely light, simple 3 strap closure, super comfortable for wide flippers like mine (one-piece 'wrap around' uppers ... remember the 'bunny slipper' adds ... they weren't lying), VERY cool and breathable (my sweaty feet stay very dry!), incredibly stiff carbon-fibre sole for unbeleivable power transfer ... plus ... I think they look pretty cool (mine are brilliant blue fading into black)

Bonus: The rubber toe bumpers (within a month, the toes on my Lucks were pretty trashed from flipping my pedal over to clip in ... not with these!)

Weaknesses:
Racers might find the all 'mesh' upper too compliant IE: not as stiff as a leather/plastic 2 buckle plus ratchet system)

But unless you're contesting finish lines from 200 meters out ... I think they'd do fine.

No longer available!

Similar Products Used:
Sidi, Specialized, Luck

Price Paid:  $180.00 at East Providence Bicy

Favorite Ride:
Pan-Mass Challenge

Bike Setup:
main: cannondale 6-13 w/ dura ace, ksyrium wheel set w/ pro race tires' carbon everything;
winter: cannondale cad 4 w/ ultegra, cosmic pro wheel set w/ pro race

Summary:
after wearing out more sidi's and carnacs than i can remember, i bought these shoes and fell in love...i now have over 4000 miles on them...yes, the plastic cover came unglued in the 1st 500 miles, but it doesn't affect the performance of the shoe at all...the sole has now started to separate at the heel, so i surfed the net and found a pair of '03 vapers that just arrived today...so happy to know i have another 4000 miles of bliss ahead of me! hope i can find more pairs out there in my size...

Strengths:
comfort is unsurpassed...fit is perfect with custom orthotics...transfer of power is amazing (i'm 6'2", 240lbs; size 47)

Weaknesses:
glue, but i care more about performance than cosmetics...

Similar Products Used:
carnac diagonals (which i like); sidi genius 4 mega (bought last year, wore them for the first time in a century, had knee pain for the first time in my life after 50 miles, bill peterson showed me how sidi uses the same narrow last on their 'megas' which causes the foot to overflow the sole and causes the pain...won't buy sidis again)

Price Paid:  $129.00 at Providence Bike Shop

Favorite Ride:
the long ones.

Bike Setup:
Klein Quantum Z, Ultegra (mostly), shimano pedals.

Summary:
I bought these shoes on clearance, and man was I pumped about getting these $180 shoes for $120. Now let me tell you about how I wasted $120 on wal-mart quality cycling shoes. On my first long ride with my new cool shoes, I was about 40 miles out (alone) and the top/front of my foot (where the foot comes out of the shoe) began to hurt so badly, I seriously considered asking people for a ride home. Okay, pride made me deal with the pain and I eventually developed a nice callous on the tops of my feet. At the time I was riding looks, and not only would the shoe always rub on the crank, I broke two cleats unclipping. And how did I do that? Well, no matter how tight the cleat, it would twist(not being able to get out of your cleats is dangerous!). I resolved this issue with a little bit of skateboard deck tape on the cleats, and they finally stopped sliding around on the slick carbon sole. And I was happy, well, almost. About a week later the sole actually separated from the shoe, which really defeats the purpose of a carbon-soled shoe. So I picked up super glue and fixed it. The following week, I glued it again with another glue. So after 6 months of dealing with this, when the shoe actually almost completely came undone from the sole, I threw them out.

oh yeah- the plastic around the toebox also unglued, which was really the least of my problems.

Strengths:
Um, ventilation?

An excellent doggie chew toy (just kidding-that would not be very nice for your dog).

Weaknesses:
QUALITY!!
GLUE!!!
Weight.
Fit.
Value.
See the review!

Similar Products Used:
Specialized Pro Carbon Road- lighter and a better quality shoe.

Price Paid:  $54.00 at Wheels in Motion

Favorite Ride:
White Rock Lake

Bike Setup:
Fuji with shimano m590

Summary:
Great Looking shoe i got 2003 model blue and white awesome. VERY comfortable and good power transfer. A good bargain

Strengths:
good lookin and feelin

Weaknesses:
nuttin

Similar Products Used:
shimano shoes