Nike VENTOUX

Price Paid:  $40.00 at Craig's List

Favorite Ride:
Hines Drive metro Detroit

Bike Setup:
'08 Specialized Allez Elite Compact. Pretty much stock.

Summary:
These shoes sort of came with the bike which is why I got such a sweet deal. They are my first real road shoes and I use SPD cleats. I agree with some of the points of the other reviewers. The tongue folds under when putting them on but it is quick to adjust and does not fold in to wrinkle on itself for me when I pull down the straps. They are well ventilated, I can feel the airflow at lower temps (low 50's or so) and my feet NEVER get hot. I've had minor discomfort on the outside of the balls of my feet early in the ride but it goes away. I've got about 2000 miles on them and they've held up well. I recently bought a pair of carbon Shimanos at a great price, put one of those on my left foot and a Nike on my right. I reached down to pull up on the toes of each to try to flex them. They do flex but very little and equally. I think they are bout the same weight too. So I'm wondering if I should get my money back on the Shimanos. Like another reviewer said, mine have silver straps and toe/heel trim on a dark blue mesh. The silver reflects quite brightly in direct sun so they look kinda cool.

Strengths:
Stiff, light, ventilation, look kinda cool.

Price Paid:  $0.00

Bike Setup:
CAAD 8 Full Dura Ace

Summary:
I have had these shoes for about 6 months and ridden them about 1000 miles. Let me start by saying that I loathe all things Nike. Overall, for an 80 spot on Ebay, they have been good shoes. I am 6' and 210 pounds. I wear a 13.5 shoe and the 49 fits me a little loose. They are heavy...really heavy. For the weight, you get a reasonably stiff, all plastic sole. They have amazing ventilation and are pretty comfy. My biggest complaint is that the crappy neoprene fixed tongue breaks down almost immediately. They are a hassle to get on without it folding under and it splits inside the fabric leaving an akward, uncomfortable gap when you pull the top strap tight. I ride Sidi 5.5's now and the difference is night and day--as is the price.

Strengths:
Cheap
stiff
Ventilated

Weaknesses:
Nike...China
Tongue
Heel lift

Similar Products Used:
Sidi 5.5 HT

Price Paid:  $80.00 at Capitol Hill Bikes

Favorite Ride:
Falls Church - Mt. Vernon

Bike Setup:
1983 Bianchi Limited (Original Owner!!)
Suntour ARX friction shifters/derailers
Sugino GT cranks
Diacompe 500 brakes/levers
Ambrosio rims w/ Sunshine hubs
Look 206 pedals

Summary:
Dusted off my old Bianchi to get back into road biking last fall after several years of riding mainly offroad and onroad on my MTB. At first I moved my Shimano MTB pedals to the Bianchi, but that left me with foot cramps and the folks at my LBS suggested a move to road pedals and road shoes. The Nike Ventoux shoes were purchased to match a new set of Look 206 road pedals.

Having put over 1000 miles on the Ventouxs, I'm wondering why anybody would spend more for a pair of road shoes. These shoes have been a great purchase and have been all I expected and more.

Strengths:
Excellent construction quality. Very stiff sole gives no flex even under my 230lbs when torquing hard. Material gives good ventilation without being 'breezy'. Velcro closures are well built and show no signs of wear after 6 months of daily commuting.

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
Shimano MTB shoes.

Price Paid:  $150.00 at LBS in Ann Arbor, MI

Favorite Ride:
Bandolier Loop

Bike Setup:
Cervelo p2k w\ ultegra\DA, visiontech, R-540 wheels, SLR saddle, Speedplay pedals.

Summary:
First, these Veloux are in black and silver, were listed as a men's shoe, and have a carbon fiber sole. However, the upper looks basically the same as the veloux currently on Nike's site. So this may be an older version of what has become the Lance shoe, or a souped up Veloux... I'm not quite sure. Anyway:
These shoes have basically the same carbon composite sole as all the other high end companies have, same cleat mounting system, are very light, breathe wonderfully, and are comfortable, and are priced at about 1/2 to 2/3rds of what you'd pay for the top of the line Shimano or Sidi. Sweet!

Strengths:
I have yet to durability test them. I'll post another review after a couple thousand miles. But so far they fit like a glove, due to the stretching lycra-like material which hugs the top of your foot instead of the usual leathary tongue. The whole rest of the shoe is either 3 velcro straps, which tighten down well, mesh, which breathes very well (I've been a no socks for cycling hazard in the past but no smell or puddles so far), and the sole is of course completely inflexible. We tried to bend it and it's amazing!

Weaknesses:
I use speedplays, and how hard would it be to just put those 4 screw-holes directly into the shoe, or force speedplay to redisgn their cleat mounting. Using that spacer\adapter shim just sucks. It puts you farther from the pedal shaft, adds (very little) weight, adds another set of components which could someday fail, and makes walking around off the bike much harder. You'd think, because speedplay has a pretty decent market share, that a shoemaker could just put in those four mounting holes, right? As fa as I know, the old-skool Time shoes were the only ones you can mount a speedplay to directly.

Similar Products Used:
2000 Shimano carbon fiber soles, whatever model that was
Really old Time nylon soles I picked up at a swap-meet