I wear road shoes now and can’t tell the difference.

The general move away from ratchet-closures on road shoes to boas has blurred the visual distinction between road and Tri shoes. I think avoiding the ratchet system is no less relevant today than it always has been (although I'm not sure this even really matters for 95% of athletes) but the bigger issue is whether race allow flying mounts or not.

If you are racing with flying mounts you definitely want a shoe with a back loop that you attach a rubber band to. With many races now requiring shoes be put on in transition this back loop serves no purpose and so a pure road shoe is fine.

As a side not Specialized appears to be toying around with re-introducing a flexible back portion of the shoe for triathlons. Scott did this a few years ago and abandoned the design quickly because while it helped with mounts riders complained it was flexy during pedalling. So is suspect we will continue to see companies play with gimmicky Tri-specific alterations but a lot of the high end shoes will be very similar between road and tri.

Speaking of Specialized anyone know if a new Velcro strap trivent is coming?

400 seems like a big waste of money when they get disgusting after a couple races, from mud, dirt etc.

Never used tri shoes. Tried a couple pairs of Dhb which were reportedly wider, were just too narrow for my 2E feet but they were pretty high quality at first inspection I must say, however never road in them they were just too narrow. Been using my Sidi Mega's for 10 years now and they still look great. So for me, I haven't used tri shoes because it's just been too hard to find something that fits my feet. If the price were right I could be coaxed into a pair of Lake wides or something else but at this point I've always used road shoes, and I've always put them on in T1. I know I'm losing time, but it's just a natural disadvantage for someone with my duck feet. That's just my specific case. Maybe as the sport grows more and more athletes with different shaped feet show up, and as the price of everything rises people are forced to spend their tri budget on other gear as oppose to what is likely a second pair of shoes.

---

I still lapped everyone on the couch!

Same story for me. My feet are about 4E. I take what'll fit.

I have a pair of S-Works 6's for training, and I absolutely love them but they're less than ideal for racing in. The dual boa systems on each shoe make them pretty cumbersome to get into and out of. I couldn't imagine trying to get into the 6's while riding, which means I'd have to put the 6's on in T1 and then run in them to the mount line, whereas I can put the Trivents on the bike and put them on as I'm riding. The 6's are also not exactly a great-breathing shoe. Mikes Bikes just had a 25% off sale and I picked up a pair of Trivents to race in ($320 is still steep, but far better than $400). For racing, they're FAR superior to the 6's. They breathe, have drainage built in, incredibly easy to get in and out of, are comfortable sockless, and even have little hooks built in to loop rubber bands onto. The little magnetic catch for the rear "drawbridge" thingie is nothing short of brilliant.

I wanted to love the S-Works Trivent but my foot would move around like crazy in that shoe. I had to switch to the Trivent SC to get a better fit. I'm hoping they redesign the shoe and make something like Scott has. https://www.scott-sports.com/...road-tri-carbon-shoe

---

Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/