Depends what you do, or like to focus on. If you do a lot of short distance tris then get the tri shoes. If you do long distances races, use road shoes like most of the pros do, the time saving from slipping them on while racing won't amount to much. If you do lots of road training rides then road shoes will typically be more adjustable and comfortable.

I have both and the tri shoes only come out for a few training sessions and races.

I have some Bont Riots I use on the turbo. They're ideal for that. I wouldn't use them as a daily driver, and if I was doing a mild or cooler race, I'd wear road shoes.

I think if you're going to get new shoes, you probably will end up not wearing your old road shoes you mention. The only reason I'd get triple specific shoes in your case is if you had some shim requirements for the tri or road bike that didn't translate between the two bikes.

If I could only own one then it would be tri shoes, that is where I started.

Fortunately, I have purchased shoes about every 2-3 years and have built up quite a collection.

I go with tri shoes. I don't like how tight road shoes are.

Like MattyK said, depends on the type of racing you do, but also where you live. Here in the northeast there are only a few months when a highly vented shoe would be comfortable without socks or shoe covers. Since most people wear and size their tri shoes to be worn without socks, adding socks could make them pretty uncomfortable. Even during the summer, early am rides can be chilly. If I could only have one, I'd go with what I'm going to wear most often rather than 5-10 times a year.

good luck and stay well

and thanks to all our front line workers, health care professionals, truck drivers, grocery store employees, and small business owners trying to keep things rolling

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Great things never come from comfort zones.

ultimately get the shoe that fits your foot the best. If you think about it, you're racing <1% of the time you're wearing your cycling shoes.

Shoes come in different lasts. Shoe A in extra wide in Last A may be narrower than Shoe B in regular width in LAst B even though they are the same company. There is no reason to suspect that tri shoes are wider just bc they are tri shoes.

Buy multiple pair of shoes. Wear them on carpet without mounting cleats. Wear them on days you didn't ride, days you ran & rode, days you only rode or only ran. Wear them for > 20-30 min. Read a few hundred pages of a book with them on. Are they still comfy at the 2h mark? If not send them back.

Shoes are the hardest part of the contact points to get right when cycling if you're feet aren't in the normal range.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

I would say get the road shoe if you are looking at the Bont Riot tr+ vs. road (boa).

In my experience the straps on the Riot tri are way too long and end up flapping in the wind, obviously your foot shape will dictate whether this is an issue or not. After about a year of riding the Riot tri, I decided to just buy the road version of the Riot and I prefer the road version.

I don't ride a ton in the cold, but down to ~40 F the Tri shoe + shoe cover (old socks) were plenty warm for me.

This is true, on mine (and also my Fizik road shoes) I've remedied it by sticking on some heavy duty velcro self-adhesive hook tape.

this is an odd design

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

Definitely something to keep in mind. My tri shoes are slightly too small when paired with socks. Manageable for <2 hour ride, but wouldn't want anything more than that. Have a pair of road shoes & good socks + covers for the winter days.

This is a nice solution - I am going to try this, id prefer to keep using the tri version for short course racing.

Thanks for posting pics!

The Shimano Sh-RC9 S-Phyre is a fantastic Road shoe, AND a fantastic Tri shoe. The boa system makes it super easy to get on and off, even with the shoes clipped in. They have an insert system that accommodates a wide range of feet, and can often find it on sale under $ 200
Not having to deal with Velcro straps is AWESOME :-)

https://bike.shimano.com/...-phyre/SH-RC901.html

If they fit you, Giro Empire. Always Giro Empire.

Unless you're a competitive sprint/olympic racer, I would go road shoes. last year I only had tri shoes at my disposal (bontrager hilo), and while overall I love them, there were times where I wished I had easier on-the-fly adjustment (such as a boa), and times where my feet were cold on early AM rides because they're so much more breathable and open than a road shoe.

That being said, I have the hilos because I had a year where I wanted to rock a bunch of sprint races and they were great for that - flying mounts were a breeze and they were great without socks. I couldn't hope to do the same type of thing with my road shoes (Shimano RP9), but the road shoes have their upsides too.