I’m looking to upgrade my $70 Specialized Torch 1.0 shoes I got on Black Friday back in 2019 to a higher end Specialized shoe. Any suggestions? I am looking at the S-Works Vent and EXOS and am wondering how they compare to the Torch 1.0. Thank you.
I have the Torch 3.0 shoes for gravel and training. I think the Torch 3 is a very good shoe for the price. I had S-works shoes from 2017 before these and the Torch 3 is so similar. My only complaint about the torch 3 is how difficult they are to keep clean. The rough texture holds onto dirt really well, which is a bad thing for my gravel use case.
The newer S-works shoes have a nicer Boa than the Torch 3. I think the insoles on the s-works are slightly nicer, but i could be wrong on that. A good friend of mine had the Exos. They look awesome, but it only took one crash to destroy them.
I just checked Specialized’s website and they have some of the S-works models on sale for $250. That’s an amazing deal if they have your size. If not, i couldn’t see spending $200 more than the torch 3 for such a marginal gain. Personally, it would be relaly hard for me to pay $400 for a stock shoe. If i’m spending that much and taking things that serious, I’d rather put more money aside and go with a full custom shoe.