Streamlined shapes, maximum weight savings, and peak efficiency have long been the gold standard for road cycling footwear. The same goes for the increasingly competitive and professionalized world of gravel, where the same principles of lightness and aerodynamics reign supreme, albeit with a bit more protection.
Countless professional athletes of these disciplines rely on the BOA Fit System when selecting footwear for the Olympic Games, DH World Cups, FKTs, and more, many of whom cross over from road into gravel or mountain biking.
Few people on this planet understand the rigors of mixing it up in different disciplines more than Kasia Niewiadoma. The Canyon/SRAM racing powerhouse has a resume stacked with 18 professional wins, including this year’s La Flèche Wallonne and Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift. She also currently holds the title of UCI Gravel World Champion. She achieved all of these significant triumphs using the BOA Fit System.
Though she holds the title of the world’s best gravel cyclist, Niewiadoma considers herself a “die-hard roadie.”
“I definitely gain or get more pleasure with racing on the road. I find finals very interesting, and I can fully zone in and enjoy the whole process and the suffering part,” she said. “Gravel racing is also very interesting and stimulating in the way that you have to use your technical skills more often.”
Niewiadoma said she doesn’t necessarily look forward to the hard, steady paces associated with gravel races as much as the more explosive style of racing involving tactics that she prefers on the road.
“From the races I did, I definitely felt that (gravel) is super hard because you have a hard pace from the start, but it’s like this for the whole five-hour race, or six-hour race. So it’s a different sort of suffering, and in some ways (kind of) lonely racing,” She said. “I think I will forever choose road over gravel.”
But still, as more roadies move into gravel, or even mountain biking, BOA has gone with them, offering a reliable fit and feel required to maintain the performance and comfort they need to compete at the highest level, no matter what bike or terrain they are on.
“I don’t really mind making those switches between road or gravel, mostly because the position on my gravel and the road bike is quite similar, and I don’t feel like I compromise anything. Throughout the season and even in the winter time preparing for the main season, I spend quite a lot of time on my gravel bike, or sometimes on my mountain bike, so I think I’m just used to changing surfaces. And I think that ultimately it all comes down to how comfortable you feel on the bike.” – Katarzyna ‘Kasia’ Niewiadoma.
Understanding BOA Technology
BOA Technology entered the cycling market 16 years ago. Its patented, award-winning BOA Fit System consists of micro-adjustable dials, strong, lightweight laces, and low-friction guides, replacing traditional laces in a sport that demands lightness, simplicity, toughness, and comfort in every piece of kit.
Aside from the nagging issues that can come from traditional laces, the BOA Fit System allows its designers to reimagine the upper configuration in ways not possible with traditional laces. BOA says research conducted in its BOA Performance Fit Lab has shown many significant benefits of its PerformFit Wrap, where panels activated by the BOA Fit System wrap from medial to lateral for cyclists. These documented scientific benefits include up to a 9% increase in power output, 11% increase in peak power output during sprints, and 10% improvement in pressure distribution that benefits riders in sprints or long-distance riding.
Off-road shoes tend to be heavier than any other type of cycling shoe, as they require padding to absorb extreme punishment. Off-road riders also don’t generally have as much time, if any, to adjust their shoes while they charge down a mountain white-knuckling the bars, or cutting across a section of chunky gravel. But even the off-road world has snuggled up to BOA tech more and more as its benefits continue to become clearer, and models adapt to meet the demands of gravel, trail, and downhill riders.
BOA platforms
BOA’s wrapped upper configurations, activated by the brand’s latest L-Series dials and purpose-fit for low-cut and light-weight footwear, continue to refine fit and performance on a whole new lineup of shoes.
The L6 dial platform combines a lightweight design with a priority on durability. Like all modern BOA platforms, L6 features a breakaway design where the dial releases from the bayonet on extreme impact and pops back in without catastrophic damage. L6 also offers exceptional resistance to impact on the trail, dirt, and mud, with some brands opting for integrated shields so riders can have complete confidence on trails.
The Li2 platform, which is BOA’s most advanced, provides a low-profile design with multidirectional adjustment capability and a fast total release tailored to riders who need extremely fine-tuned control that is effortless to use and unwaveringly reliable. With the Li2 platform, riders can continuously adjust their shoes to the conditions they are in, maintaining an even fit and maximizing efficiency and comfort in a way that could not be done with traditional laces or even hook and loop.
The BOA Fit System is adaptable, allowing brands to integrate it within models to meet varied demands, for instance leveraging Classic Fit, Targeted Zonal Fit, or BOA PerformFit Wrap.
The Targeted Zonal Fit, which riders can find on the Fox Union BOA shoe, incorporates two independent zones of micro-adjustable closure to more precisely match unique foot shapes. This fit can reduce pressure points and allow for quick adjustments as feet swell.
BOA PerformFit Wrap appears on shoes like the Ride Concepts Tallac Mid BOA and the Canyon TEMPR CFR Off-Road. It improves fit, stability, and efficiency with a wrap around the middle of the foot that locks in the heel and offers more freedom of movement in the forefoot.
A series of new partnerships with Ride Concepts, Fox, and Canyon has taken the BOA brand further into the MTB category with a host of new BOA-driven shoes built for the most demanding off-road conditions and could buck the trend of lace-ups in the downhill and adventure riding world altogether.
Ride Concepts Tallac Mid BOA
The Ride Concepts Tallac Mid BOA is one of the toughest shoes to feature BOA tech. Made for serious downhill riding, the shoe comes in clip or flat options, and features BOA’s state-of-the-art PerformFit Wrap.
Ride Concepts says the shoe offers integrated D3O pads for protection over the top of the foot, a 3D molded collar that protects ankles from side impacts, and a grippy hexagonal outsole for grip while off the bike.
The shoe uses a single Li2 dial that can tighten or loosen with ease so riders don’t have to waste time fiddling with laces between runs.
The BOA PerformFit Wrap system improves power transfer and efficiency, so every pedal stroke will send more power directly through the drivetrain, rather than getting lost in slop.
The Ride Concepts Tallac Mid BOA sells for an MSRP of $230 in the clip option, and $220 for the flat option.
Fox Union BOA
The Fox Union BOA sits at the top end of the Fox Union range specifically because of its partnership with BOA. The Union BOA is a dedicated trail shoe that comes in flat, or two-bolt pedal compatible models. The shoes come with a padded tongue, and lightweight mesh material for increased ventilation and breathability to make the shoe more comfortable.
The BOA system includes two Li2 dials for a targeted zonal fit. The lower dial controls the lower and forefront portion of the shoe, while the upper dial controls the collar to get a snug fit.
With these dual, multidirectional dials, riders have the control to make even tiny micro adjustments at multiple points on the shoe instantly. The Fox Union BOA comes in seven colors and sells for an MSRP of $249.95.
Canyon CFR footwear
Gravel and light off-road riding can still take a heavy toll. Shoes can’t just be ultra-light and stiff with no protection. Rocks fly up into feet all the time on gravel, and whether in rocks or mud, every gravel rider is sure to find themselves walking at some point. Canyon’s all-new Tempr CFR Off-Road shoes leverage the most optimal integration of BOA and pack it into a footwear package that is born to blaze a trail across gravel race courses like Unbound Gravel, or on any other adventure.
The Canyon Tempr CFR Off-road shoe features the BOA PerformFit Wrap to evenly encircle a rider’s foot, locking the heel in place to prevent unwanted movement while under power. It also lessens or eliminates pressure points over the arch of the foot that can be debilitating on long or demanding rides.
The shoes have been on the podium of elite-level UCI gravel, cyclocross, XCO, and XCC races this year, which shows how versatile they can be in vastly different conditions.
The shoe uses two anodized aluminum BOA Li2 dials with multidirectional adjustment, along with a Vibram Megagrip outsole for traction while off the bike.
They weigh in at 290 grams and come in white or grey with black tread, or black with gum tread for an MSRP of about $360.
Final thoughts
The BOA Fit System offers a fit, functionality, and performance boost that pays dividends to riders over traditional laces.
With micro-adjustments, quick-release capability, and a tough, lightweight package, shoes featuring BOA promise to thrive even in the most rugged and demanding conditions.
