Giro is introducing a new way to dial in shoe fit with their Techlace system that is claimed to combine the ease-of-use of velcro with the customizable fit & feel of laces across the forefoot. Then they are topping it off with the fine adjustability of a Boa setup to lock your foot down tight. Coming first to the new men’s Factor Techlace and women’s Factress Techlace road shoes, the system aims to combine the best of both modern and classic shoe fit in a snappy premium package…
Based on the original Factor, which Giro debuted five years ago, this newest iteration builds off what Giro has learned since then developing other products and seeing the hugely positive response to their Empire line. The new Techlace system was developed to mimic that laces feel, but to give the on the bike adjustability that you can just never achieve with a regular let of lace-ups.
At the heart of the system, Giro says the laces are easily replaceable (which surely means we’ll see a lot of customized setups like you find with the Empires.)
For the Boa dial, Giro has spec’d the top-of-the-line IP1 than give the best control with just 1mm ratcheted cable pull increments to allow for a perfect fit. And of course with their looped layout, that means each click pulls the strap just 0.5mm at a time across your foot.
The shoes stick with the same user-adjustable SuperNatural Fit footbed and the perforated microfiber upper as their other premium shoes. The Factor family also keeps the light, stiff, and thin Easton EC90 SLX2 carbon sole for one of the best road power transfers on the market. The shoes also get the same replaceable toe and heel tread block as their other premium road shoes.
The shoes are certainly light, claiming just 210g a piece for the men’s in a size 42.5, and down to 195g for a 39 in the women’s version.
The new Factor & Factress Techlace shoes will be available mid fall through regular Giro channels for $350/€350/£290. They will come in three shiny color options for men: the all black, white with black details, and the super bright orange called vermillion; but just the white version for women.
The men’s Factor Techlace will offer whole sizes from 39-50, plus half sizes from 39.5-46.5; while the women’s Factress Techlace will go whole from 36-43, and half sizes from 37.5-42.5.
Is this april fools?
I have two pair of Giro shoes and love them. Mine have Velcro and ratcheting closures. The shoes fit wonderfully, but I’d prefer boa closures and am happy to see Giro moving in that direction. …But what’s the deal with the laces? Come on guys. I can see their marketing team is trying to differentiate, but loose the laces and I’m sold.
If you loose the laces, the shoes will fall off!
Ahh, taking the Sidi approach of “let’s just throw all the crap at this shoe” I see….
are there any other retention systems they could integrate here… hmm… maybe a small roll of duct tape mounted somewhere.
After trying them, I’m not sad to see Giro stepping away from laces. On-bike adjustability is a big deal, especially for anyone whose feet swell after a few hours in the saddle.
While a step in the right direction, my time on Mavic’s Velcro-and-string closures didn’t leave me convinced of any real advantage- especially as the variability in Velcro position is multiplied by the number of times the lace to which it is attached crosses the shoe. (Unless these are somehow different, those of us with low- or high-volume feet will likely have floppy or barely-secured Velcro straps.)
I would love to see a pure Boa Empire VR90 or Empire ACC- those would make an ideal road shoe for those of us who spend time in the dirt, commute by bike, or would prefer our convenience store stops not to be the most dangerous part of the ride. I love their shoes otherwise.
^Sorry- the Empire ACC doesn’t have an SPD-style sole. Was thinking of the Republic.
Just because you’re unique, doesn’t mean you’re useful.
If I had kids, I would tell them this all the time.
Couldn’t it have been three of the Velcro lace systems instead of the boa? Assuming that replaceable laces also means the plastic closer on the Velcro re-open to adjust the lace segment.
No mention of it they are gravel grinder friendly or how many watts they save so not for me.
I really like the concept, just not the styling. If they got rid of all the black from the body of the shoe, I’d be all for it.
who dresses cyclists? jayzus
WOW. $350.00 for shoes made in China. Crap Crap Crap.
How are the shoes crap? You are aware, aren’t you that there are some great, high quality products made in China, right?
I am sure that is true expect for a good shoe. If you are going to spend $350.00 you might as well buy a Sidi, Gaerne, DMT, Northwave, etc. Italy is a country that knows how to make shoes.
you do realise that most of those manufacturers shoes aren’t made in Italy anymore….
Where are they made then?
Well surely that logic makes sense to someone. Sadly, it makes no objective sense at all. Fortunately with the onset of the steamship, the telegraph, and other such leaps in technology, shoe making knowledge and tech has been able to propagate around the world. Heck now you can you even design shoes in one place and send those designs to a factory via electronic computing devices and a giant web between those electronic computing devices.
detecting some sarcasm here…. carefull
2 birds with one stone! nicely done, dave.
also can we talk about the toe overlap on that RL?
Why, almost every road bike has overlap if you have somewhat normal size feet.
These shoes are weird looking! Laces plus boa plus ratchet… Starting to get a bit carried away!
I had ridden Sidis for years and was always very happy with the fit and performance, but never a huge fan of the very Italian styling. I picked up some Empire ACCs in 2014, and after a few thousand miles in my road bike I’m very happy with the tunability of the fit and the general aesthetics. However, to get a nice and snug fit involves a solid minute or two of working my foot into the shoes and dialing in the fit, and when I cranking out a 200k it’s greatly quite excruciating to have to loosen the laces all the way down to the toebox to easily slip the shoes off. I like the direction they went with these, and I’ll definitely buy a pair.
Given a choice between laces and that stupid shiny finish I’ll take laces
Been on Empire ACCs since 2013 and wouldn’t trade them for anything else. I never have to adjust my shoes. In fact the last time I tied them was 6 months ago. I just use a shoe horn to slip my feet into the shoe and I’m out the door.
The comment about marathon runners in the Giro video is accurate. When was the last time you saw any marathon runner having to stop to adjust his laces?