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Specialized S-Works EXOS 99g road bike shoes, unlike anything you’ve ever seen

2019 Specialized EXOS ultralight road bike shoes are as light as 99g
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Well, actually, they look a lot like every road bike shoe you’ve seen. Which is what makes their the new Specialized S-Works EXOS’ 99g claimed weight so insane, perhaps more so than the $700 price tag. Too much? Or, rather, too little? Don’t worry, there’s also a 150g “standard” EXOS version that adds a Boa IP1 dial and a touch more carbon for just $499.

Both shoes use a similar Dyneema upper with modified carbon fiber soles and a new heel cup design to achieve these insane weights. Which is really just glossing over the details, so we reached out to the Specialized’s footwear category manager, Stephen Quay, to see how they did it…

2019 Specialized EXOS 99 are the worlds lightest road bike shoes at just 99 grams each
The S-Works EXOS 99 use laces to hit their insanely low weight, the standard version uses a Boa dial.

Following is a short interview with Quay, but for the answers to make sense, here’s a brief overview of the new Specialized EXOS shoes. The uppers are constructed of a 4-ply, custom made Dyneema material bonded to a mesh liner. This effectively creates a single piece of fabric that won’t stretch and weighs practically nothing, so it’ll support your foot without any bulk. And the “vamp” is designed to wrap your forefoot without the structure typically created by a toe box.

At the back is a new heel cup design that uses a bit more fabric to allow for a tiny bit of stretch so you can get into it easily. But the layers and shaping of the Dyneema panels there act as a soft heel cup to trap your foot. They say it’s as effective as the molded thermoplastic heel cup on the SW7 shoes, but way lighter.

2019 Specialized EXOS ultralight road bike shoes are as light as 99g

The EXOS 99 gets a modified construction with laces to save weight, and the standard EXOS is shaped to use a Boa IP1 two-way dial. They chose this dial because it can tighten and loosen with indexed clicks and pulls cable in from both directions, which lets it cinch the upper around your foot in a more uniform manner. It also has enough cable spooling to open wide for easy entry, then pull tight enough to secure your foot.

How secure? They’re saying it’s a race shoe, and if anything’s going to stretch or stress the system, it’s a finish line sprint. So it has to be secure.

Specialized EXOS is the worlds lightest road bike shoe

Underneath is a new FACT Powerline carbon sole that uses less material than ever. Thanks to ridges and advanced shaping, they were able to give it a proper stiffness index of 13 (slightly less than the S-Works 7 shoes, but equal to the prior gen SW6 shoes). The design leaves some cutouts where their analysis showed the extra material wasn’t needed. They use titanium alloy cleat plates that can flip 180º to give you 5mm of fore/aft adjustment on top of whatever your cleats offer.

Inside are all three Body Geometry features all of their shoes offer: forefoot Varus angulation, longitudinal arch support, and metatarsal button. The shoes come with a BG+ footbed and are compatible with their aftermarket custom and semi-custom footbeds and forefoot wedges.

How did Specialized make a 99g shoe?

the specialized exos road bike shoes are the lightest cycling shoes in the world

BIKERUMOR: Just so we’re clear, the EXOS 99 uses laces rather than the BOA IP1 dial…any other key differences?

QUAY: Correct. This switch let us save some weight not only from the closure system, but also tongue and eyelet construction. The upper is otherwise left unchanged, except for a slight change in the TPU shape on the medial and lateral quarters. The biggest additional change between EXOS and EXOS 99 is in the outsole construction. We use a bigger PU cookie and refined carbon layers in the 99, reducing plate weight by about 15g. This makes it super difficult to manufacture and is one of the reasons there will be limited quantities of EXOS 99. The EXOS 99 also has a special heel lug which is bonded in without a screw (which can be replaced with the standard SW EXOS heel lug when it wears out) – not a major component, but it saved us about 1-2g.

BIKERUMOR: Is the lace material anything special?

QUAY: Yes, it is a tubular non-stretch lace. We also hand-trim the aglets (the little things on the ends of the lace that keep them from fraying), saving us about 0.5-1g in total shoe weight.

BIKERUMOR: What’s the weight difference in the carbon sole from the S-Works 7 compared to the Exo?

QUAY: Roughly 8-10g in carbon and about 5g in the toe lug

BIKERUMOR: What is a “vamp” as used in the shoe descriptions?

QUAY: Ah! The “vamp” is shoe jargon for the toe area.

BIKERUMOR: Any rider weight limits on these?

QUAY: Yes, 100kg (240lb)

BIKERUMOR: When are they available for sale and shipping?

QUAY: Both shoes are launching on the 26th of this month (at 9am Pacific time), but the EXOS 99 is being done by preorder directly through our retail partners. The Exos 99 will ship to the retail partner for riders on May 1st.

BIKERUMOR: What is CubicTec?

QUAY: CubicTec is a special blend of Dyneema fibers – a very low-stretch, highly-adaptive, and lightweight material. These are the same special fibers used in things like reentry parachutes for spacecraft and spinnaker sales on racing sailboats. The CubicTec process is taking these fibers, orienting them to achieve the desired stretch properties (in the case of SW EXOS, we do a 4-ply layup at 0d, 45d, -45d, and 90d to lock stretch in all directions), and then pressing them together to for a single material. This material, being ridiculously light yet strong enough to make a performance shoe out of, is one of the things that makes the SW EXOS and EXOS 99 so special, because it means we can shed weight without sacrificing the hold on the foot.

What else do you need to know?

2019 Specialized EXOS ultralight road bike shoes are as light as 99g

They’re durable. Dyneema is the latest wonder material in the cycling world for a reason. It’s insanely light and equally strong. Specialized says these shoes are as durable as any of their other high end shoes and carry the same warranty.

That 99g and 150g weight claim? Those are for a size 42, single shoe. For the EXOS 99, they’re going a step further and setting a maximum weight per shoe per size, which is monitored and managed for every single one:

Maximum allowable weight (g)
Size EXOS 99
40 92
40.5 93
41 96
41.5 97
42 99
42.5 100
43 105
43.5 106
44 111
44.5 112
45 116
45.5 118
46 122
46.5 123
47 127
48 132

 

The EXOS 99 will come only in the Rocket Red, and the regular version will be available in White or Black. If you want the EXO 99, act quick to drop a deposit at your local Specialized dealer, only 500 pair will be made, offered on pre-order and delivered later this spring.

Specialized.com

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21 Comments
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Fonzie
Fonzie
5 years ago

Need a podium shoe version in black!

Pete
Pete
5 years ago

Blah, blah, blah, Spesh specializes only in narrow feet.

Mark
Mark
5 years ago
Reply to  Pete

Pete, I don’t have narrow feet and I’ve been riding in Specialized shoes for over a decade.

a-ron
5 years ago
Reply to  Pete

Right!? All you have to do is ignore all their wide shoe version offerings and you really nailed Spesh good on that one;-)

Kyle
Kyle
5 years ago
Reply to  Pete

They’ve been wider since the SW6. I had the 5s and suffered through it, 6s are perfect on me.

David Rosenthal
David Rosenthal
5 years ago
Reply to  Pete

Nonsense I have S Works 6s in wide fit size 46.5 and they’re lovely as comfortable as my previous wide Lakes but dont fall apart in 2 weeks.

Wayne Froome
Wayne Froome
4 years ago
Reply to  Pete

S-works were too wide and loose for me, like for hobbit feet. Sidi ergo 3 still the best for narrow, high arch support.

Sam
Sam
5 years ago

As far as I’m aware, dyneema fabric has no breathability, wouldn’t this make for some clammy shoes?

Matt
Matt
5 years ago
Reply to  Sam

That may be true for the fabric strands themselves, but not for the way the fabric is weaved together.

Shafty
Shafty
5 years ago
Reply to  Matt

What does that mean? “How it’s weaved together”? You mean, like fabric?! They even say it’s 4 plies that are laminated together. There are some perforations in the photos, but it doesn’t look anything like a breathable material, and in my experience Dyneema isn’t meant to breathe. Look at the only 2 other use cases they quote for your biggest clues…PARACHUTES AND SAILS.

Eli
Eli
5 years ago
Reply to  Shafty

Space between the strands. If its 4 ply it doesn’t have to be a tight weave if the bonding makes up for it

Greg
Greg
5 years ago
Reply to  Sam

Pretty sure there’s Dyneema fabric, which is strands woven together and incorporating a flat, non-permeable sheet. But this is without the sheet, so it’s like a knit textile. I think.

Dave
Dave
5 years ago

Blah, Blah, Blah is right. Overpriced (could care less about that), made in China, and every Specialized dealer will tell you how great they are and Specialized makes the best stuff in the world. Blah, Blah, Blah. Plus these look cheap.

Give me my Sidi any day. My feet love me for it. Even after a 75 – 80 mile ride my feet feel good. Made well. Made to last. Made in Italy by people that love what they do.

JBikes
JBikes
5 years ago
Reply to  Dave

After 8 years of hard use, including a very high speed crash which left “melt” marks, on my Sidi’s, they are starting to show their age. Given that performance, I am really hard pressed to get another brand.

Guess I’ll have to give up those wins with my heavy, yet robust shoes…

David Rosenthal
David Rosenthal
5 years ago
Reply to  Dave

Great except Sidi makes super narrow lasts and mega sizes have too much volume. My S Works 6s have close to 30,000 miles on them and several crashes and still look as well as feel like new.

Collin
Collin
5 years ago
Reply to  Dave

Agreed. Sidi’s last forever. I have 5 seasons on a pair of wires and they still work great. Its almost a bad thing. I bought a pair that matched my team’s pink kit way back when. Well that team fizzeled and now I have these shoes that won’t die that clash with everything.

Caveman
Caveman
5 years ago

(deleted)

Greg
Greg
5 years ago

Specialized makes awesome shoes. I have little doubt that these will live up to the hype. From an industry perspective, I applaud them for pushing the boundaries of what can be done, what’s “worth it”, and how much can be charged.
They’re not a perfect company, by any means, but they sure try very, very hard.

SoCo
SoCo
5 years ago

When specialized first introduced their first road shoe with a boa dial I ran out and bought a pair of those shiny silver kicks. But the lack of ability to adjust forefoot vs upper foot tension that comes from only having one dial had me hating those things in no time. That lower forefoot adjustment is critical IMO.

matt
matt
5 years ago

I’m just going to go on record as saying Dyneema really isn’t durable at all. It’s light, and it has good tensile strength, but it wears fast. I wouldn’t expect this shoe to be any different, but that’s not why people buy stuff like this.

Smitty Wilson
5 years ago

Not sure if you all know this, but Dyneema is actually the scientific name for Unicorn hair. That’s right, these shoes were made out of the mane of a freggin unicorn! There’s only three still in existence and they’re all in an underground bunker only accessible for those who have won the big ring challenge in Morgan Hill.

Kidding aside it’s a great feat for Specialized to pull this off, and specifically, the footwear developer who’s actually responsible for making this happen. Mad props my man!

Also props for charging $200 more for a version that actually costs less to make. From a sourcing stance boa dials are way more expensive than laces aren’t they? Or is the cost of constructing the eyelets for the laces more costly than threading the smaller boa retention system?

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