Bont Riot Buckle Road Shoe review

Bont’s Riot Buckle road shoes are a pair of oven-ready cycling shoes. Cycling shoes that you heat in the oven to mould to the shape of your feet have been around for years, but it’s usually the preserve of much more expensive footwear.

• Best road cycling shoes
• Best road pedals

First off, make sure you read the instructions: don’t pop these in your microwave and don’t exceed 20 minutes at 70°C. Most importantly, don’t put your feet into the hot shoes, use your hands to test them. Then you can mould the insoles to the shape of your feet, using the round end of a screwdriver to push down any parts causing you discomfort.

You can mould them an indefinite number of times if you don’t overcook them.

To achieve mouldability at this price does mean that you get a Velcro strap and a ratcheted strap to achieve the correct fit, rather than any dialled-up systems.

You also get a carbon-reinforced fibreglass sole rather than full carbon – but I found no undue flex from the Bonts’ familiar bath tub-shaped sole, which also has very clear markings for cleat placement plus decent heel and toe bumpers.

The straps are effective but can’t offer the same degree of micro-adjustability as dials, although its full-carbon cousins, the Riot+, are available with Boas for £150.

Bonts tend to come up fractionally small, so I went up a size, but they do have a wide and spacious toe box and are available in 19 sizes, from 36 to 50 (UK 4 to 14) with numerous half-sizes on the way.