Specialized 2FO Cliplite Lace review
Lace-up mountain bike shoe for summer riding
Specialized’s Cliplite range of shoes has long been popular with our testers, however this time I’m not 100 percent convinced laces do the rest of the shoe justice.
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Ignoring that for now, the shoe is really light, and feels thus on the foot. The sole is also a great compromise between stiffness and feel, with a cleat channel that extends really far back for excellent control on technical terrain.
There’s not masses of off-the-bike grip, but enough that you’re not skating around like Bambi, and should you miss engaging with the pedal, you’ll get away with sticking your foot on top.
I found the upper around the ankle a little stiff, especially to start, and I’d like a bit more ankle protection too. As such, I found it rubbed a bit, but eventually started to soften up. The insole uses Specialized’s Body Geometry shaping, which I found to be very comfortable all day.
The laces are controversial though, especially with winter testing. Getting the shoe open enough to slip my feet in means a lot of threading laces through holes, and to get it tight enough over the top of the foot for effective pedalling is a bit of a hassle. They also get caked in mud because there’s no mud flap to protect them.
Authors
Tom has been mountain biking since the age of 13, with a love of fast and flowing trails, or steep, slow and tech. He spends most of his time riding trail and enduro bikes, but will happily dip his toes into the murky world of XC and gravel.
