Specialized launches Audax cycling shoes

There's a lot of Randoneers who ride bikes 200,300,400k that cost less than those shoes!

I've a pair of old real leather Spesh MTB shoes which I bought second hand and have lasted best part 10 000 miles of Audax (sorry that should read 16 000 km )
I tried their 2-bolt touring model and the synthetic 'leather' is just horrid. Instant sweaty feet, despite the perforations and the mesh panels.
Will I be trying these? Can you guess?

£250!? Think I'll stick with my all season, black Shimano XC50N MTB-style - that I can't fault, and which can be had for <£70...

A guy on an Audax wearing 3-bolt cleats in called a roadie.

As mentioned above, an ideal Audax shoe is an XC mtb shoe... With or without carbon sole. Light, adjustable, stiff and walkable.

These shoes are about as Audax-specific as a pair of Zipp 808's.

+1 for all that

+1 for the Shimano RT82

Happy with my Specialized sport mtb shoes which I have used in various audaxes and 4,000+ miles on the Tour Divide route over a couple of trips. They are a third of the price as well.

Like the idea of the wider fit as I have to wear a size 10 to get the width for my size 9 feet. Look good in an understated way but have to agree with all other criticisms. IE why no tread and why not 2 bolt. Are these really gravel grinder shoes being marketed in Europe as Audax/Randonee models?

specialized just trying to cash in on another market ....

Audax specific shoes already exist. They're called SPD sandals. And they don't cost two hundred and fifty spondulix.

The Giro touring shoes look pretty nice at less than half the price of these.

This just seems to be going after the Rapha kangaroo skin or whatever crowd. The Shimano RT82 touring shoes are £90 or less - an 'Audax' shoe body with SPD fixings with the added ability to be able to walk as well.

http://road.cc/content/review/90820-shimano-rt82-spd-shoe

I have the previous model, the RT81, and they've been fantastic. I had some Specialized SPD's which gave me hot spots after 30 or so miles - no problems at all with these.

My very basic Specialized shoes accept SPDs or Look (I've used them for both), so surprised higher end ones don't as well.

My very basic Specialized shoes accept SPDs or Look (I've used them for both), so surprised higher end ones don't as well.

The plain appearance is superb.

Really good looking shoe for club rides/sportives, feel an mtb sole might be best for there intended route, very tempting for the type of riding I do.

Why not match a roadie-styled upper with an MTB sole?
These just look like very understated road shoes with no features that mark them out as "Audax-specific".

Echo comment above,but £250...thats a very non audax price and i cant see these exactly flying of the shelves.

i have a set of BG road shoes and they are excellent ,good fit,good price and a choice of two or three bolt fixing..massive fail spech !

To echo what everyone else is saying, why no 2 bolt. Really specialized. how are these any different to bg comps, or any other road shoe. Really disappointed in what could be a perfect shoe.

I think I will stick with black MTB shoes for now.

Lanes covered in cow muck and mud do not go well with pristine white.

The first gen boa shoes worked with 2 bolt - they are brilliant. Completely fail to understand why they dropped them in favour of 3 bolt. Missing out on a whole market.

It is a misunderstanding of the 2 bolt system on road shoes to say they allow easier walking. On road shoes it is still the cleat you are walking on, there is no surrounding sole as there is in MTB shoes.

Yeah they didn't really research that much did they? Generally most riders wear MTB shoes due to the recessed cleats. You can get extremely light and stiff MTB shoes, so not much of an issue is it? As above, those with hot foot generally use 3 bolt road cleats. I have never thought of needing a softer shoe for Audax. A more waterproof one, yes :0

As you often spend time in cafes that normal people also use you end up using shoes that don't destroy the carpet - because it's polite and you don't want to ruin the organisers rep with the cafe owners. That's also why some organisers insist on mudguards - as well as rider etiquette it also stops you putting your muddy arse all over the cafe furniture.

Having said that I love the bodyfit stuff and the boa enclosure is also great.

Still, it's a sign that Audax might be getting more popular - please add your 'it's not what it was' comment below

Simply putting 2-bolt holes in the sole doesn't solve the problem.

The advantage of 2-bolt SPD cleats is that they can be recessed into the sole so that when you're walking, it's the rubber sole that touches the ground, not the cleat.

The disadvantage is that the pedal/shoe contact area tends to be smaller which can cause hotspots on the sole of the foot. On a 600km ride, that matters. When I was riding Audax, I switched to a 3-bolt shoe for this reason, and put up with the walking problems that ensued.

Shame, a 2 bolt version of these would be perfect for me, except they seem a bit expensive given the sole is less stiff and (presumably) doesn't need to be carbon?

A lightweight 2 bolt road friendly shoe that doesn't cost the earth. Is that so hard? I had a pair of Spesh BG Elites that were ideal, except they stopped making them (according to the shoe shop salesman they were 'lethal' as they had no tread for walking).

Presumably they will now threaten to sue anyone using the word "Audax".

A nice idea, but when shimano can produce shoes with both 3 and 2 bolt plates underneath, why didn't specialized?