Specialized BG Spirita Women's Road Shoe

The BG Spirita is Specialized's top end women's specific road shoe, with a fair few BG (Body Geometry) bells and whistles but the first thing that's surprising is how much further up in performance and price the men's options go. At this price, the BG Spirita's are competing with the majority of female specific shoes on the market however, with only a few manufacturers, such as Giro, Lake and Sidi committing to genuinely higher end female specific shoes.

These feature Specialized's Body Geometry fit, to help achieve optimum comfort and performance. A neutral BG footbed comes with the shoes as box standard, but can be upgraded to a footbed tuned to personal biomechanical requirements. For those with joint problems, it's worth considering getting a foot analysis done by a trained Specialized dealer, as these footbeds can make a difference in any cycling shoe.

The Spirita's are a fairly simple design, using 3 velcro straps to secure the fully synthetic shoe. It's a light shoe, with a decent rigid injection molded outsole and mesh panels in the uppers for ventilation, as well as vents in the outsole. It's available in love it or hate it white, with grey mesh panels and silver reflective accents. The outsoles are compatible with most types of road and MTB style cleats.

Fit is fairly average as far as width and volume goes, and they're also pretty true to size. My medium width feet found them to fit well, with no heel lift or looseness. On the bike, they allowed for responsive pedaling, with little feeling of loss of power, and yet remained comfortable, without the underfoot soreness I encountered with the BG Spirita Touring shoe. As road shoes, they're really not meant for walking in, and they really are very slippery and uncomfortable off the bike, but on it, they hold your foot nicely and give a firm platform to work from. More competitive riders, or those who like to adjust shoe tightness some time into the ride, may not like the lack of on-the-fly adjustment with the fastenings. It's trickier to tighten the Velcro straps while moving, than a ratchet for instance.

Price wise these are on a par with the majority of female specific road shoes available at the moment, and they're a safe bet for performance as well. Ultimately, I'd say it's down to personal choice as to whether you like the style and fit of these as to whether you choose them over one of the competition. Personally the BG fit tipped the balance in their favour for me.

Verdict

A lightweight and comfortable, stiff soled women's road shoe with a simple design.