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Giro Espada E70 women's road shoes Giro Espada E70 women's road shoes Giro Espada E70 women's road shoes Giro Espada E70 women's road shoes Giro Espada E70 women's road shoes Giro Espada E70 women's road shoes
Giro Espada E70 womens road shoes

Giro Espada E70 women's road shoes

7
by Lara Dunn
UPDATED Thu, Oct 15, 2015 04:24

First Published May 14, 2015

0
£159.00

VERDICT:

7
10
Lightweight, stiff, well-performing shoes but visually uninspiring & somewhat tricky to stop heel lift
Weight: 
511g
Contact: 
www.zyro.co.uk
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I've tested past incarnations of Giro's Espada road shoes and loved them, so I was interested to see how things had developed three years down the line.

Find Giro Espada E70 women's road shoes here
Find a Giro dealer here

There are many more women's high end road shoes available now than there were then, so the new Espada E70s are up against some stiff – ahem - competition.

Straight out of the box, my first impressions weren't that favourable, with the matt white colour not really being to my personal taste and giving the shoe quite a blocky look.

The shoe is available in black/silver and also hi viz yellow, but neither of these is available in the UK apparently.

Colour aside, these are well-featured shoes, clearly aimed at demanding riders looking for high performance.

The uppers are perforated microfibre for breathability and fasten with two Velcro straps and a ratchet. The footbeds are well-shaped and they come with additional arch support for fine tuning of fit. The outsole is made from Easton EC70 carbon with replaceable heel pads, and they are extremely light.

Having worn the 2012 Espadas for pretty much every demanding ride I've done, on the grounds that I found them superbly comfortable, I was slightly dismayed to find that although the main body of the shoe felt very similar – wrapping around the foot like a glove without squeezing or gaps - the rear heel cup on the E70s felt broader. Even cinched right in with the ratchet, there was movement at the heel for me.

Fit is an incredibly personal thing, but the relatively low down position of the ratchet makes it quite tricky to secure the heel easily without reducing circulation and squeezing the tendons at the front of the foot.

They were light and stiff on the bike, with excellent power transfer into the pedal strokes, while remaining comfortable for long periods of time, particularly the insoles even without fine-tuning, but I did find my heel prone to lifting.

The sizing is a shade on the small side, but half sizes are available if you shop around, which is useful.

At this price, the Espada E70s are competing with the higher end of performance women's road shoes, and as such come out as an accessible and effective choice, but don't necessarily compare as favourably as they once would have.

There's a lot more choice out there now and these are looking a little uninspired in style and that heel lift issue isn't ideal.

Verdict

Lightweight, stiff, well-performing shoes but visually uninspiring & somewhat tricky to stop heel lift

road.cc test report

Make and model: Giro Espada E70 women's road shoes

Size tested: White, Size 39

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Giro say

"The Espada™ E70 is a revelation, combining timeless cycling style with the latest materials to redefine performance at this price. It starts with a perforated Evofiber™ upper that conforms to your foot, and our acclaimed SuperNatural Fit footbed with adjustable arch support to help optimize your comfort and pedaling efficiency. Then we add a robust Easton® EC70™ carbon composite outsole with replaceable heel pads to get the most out of your pedal stroke, without sacrificing long-term durability."

Not sure I'd define the looks as "timeless"

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

UPPER

High-Quality, Breathable Microfiber, Strong and Secure Ratcheting Buckle Closure (Replaceable), Offset Strap 'D-Ring' at Mid-Foot

OUTSOLE

Easton® EC70 Carbon Composite, Replaceable Heel Pad

FOOTBED

SuperNatural Fit Kit with Adjustable Arch Support, Aegis® Anti-Microbial Treatment

Available in sizes EU36 - EU42

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10

Well-made from good quality materials but the odd scruffy thread finish here and there.

Replaceable heel caps is a nice touch.

Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10

Very stiff and light and gave good power transfer but would have been even better if my heel had lifted with each stroke.

Rate the product for durability:
 
10/10

Very durable materials and the heel is replaceable meaning the shoe can continue to be worn with no damage to the carbon outsole.

Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
9/10

Very light indeed.

Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
 
8/10

Extremely comfortable apart from that heel lift problem.

The insole is particularly comfortable and the option of fine tuning the instep with inserts that come with the shoes is great.

Rate the product for value:
 
8/10

At the pricier end, but it's a lightweight, carbon soled high performance shoe and thanks to the replaceable heels, should last for years.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Very well.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Replaceable heel outsoles, optional insole inserts, shaped insoles as supplied in shoes.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Matt white colour, lift at heel.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes.

Would you consider buying the product? Possibly. Would prefer the other colours though.

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes.

Anything further to say about the product in conclusion?

Great performance and good long ride comfort in a lightweight shoe, but looks a little dated and performance could be improved with a more effectively secured heel.

Overall rating: 7/10

About the tester

Age: 42  Height: 1.65m  Weight: 73kg

I usually ride: Boardman Hybrid Fi  My best bike is: Specialized Ruby Elite

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, touring, sportives, general fitness riding, mtb,

 

Giro Espada E70 women's road shoes
Giro Espada E70
Giro 2015
Giro
Lara Dunn

Lara has been riding bikes for longer than she'd care to admit, and writing about them nearly as long. Since 2009 she has been working as part of the road.cc review team whilst championing women's cycling on the side, most notably via two years as editor of the, sadly now defunct, UK's first and only women's cycling mag, erm, Women's Cycling. 

Believing fervently that cycling will save the world, she wishes that more people would just ride a bike and be pleasant to each other. 

She will ride anything with two wheels, occasionally likes to go fast, definitely likes to go far and is always up for a bit of exploring somewhere new and exciting. 

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