Gaerne Carbon G Chrono Speedplay road shoes

Gaerne Carbon G Chrono Speedplay road shoes are very stiff and light shoes with a dedicated Speedplay carbon sole.

They use the same microfibre upper as the standard G Chrono shoes but swap the regular carbon sole for one drilled specifically for Speedplay cleats. Most cleats and soles use three bolts, but Speedplay use four bolts to secure the cleat to the sole. Normally this means you have to use a plastic adapter, which adds to the stack height, but this dedicated sole solves that.

You do have to use a Speedplay carbon adapter though, a thin sliver of metal to protect the carbon. You have to buy this separately for £12; it isn't supplied with the shoes or Speedplay cleats.

Installation of the cleats is easy, much easier than the regular Speedplay cleat installation as you have four not seven bolts to fit. There are loads of measurement markers to help you line up the cleats on both shoes easily, and there's a wide range of fore and aft adjustment. Because of the reduced stack height, the saddle height does need to be lowered by a few millimetres.

A pair of BOA dials on each shoe makes it really quick and easy to tighten them up. Having two dials spreads the pressure across the top of the foot well, and you can independently adjust the tightness in the middle and top of the foot. To release, you simply pull the BOA dial up and the steel wire instantly loosens.

Unlike the latest BOA dials which allow you to micro-adjust the retention, these are earlier generation dials that only allow you to tighten with a clockwise rotation. That's a pain if you want to back the dial off one click; you have to pop the dial, releasing all the tension, and start over. In reality it's a small bugbear, but on £300 shoes I want perfection.

Italian shoes can often come up narrow, but I found these very comparable to the Shimano shoes, and an old pair of Specialized S-Works shoes. The shoes fit the feet well, with good support in all areas. The rigid heel cup secures the foot in place at the back of the shoe and keeps heel lift to an absolute minimum.

The microfibre upper is punctuated with plenty of vents, something I've been appreciating during this heat wave, but on the hottest days I would have liked larger vents around the toe box. There are no vents in the carbon sole, something which could also help contribute on extremely hot days. In typical British summer weather they're a happy place for your feet even on six hour rides.

As John wrote in his review of the regular G Chrono shoes, it's a real shame there's no custom moulding option. Many manufacturers are now offering various levels of custom fit at this price, and while the fit of the shoes is mostly pretty good, I would really like to see custom fit for £300.

Verdict

Very stiff shoe perfect for Speedplay users with a dedicated four-bolt sole, but the lack of custom fit at this price could be a deal breaker.