Quoc M3 Pro

The Quoc M3 Pro shoes are described by the brand as being ‘the ultimate race-ready companion’, which suggests an emphasis on light weight and stiffness over durability or comfort. In practice, Quoc has found a great blend between all four of these traits and more, making the M3 Pro a really lovely shoe to wear day to day as well as in situations where every gram, second, and watt count.

Quoc is a boutique British shoe brand that has been producing ‘the finest road, city, and gravel shoes’ since its birth in 2009. The company’s founder, Quoc Pham, states the inspiration for the brand as a coming together of his passions for fashion and sport, and a quick glance at its whole product line makes the fashion-focused design cues clear.

The new M3 Pro is the follow-up to the M3 Air, a more ventilated shoe that was released last year, and marked a clear step forwards for Quoc into the high-performance market. With ambassadors like Geraint Thomas and Florian Vermeersch, these shoes are designed to perform at the highest level of road cycling.

The M3 Pros come in a plush-feeling Quoc-branded canvas bag and include three sets of arch supports for the insoles: low, medium (which come fitted in the shoes), and high. The insoles are, according to Quoc, “Vibration-dampening…with anatomic pressure relief”, though I have to say they felt like a fairly basic set of foam insoles. That isn’t to say I had any issues with them, more that they aren’t anything particularly fancy. The adjustable arch support is a nice touch, though, and something I’d like to see more of.

The markings on the UD carbon sole seemed to be printed accurately, which made fitting cleats quite easy. Some brands aren’t particularly diligent when printing these guide lines on their shoes, but I cross-referenced the measurements here with a ruler and found them to be consistent between the left and right shoe.

The sole is plenty stiff enough that I didn’t notice any flex or issues when riding hard or sprinting out of the saddle.

They also have replaceable heel pads, which attach with a single small crosshead screw under the heel, but I did find that they worked themselves loose every few rides and needed retightening.

Uppers

The TPU upper is relatively thin, and the stitching across the forefoot has welding across it to keep it from wearing and perhaps stop water ingress. The heel cup has a small amount of padding, but on the whole I would describe the feel of these shoes as quite slim and minimalist, with a tongueless wraparound upper instead of a separate tongue to improve fit and offer a more “locked in” feeling.

When I put the shoes on for the first time, this tongueless design felt a little odd. My usual shoes are a pair of S-Works Torch Laces, which have a big, soft tongue that offers plenty of padding against the tension of the laces over the top of my foot. With the Quocs, the part of the upper that takes the place of the tongue is very thin and has a harder edge to it. On the first few rides, I did find this dug into the top of my foot at the base of my ankle, but admittedly only on one side. After a few hours in the saddle, I stopped noticing it, so I’d put it down more to getting used to the shoes than a fault.

The upper also wipes clean very easily, so I’m confident the fresh white aesthetic is going to stick around.

Ventilation isn’t an issue on these shoes. The TPU upper has a leathery feel to it, and includes some small ventilation holes, and there’s a vent in the carbon sole under the big toe, so I found breathability absolutely fine.

Closure dials

The closure dials are micro-adjustable for adding tension but not for reducing it; an anti-clockwise turn simply releases the whole cable and you have to start again. This is fine once you get used to it, but if you overtighten the shoes on the go you’ll need to completely release them before tightening them up again to your preferred tension. I’d like to see two-way micro-adjustable dials on these shoes to help really nail the fit on the move.

Talking of fit, I don’t have particularly wide feet, but I’ve seen reviews of the M3 Airs – which share the same sole and last – suggesting they come in a touch narrow; so if you have wider feet these may not work for you. Also, be aware that the shoes are available in EU38-47, but no half sizes.

Weight

At 516g for the size 44 (Quoc quotes 246g per shoe in a size 42), these are a lightweight pair of shoes. The M3 Airs we tested last year, albeit in a size 43, weighed 480g, so there’s an imperceptible weight penalty over the more ventilated version.

Compared with other flagship shoes from a few different brands, that 516g weight remains very competitive, albeit not remarkable. There are plenty heavier out there, like Trek’s RSL Knit Road Cycling Shoes which come in at 642g in a size 45, or Northwave’s Veloce Extreme – 650g in a 44.5.

Shimano’s very popular S-Phyre RC9 and Specialized’s S-Works Torch shoes came in at 497g and 502g respectively in smaller 42 and 41.5 sizes, so it’s likely an EU44 in the same models would come out close to the weight of the Quocs.

You can go lighter – Bont’s Vaypor and DMT’s KR SL Knit shoes take a good chunk of weight off, the Bonts in particular weighing just 346g (although in a 37, so again, likely over 400g in a size 44).

Value

While £320 isn’t cheap, it’s in line with what you’d pay for a flagship shoe from most brands, and slightly undercuts a lot of them. Those Trek RSL Knits, for example, retail at a penny under £400, the Northwaves at £359.99, and the S-Works Torches and the latest S-Phyres are both around £350.

Cheaper options are available, of course – if you wanted to spend a lot less you could look at the excellent Van Rysel Road Cycling Shoe RCR at just £179.99, up a tenner since Josh reviewed them last year.

For more options check out our best road cycling shoes buyer’s guide.

Conclusion

On the whole, I really liked the Quoc M3 Pros. Once I got over the initial “getting used to new shoes” phase, and the little bit of rubbing I experienced wore off, they were really nice to ride day to day. In races and harder rides I felt locked in and supported across the whole of the foot. I would like to have seen two-way micro-adjustable dials, but once you get used to the one-way system it’s not too much faff to retighten them. The price is in line with other brands’ flagship shoes, and I really do think these are a great looking pair of kicks. It’s cool to see a genuine rival to the bigger brands come out of the UK.

Verdict

High-performance shoes that blend comfort, performance and aesthetics

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