I decided to go clipless a few weeks ago and whilst I was making a wiggle order, I decided on the spur of the moment to purchase a pair of DHB R1 Cycling shoes to go with my new Shimano PD M520 pedals.
These were definitely a bargain at $56.00 a pair, so i threw caution to the wind and purchased them, knowing that once I had ridden in them for a while and had a feel for them, I’d be better equipped to make an informed decision on a good quality pair as an upgrade.
My first impressions were good, the fit was good and the quality appeared better than I first expected. These shoes performed well over the first few weeks, the comfort and power was an awesome change compared to riding with clips and strap and I was quite content, and then THIS happened last night.
The cleats pulled out completely from the sole of the shoe whilst i was dismounting.
Needless to say, I’m not impressed and these have subsequently been sent back to wiggle for a refund.
I was well aware that these weren’t the most amazing quality shoes, so my expectations were definitely low, but a failure like this has fallen catastrophically short of my already low expectations.
Lesson learnt. So my advice, Buy quality, Buy Once
I had some of the dhb T1 mtb ones - same story. These lasted a bit longer though - almost a year. I thought they worked pretty well for such ugly shoes.
Thanks for the review ellepea. Do you think the failure of the shoe was partly a result of riding fixed – giving an increased reverse strain more likely to pull the cleat out of the shoe? (I’m assuming your usage was fixed?)
I was looking at these for use with my roadie. And, even if my purpose is not fixed, this review has informed my decision. Cheers.
I will add, my brother in law has a pair of dhb road shoes and loves them. They probably weren’t made to take the stresses of pulling mad, fixie skidz !
Diddy, Nexus, I’m sure that riding fixed was a slight factor in the shoes failing due to the extra stress etc, but the cleat was pulled out on a dismount and even though the tension in my pedals was pretty tight it shouldn’t have been able to rip the cleat right out the bottom of the shoe. The failure was probably more due to twisting force than anything, and especially with the sole material being plastic.
These shoes honestly felt fine up until the moment they came apart, I had no inkling that this was about to happen so i’m just glad that it didn’t happen when i was flying down a hill towards a red light.
Next shoes will definitely be something a lot beefier, I’ll be getting carbon soles for certain, just for peace of mind more than anything.
Also, going back to riding toe clips in vans after riding clipless… fail
I have a pair of Nike Lance MTB clipless shoes which I picked up on sale for 40 quid in London, back in 2008. Their carbon sole is totally bombproof and its rigidity is also really good for street riding. I used them commuting fixed and found them good for the most part. However I wouldn’t recommend them as I’ve had a few hairy moments with involuntary clip-outs when cranking or braking hard.
I would recommend either road-style clipless with their larger pedal plate, or Time Atacs which many people on the forum seem to rave about. The only road clipless I’ve personally used are Look Delta and Keos, they seem to be more comfortable on longer rides than my SPDs - supposedly because of their larger contact area. They feel more secure too. Also before I had used them I had thought they would be harder to clip into than double-sided SPDs, but this didn’t seem to be the case at all.
… I know that I’ve gone off on a bit of a tangent but I thought it was worth mentioning Road vs MTB cleat-choices when people think about shoe choices, when switching over from clips or those god-awful (FUGLY) powerstraps.:o
my friend just got these shoes but in orange/ white.
they look like something out of that new Tron movie.
i tried them on, fairly stiff…
i’ll warn him of what happened though
