Shimano R321 and R171 shoes
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The R321 is Shimano's new flagship, custom fit shoe
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Madison have expanded their saddle range to include the flagship Road Race Carbon
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Madison's Road Race Light collection has been developed with the Madison-Genesis team
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Four helmets make up Lazer's British Cycling helmet line-up
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This M:Part Di2 junction box mount is a neat way to tidy up the front end of your bike
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Continental have expanded their wide tyre offering
Shimano R321 and R171 shoes
iceBike is the in-house trade show of Milton Keynes-based Madison, UK distributor for some of the biggest brands in cycling, including one of the biggest of all – Shimano.
While we don’t have any new Shimano components to show you – yet – the Japanese firm has a new top-end shoe, the R321. The flagship shoe was first unveiled at Eurobike, at the back-end of 2014, but is now available. Besides, with spring/summer and so the ‘need’ for fancy footwear fast-approaching, it’s a useful time to recap on the R321 and its more affordable sibling.
The R321 supercedes the R320 and features a ‘Surround’ upper made from a Teijin Avail 100 ultra-fine synthetic leather, with the instep panel wrapping itself over the tongue to give the shoe an aero aesthetic. Shimano say the stretch-resistant material combines low weight, durability and ‘excellent shape-retention’. It’s also heat-moldable, along with the the insole, so you should achieve a glove-like custom fit.
The shoe uses an offset buckle in combination with two velcro straps. The upper is also perforated and has mesh windows to ensure there’s plenty of ventilation. Down below there’s a full carbon fibre sole, given a maximum rating of 12 on Shimano’s stiffness scale.
The R321 is available black or white, in sizes 36 to 48, with half sizes available from 37 to 47, and wide fit options are also offered. Claimed weight for a size 40 is 245g, which is suitably light. As for the price? £299.99.
If you balk at spending £300 on a pair of cycling shoes, but are intrigued by the R321’s features, then the R171 is its baby brother at £149.99. At first glance it looks very similar to the R321 as it uses the same ‘Surround’ upper design. It’s not heat-moldable, so you can’t customise the fit, and has a more basic insole design, but the sole itself is still made from carbon fibre, though it drops from 12 to ten in the stiffness stakes. If you’re worried about weight the R171 is actually lighter than the R321 at 243g per size 40 shoe.
It’s available in black or white, in sizes 38 to 50, with half sizes from 38 to 47 and, once again, a ‘wide’ fit option. Shimano wasn’t the only brand to show fresh footwear at iceBike, with Pearl Izumi unveiling a new shoe. Click on to the next page to continue our iceBike product round-up.
