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Just in: New Wire shoes from Sidi

New high Wire shoe from Sidi

Sidi have just sent us a pair of their new top-end Wire shoes, we saw them at last year’s Eurobike and went a bit unnecessary, and we asked for them for Christmas, which has come a little bit late. We’re not complaining though.

The Italian cobblers have always chosen to use a variety of shoe securing combinations on their shoes over the years, mixing velcro, ratchet straps and cables but as the name might suggest the Wires are Sidi’s first shoe to use a length of wire as their sole securing system. Using a length of line is nothing new for the Treviso company, they first used the idea in the 1960s on a pair of ski boots and in the late eighties they patented it for use in a cycling shoe. Tell that to all the shoe companies that have been touting bits of cable as their newest greatest thing over the last few years.

The top Techno-3 buckle tightens the Soft Instep Closure System, a wide, anatomically curved strap with a soft, thermo-formed EVA pad that distributes pressure evenly over the instep area and it’s adjustable from both sides to achieve the perfect central position over the top of the foot. The second ratchet takes care of the lower half of the shoe, lift and rotate to tighten and pinch the side buttons to release, allowing quick and easy on-the-fly adjustment of the low-friction filament.

 

At the aft of the shoe is Sidi’s Heel Security System (HSS), an adjustable band that tightens the Wire to the back of your foot to keep your heel positively and comfortably planted in the shoe. Sidi say heel security allows you to ratchet up the straps of your shoes less fiercely - giving you more comfort with more security.

The Vent Carbon sole is the same as last year’s Ergo 3 shoe but has had some weight shaved off it for the 2013 Wire, lightweight and stiff, would you expect anything less, the sole is handmade from T700 carbon fiber in a 3k weave pattern orientated to maximize stiffness while allowing for a small degree of controlled flex in the toe area. The sole has integrated vents and air channels for heat dissipation and air flow for those two warm days in the summer, and the Sidi Comfort-Fit insoles have matching perforations for an unimpeded breeze to the foot. The Wire sole features a standard 3-hole drilling, printed with a 10 mm lateral and fore/aft cleat alignment scale as well as the Look Memory Eyelet for easy cleat replacement, the Sidi Wire is also available with a Speedplay specific 4-hole sole. To improve walkability on marble café floors the sole has replaceable polyurethane heel and toe pads.

The upper is made from Vernice Microfibre, or shiny Lorica if you will, a synthetic leather that’s soft, supple, water-repellent, quick-drying and breathable, and it allows dirt to slide away thanks to its smooth surface, because you don’t want to get these disco slippers mucky. The White/White colour combo we have here is indeed very very shiny and something you’d want to keep very very clean, although these are going to be under overshoes and socks for the foreseeable future by the looks of things. The Wire is available in 4 other colour combinations including an achingly on-trend hi-viz yellow, and they’re also available with a perforated “Air” upper for those two nice days in the Summer. Most of the little parts on the Wire are replaceable and there’s a 2 yr warranty on those that aren’t.

The Sidi Wires weigh 582g a pair (Size 41) and will part you with 375 of your pounds, which isn’t the most expensive pair of cycling shoes we’ve seen, but only just.

www.bigbear.co.uk

Jo Burt has spent the majority of his life riding bikes, drawing bikes and writing about bikes. When he's not scribbling pictures for the whole gamut of cycling media he writes words about them for road.cc and when he's not doing either of those he's pedaling. Then in whatever spare minutes there are in between he's agonizing over getting his socks, cycling cap and bar-tape to coordinate just so. And is quietly disappointed that yours don't He rides and races road bikes a bit, cyclo-cross bikes a lot and mountainbikes a fair bit too. Would rather be up a mountain.

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8 comments

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Nick T | 11 years ago
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Cordwainer most accurately is anyone who works with leather, generally shoes but also bags etc. and it's not a word that's actually used in general English. No one in the footwear industry would refer to themselves as a Cordwainer, the only meaningful occurance of the word is in the name of the historic Cordwainers Technical College for leather workers.

In French the term Cordonnier refers generally to a shoe or leather repairer also, while Bottier is reserved for shoemakers (the Greek for boot is Papoutis, probably the root for the word boot. There is no Greek or Latin for shoe). This is probably to do with the fact that shoes are a relatively recent development in footwear, only for the past hundred years have the traditional boots (to protect legs from the elements while horse riding) been cut below the ankle to create a shoe and court shoes or slippers were the alternative footwear before this. We took the word "shoe" from Germanic sources, specifically from the shodding of horses hooves with a "schuh".

So there we have it, maximum pedant mode - the correct term is of, course, Bootmaker. I know all this because I am one  4

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VecchioJo | 11 years ago
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if we're going to be pedantic a cordwainer is someone who makes luxury shoes out of the finest leather (from "cordwain" the leather produced in Córdoba, Spain), these Sidis aren't leather
 1

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sorebones | 11 years ago
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I love my Ergo 3's, but they are relatively weighty old beasts compared to the likes of Specialized S-Works. For the amount of adjustability though, they are unbeatable. That heel adjuster is perfect for chicken-heeled chaps like me!

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_Karlos_ | 11 years ago
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Lovely shoes though  1

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jackh | 11 years ago
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@_Karlos_

What a load of old cobblers.

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adscrim | 11 years ago
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Should that not read 'who repairs shoes'  3

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_Karlos_ | 11 years ago
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I take issue with the following:-

"The Italian cobblers have always chosen to use a variety of shoe securing combinations on their shoes over the years"

A cobbler is one whom repairs shoes; the correct terminology for a shoe maker is, in actual fact, a 'cordwainer'.

Please rectify this with immediate effect.

Also, apologies, I am very bored and in exceedingly pedantic mood...  3

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Nick T | 11 years ago
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Do want, if only for the heel strap.

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