Shimano RP9 SPD-SL shoe

Shimano's new RP9 shoes are a really excellent race and performance shoe that brings much of the quality and fit of the pro-level 300-series shoes down to a much more affordable level. It's less of a trickle down, more of a flood. They're great.

I've got a pair of Shimano R315 shoes from the Ultegra Di2 launch back in 2011 and they've been my favourite race and fast riding shoes ever since. At the time they were Shimano's top shoe, and since they've been superseded by the R320  and the R321, which are both excellent. They should be, at a penny under £300. The RP9s manage to bring pretty much everything that's good to the table, at not much more than half the price. That's some effort.

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The RP9s use a very similar carbon fibre sole to the top-end shoes, with Shimano rating its stiffness as 11/12 on their own scale. Certainly it's plenty stiff enough for racing, but it's not uncomfortable for it. That's got a lot to do with the insole, which is excellent, and also features an adjustable instep section with two different heights to tailor your support. The sole is drilled for a 3-bolt cleat only, and there's plenty of fore-aft adjustment available. There's a vent at the front and decent rubber bumpers that do a good job of keeping the sole free of scratches.

The upper, like Shimano's Pro race shoes, contains a thermoplastic that allows it to be moulded to your foot shape. The process is pretty straightforward: you just heat the shoe in an oven and then wear it while a vacuum bag applies pressure to it as it cools. I've tried the process in the past and it's very effective; I haven't moulded the RP9s because straight out of the box they the most comfortable race-oriented shoes I've tried. The toe box is slightly more generous than the R315 which makes them size up slightly bigger around the toes, which I was grateful for, and they're just the right height to be supportive over the whole foot without having to do them up very tight.

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The two Velcro straps are complemented by a buckle, which unusually is on the strap that pulls over the shoe, rather than attached to the outside of the shoe. Why? "It was developed with the R321 race shoe and launched for with the R321 and R171", Shimano told us. "It allows us to add the extra bolt hole at the bottom for increased adjustment based on mid foot volume and foot length. It also means we can tuck the strap away under the wrap around upper giving a cleaner look which is also more aerodynamic as tested via CFD [computational fluid dynamics]."

Certainly it's an easy to use system; you have to re-learn the release because the buckle isn't static but it's soon second nature. I moved the strap to the second bolt hole, further towards the back of the shoe, because I found it put the strap in a more comfortable position and also meant I didn't have to do it up quite as tight to make the shoe secure. It's good to have the option to move it, and the fact that the ratchet strap tucks under the buckle gives them a nice clean look when they're done up. There's no need to trim it if your buckle position is a long way round the shoe, like there might be on a standard buckle. The buckle is replaceable if you damage it; they're prone to taking a knock in a crash.

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I've used the the RP9s for racing, long leisure rides, chaingangs, commuting... pretty much everything. Functionally I'd say they're more or less indistinguishable from the R315s that I've spent three years using. They're light, comfortable, easy to fasten and adjust, and the fit is customisable if they don't feel right straight out of the box. My shiny white ones have remained shiny white; For the most part I've had them under overshoes but on the times I've got them mucky a quick wipe down has restored them to shininess, and on the one time they got *really* filthy a quick run through the washing machine left them good as new with no ill effects. If white isn't your thing, they do them in black too.

£174.99 isn't cheap for a pair of shoes, obviously. But these RP9s are very nearly as good as the 300-series shoes that get worn in the Tour de France and cost nearly twice as much. You can pick up a pair for less than £150: that doesn't make them a bargain exactly, but it's money well spent. If you're looking for a performance shoe with great comfort, they should definitely be on your list.

Verdict

Nearly as good as Shimano's pro-level shoes at not much more than half the price.