WHAT’S HOT
TRIED AND TESTED
While pulling together the 2019 issue of this magazine, Paul Ingpen
put Ultima Performance Optimal Protein Shakes and Specialized S-Works
EXOS shoes to the test. Here’s how they stood up…
NEW NORMAL
Specialized S-Works EXOS shoes |
RRP R6 000 | www.specialized.com
As publishers of road cycling, mountain
biking and triathlon magazines, we get to
see many new velo-related products. We
also have a lot of bike-bedonered people
dropping by the office – and the Specialized
EXOS shoes have invoked more ‘jislaaik’
and ‘nooit man’ responses than any other
gadget, bike or part we’ve had on our desks
for a while. Why? Because they look like
normal shoes but are oh so different.
Since cycling is effectively a battle against
gravity, it’s a given that road bike riders want
to shave off every gram possible, especially
on moving parts like wheels and shoes.
Bike shoes have two jobs. One is to secure
riders to their pedals and cranks as tightly
as possible so they don’t lose a single Watt
in transfer. The other is to not hurt feet –
ever. When we first heard that Specialized
had made a 99g shoe, we assumed it
would compromise on padded comfort and
support. We didn’t see the lace-up version,
but we were stoked to road-test the much
hyped, single boa dial closing 150g version
(322g for my size 45 pair).
These new Specialized shoes are literally
like a strong sock that grabs you and
connects you to the stiff lightweight carbon
sole in critical places. The secret sauce in
the insanely thin, skin-like membrane upper
and softer toe box is a special blend of
Dyneema fibres. This is low-stretch, highly-
adaptive lightweight material, like the fibres
used for spacecraft parachutes. It’s
ridiculously light, yet strong enough
to make a performance shoe.
After 30 years of riding in shoes that
make our feet look uniformly shaped,
seeing the bumps of your toes
through the skin-like toe area took a
62 | TO U R
D E F R A NC E 2019
lot of getting used to. Knowing how radically
foot shapes vary, and how some riders even
cut holes in their shoes to allow a bunion or
hammer toe to breathe, more pliable shoe
uppers may well become the norm.
We tested the shoes in cool autumn
conditions but one would assume that
they were designed to counter ‘hot foot’,
which seasoned Double Century and gravel
riders will attest to being a killer of similar
proportions to cramping.
Whether this lightweight, almost see-
through fabric will lead to a shorter lifespan
remains to be seen. The same goes for the
super sleek lightweight carbon soles, which
feature draining mesh covering drilled-out
spaces that further lighten and ventilates the
shoes (there is very little sole protection for
those walking into stone-floor coffee shops).
Another stand-out feature is that we can
now shed grammage without sacrificing foot
hold. In the absence of a reinforced heel cup,
the shoe literally flattens and takes some
wiggling to get into at first. The tongue is
thicker and the boa lace pressure can be
micro tweaked to ensure consistent comfort
while riding. The bridge and heel counter,
which both feature the Dyneema material,
give you no sense of Watt-wasting stretch at
all. Some riders with skinny heels may miss
a traditional heel cup, but when I was taking
the shoes off, they grabbed onto my heel like
a bull terrier, and they proved a snug fit with
no rubbing. Placing the Boa dial centrally on
top of the shorter, thicker tongue delivers a
more even tension across the top of the foot
than on other one- dial shoes.
VERDICT: The Specialized S-Works
EXOS shoes are the lightest, most
comfortable shoes I’ve
ever worn – but I guess
you’d expect that for
six grand!
PROTEIN PERFORMANCE
Ultima Performance Optimal
Protein Shake (in chocolate,
vanilla or strawberry flavours)
| RRP R421 | www.ultima.co.za
When life is busy, pre-mixed tasty meal
replacements make sense. They’re not as
good as fresh veggies and roast chicken, but
definitely better than convenience foods.
Ultima Performance is a relatively new
SA producer of nutritionally-dense shakes
that contain a broad mix of vitamins and
nutrients. They have been developed by US-
based, ex-South African Masters swimmer
Tim Shead in order to help athletes meet
their nutritional needs by providing an
easily digestible blend of the vital proteins,
vitamins and minerals needed to maintain
health, strength, immune system function
and even bone health.
The tasty breakfast, pre-training/race
or bedtime shake does leave you feeling
satisfied – and had us waking up the next
morning feeling less fatigued or famished.
Two scoops with water/milk, or in our case
with oats and water instead of milk, makes
for a particularly tasty mineral-dense snack.
The chocolate flavour was our favourite, but
the vanilla and strawberry are tasty too.
There is peace of mind knowing
your snack includes zinc, magnesium,
potassium, amino acids, vitamins and folic
acid and that you’re not consuming dead
calories after pushing your body hard.