Suplest Shoes: How Good Are They, Really?

Buy Suplest HERE! https://glorycycles.com/shoes/?_bc_fsnf=1&brand=473

I’ve very enviously eyed Suplest shoes since the day they started hitting my social media feeds. I can’t really remember when that was, but I think it was around the same time MAAP apparel came out and they’d partnered up for what appeared to be a co-branded road shoe. Like the clothing, the shoes I saw were minimal, elegant, and had all the right colors in all the right places.

So, when I found out that my old friends at Glory Cycles are the only online retailer for Suplest in the US I sent them a note and asked if they’d help me source a pair to review. Suplest graciously agreed, and if I’m honest, I was kinda giddy. I mean, after literally coveting these things for years I was FINALLY going to get my hands on...or my feet in...a pair. And then every morning for like a week, the first thing I did was check my email for the tracking number. That week turned into two, and around the middle of week three I shot the guys in Switzerland a note and they said all shipping was on indefinite hold due to Covid. I was crushed, but I set a reminder for 90 days and moved on.

In the interim, as you know, our world got turned upside down and I found myself riding my spd-equipped bikes more and more, so I asked if they’d be up for sending me a pair of the CrossCountry shoes so that I could experience the glory of Suplest on ALL my bikes, not just the road. They liked that idea, too.

Long story short, the shipping and production restrictions were lifted and when they arrived I unpacked them with white gloves and took photos at every angle. They were gorgeous, and I started breaking them in the next morning on my mountain bike. The first thing I noticed was the overall stiffness of the shoe - holy cow - the carbon soles on these rival my Sidi and Fizik road shoes, and the overall support and stiffness of the uppers was mindbending as well.

And they accomplished all of this without sacrificing an ounce of comfort. The heel cup is nicely padded and has the grippy sharkskin or cat-tongue fabric to keep your heel from sliding. And let’s not breeze past that feature because it’s meaningful - especially on cross country shoes. You see, carbon soles don’t flex like a running shoe when you walk on them. That means the second your heel leaves the ground you’re turning that sole into a lever that pulls the heel of the shoe DOWNWARD. And also unlike running shoes, when you hit the backside of your pedal stroke, you’re pulling UP and in a sprint you might pull hard enough to pop your heel out of the shoe.

And that’s where the fabric comes in - when you run your finger across it, it’s smooth in one direction and abrasive the other - just like a shark’s fine scales. If you’ve never owned a pair of bike shoes with this stuff, you should. It’s one of my favorite cycling related inventions in the last 10 years. In addition to the near-perfect heel cup, suplest uses the industry standard BOA for closures but underneath they’ve placed their CARBONSHIELD layer to help evenly disperse the tension from the boa.

Suplest also employs their SUP Traction rubber on the outsole, and this rubber is tuned to fit the specific application of the shoe. In this case, it’s firm enough to dig into the trail when you’re walking, but soft and grippy enough to keep you from eating it when you’re walking across your garage floor. It’s a nice balance, and a final nice touch is the insole - I can’t tell you how many absolutely terrible insoles I’ve found in high end shoes (I’m looking at you Sidi), and these are just right.

So, in many respects, these met my expectations. But in three respects, they missed the mark pretty badly. First: and this one’s really on me - bike shoes should not be made with just ONE Boa. It never works, no matter how clever you get underneath it. I was able to find the right setting, but only after the shoes broke in and it ALWAYS took a lot of fiddling with the wires to get it...almost...just right. And, speaking of braking in - it took a LONG time for these things break in, and the part of the upper at the top of my arch was PAINFULLY uncomfortable for the first 300 miles and they’re still a little sharp when I just SLIGHTLY overtighten them.

I’ll wear them every day when it cools off because they’re pretty solid, and I’d say that while suplest probably didn’t intend to, they’ve made a road-bike-stiff gravel-specific shoe that can stand in the gap between your mountain bike clogs and your road bike slippers. The closest thing I can compare them to is my Shimano SPhyre mtb shoes, which are kind of a gold standard. The Shimanos are a 10/10 straight out of the box, and for summer riding I give them a 7. I think a second boa, cooler weather, and a lighter color - would get them up to 9 and if they continue to break in the way they have then they’ll be my #1 go-to this winter.