Cambion for me also and felt great from first ride
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I have no issues walking in my XC9’s(stiffer and lighter than XC7’s)
My wife has never complained about walking in her XC7’s
I haven’t done much walking in my XC5’s but they feel good off the bike. Cleat feels very well recessed whereas I have a pair of Shimano mtb spds where the cleat still is a tiny bit exposed.
I haven’t tried the XC7, but I have the XC9, which are very similar. I’ve also had an older XC61 and the newer RX8.
The XC7, XC9, and RX8 are ‘infinitely stiff’ type shoes. These shoes are stupid stiff all around. On the XC shoes, you walk by moving your feet around in the shoes, as they allow your heel to move a bit. The RX8 has lug more central; you walk by tipping the shoe at the lugs. The RX8 is easier to talk in on smooth surfaces.
The older XC61 was the best case, infinitely stiff to the cleat and flexible north of the cleat. This should be the model for all XC/CX/Gravel shoes.
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Where do you see that? I see partial carbon - i read this to mean just less carbon. I don’t see any material change near the cleat on the bottom side.
Anyway, the XC7 ugly, so that alone is reason to scratch it off the list.
I saw that same thing on the XC9, but also couldn’t’ find one for the 7. I found an older one for true partial carbon with just an obvious plate on the midsole. What gets me is that it has different icons on their page than the XC5 which has better wording around the partial carbon plate.
Anyway… it doesn’t matter. toe flex is good. Full length infinite stiffness bad.
If I look at the road shoes, which don’t have the thread layer, the wording in the text and on the shoe sole tracks closer to full end-end carbon. I think the difference is that the 7 uses a more epoxy heavy, shorter fiber, injection molded sole, while the 9s use true carbon layups.
Carbon insert RC5 | SHIMANO BIKE-EU
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