I have no experience with BOAs but I do love my Giro Empires. Like a few others have said I have never had the need to adjustment mid-ride. Heck I never even did that when I had velcro shoes. Just not something I’m particular about I guess. Once tied they don’t loosen at all.
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your defence of the laced shoe makes me want to ask: Are you on the Giro Empire marketing team? 
this review of torch vs giro implies that giros are narrower…contrary to what you say. I last tried an s works shoe at s Works 6 and anecdotally, they were enormous compared to sidis and giro empires. maybe they are different now.
I like my pair of empires and also have never needed to adjust them. They are super comfortable shoes. However, for the purpose of the thread “Road/Crit racing - lace vs boa shoes” the adjustability during race is a negative if the need arose.
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Lol, I wish I could get paid to wear shoes.
Yea, this is just my personal experience. Maybe the shape of my foot just happens to fit the Giros better. And they’re not perfect, hence why I was buying new shoes. I used the SW7 for two rides before having to return them because they were too painful, even with loosening them multiple times on the ride. Like I said, I think it’s the knit upper more than the laces. The Giros upper is softer and gives a lot more. The S-Works are a lot stiffer and do not stretch, which may be a benefit to some people. So maybe the knit Giros are just more forgiving.
With that said, if you ask me which shoes I’m wearing for most rides? SW Torch. Because they look damn sexy in all white and I’m vain. Unless it’s rainy because I want to keep them clean.
In my experience, Giros are way narrower than S-Works, they are horrible in that regard. I can’t even get my foot half-way in (even when I size up). However, I need to get wide shoes anyway. My S-Works 7 wide have ample room in the toe box. Obviously, my Bont Riot+ MTB are even better in that regard.
At least in Japan, the selection of wide shoes has decreased. Specialized no longer sells its wide MTB shoes here (it was just their top-end model anyway).
I hear you on the white shoes and rain. It has been one of the rainiest 12 months on record here. Everything that was once white is now grey. 
Laces all the way. I just went from laces to boa and am 100% going back to laces for my next pair.
The interesting thing to me is that I feel the need to tighten my boas all the time and never felt like I needed to tighten my laces. Once tied, they stayed tight. When I wear boas I feel like I am constantly having to tighten my shoes (my shoes with boas are expensive specialized shoes). So to me, the question of how to tighten laces during a race is an artifact of wearing boas. Maybe I got a bad pair of boas, but it is telling that the question about tightening shoes arose when I never thought of that before boas.
I also think having to tighten shoes with laces - if others have had that experience - comes down to the laces. Laces are cheap enough to replace.
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I’m sure there’s variation from brand to brand and shoe to shoe, but for me, the Giro Empire SLX for road and the VR90 for dirt are significantly more comfortable than any other type I’ve used, and that’s more important than anything.
Once in a great while, on a long hot ride, the laces will get a little loose. Not the knot, just the stretch. It makes me wish I could tighten them on the fly, but it’s rare, and it doesn’t outweigh the comfort advantage.
I’ve never needed to use a double knot with those laces and they never come untied. I suspect it’s becuase a cycling foot is so much more static than a walking one, and the shoe/laces/knot aren’t getting stressed in the same way.
I’m sure a BOA shoe is excellent for many riders, but it’s laces for me. Tomorrow, if Giro announced they were discontinuing the Empire, I’d buy two pairs.
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I used specialized’s lace up shoe (blanking on the name, their discontinued version of the giro) for a few years. I could get it tight enough that it wouldn’t slip. The lace cover/sleeve helped with that also. I liked them but eventually the eyelet ripped out on one of the shoes; it was still usable for a century that day but rather annoying.
Back to using boa’s at the moment but I’d consider using a lace up w/ sleeve in the future.
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Holy thread revival!
For folks with Giro Prolight (Tech Lace) shoes, did you know you can toss them in the washing machine?
No joke. My white techlace shoes were getting a bit dingy. I removed out the insoles, left the cleats fitted 
, and sprayed them Spray-n-Wash (a pre-wash product here in the USA). Then, I popped 'em into a mesh bag and tossed into the washing machine with some normal laundry detergent. Hot water, high spin, short cycle – 15 minutes.
You could knock me over with a feather. They look amazing. Laces are nice and white, the dingy tongue is perfectly clean, and they dried in only an hour or two.
I still have a pair of these shoes - they are the S Works Sub 6. I still use them for track racing and time trials. I wish they still did them. Best shoes I’ve ever owned. I know it’s a matter of personal preference but I just can’t get on with Boas and as someone said up thread I also seem to be constantly tightening them up. Never felt the need to with the lace ups.
Yeah, but nothing gets into the mind of your opponents better then leaning over and untying then re-tying your shoes right before the final sprint
I mean, I’ve never it done it. But I feel like if I saw someone do it I would be so distracted watching them that their teammate would take off on the other side without me noticing
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I have the VR90 and they are super comfortable. I love the laces and feel of this shoe. The problem is I’m on warranty number 3 with the bottom tread falling off on the side of the cleat.
Ive raced in both, and I prefer my lace ups for racing crits and TTs. Probably mainly because I don’t wear them normally, so they kind of became my “race” shoes, and I feel racier wearing them. Getting the “race kit” on makes a world of difference in mentality IMO
They would save a few watts in aero for sure over 2 boas hanging out in the wind on each shoe, and I have never felt the need to adjust a shoe mid race unless I didn’t get it right in the first place, which I don’t recall ever happening on the lace ups. Guess just a bit more care needed when putting the shoes on to make sure the fit is right before you start
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I’ve been almost two years in S-works 7 lace ups. I probably won’t ever go back to Boas. The ability to customize the fit is important to me, and I have my fit dialed. I get a consistent tie and love the shoes. Never felt a need to adjust on a ride… maybe once in probably 500 rides in them, never during a race.
Prior I had the Giro Tech Lace, which were partial lace up and a Boa at the top. Strongly prefer the microadjustability of the lace ups and once I have it dialed, it’s soooo much better than Boas for me.
I have a very narrow heel cup and a relatively spread/wide forefoot from years of running, so finding any kind of shoe that fits on the heel without smashing my toe box is hard. The Giros were good… the SWorks 7 are perfect for me, and the laces work so much better for me than Boas… it’s not even close.
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I have never ever had this issue with laces loosening on a ride. Maybe it’s the particular laces Specialized uses, I don’t know, but they don’t loosen, slide, etc. Best shoes I’ve ever owned.
I had many times where I would need to loosen my boas on old shoes. Rarely I would tighten or re-tighten. I’ve never felt any need to do so in laces, I rarely think about my shoes at all, the way it should be.
I have never once needed to do that. Frankly I think people do it because they think it’s cool to do before an attack or something. Your feet usually swell as you ride anyway, so if anything you would probably need to loosen them, LOL.
Same experience for me. The Giros were good in the heel but too narrow in the toe box. S-Works 7 lace ups have been perfect for me.
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