Northwave Veloce Extreme road shoe review - taking a ride in Filippo Ganna's shoes

The Veloce Extreme is Northwave’s new top-end road shoe. It’s already had a year on the Grand Tour upon Fillipo Ganna’s feet and now available to the non-world record riders amongst us. How will it compare to the rest of our best cycling shoes?

Construction

Aside from being Ganna’s footwear of choice, the headline features of the Veloce Extreme are the stiffness of its unidirectional sole (the stiffest carbon sole that Northwave has ever produced), its ‘high tail’ which wraps over the heel cup giving the shoe more stability, and its greater arch support.

Northwave's testing on a range of different cyclists showed the new sole produced an 'increase in foot stability', a whopping 15 per cent decrease in ‘effort’ as measured by Rate of Perceived Exertion, and an increase in power of four per cent (in comparison to its previous model).

The tongue is integrated into one side of the upper which allows it to wrap over the top of your foot for a snug fit. The two Northwave SLW3 dials tighten with rotation and loosen either with a single click or by lifting the tab for a full release. Final fit adjustment comes through the insoles, both 3mm and 5mm thickness are included.

Other features include small ventilation holes in the upper and vents in the sole. Heel pads are replaceable and the shoes come with their own neat bag.  

The shoes are available in either black or white in sizes EU 36 – 48.

The ride

The Veloce’s are expectedly a little stiff to get on but the two dial adjusters and a laterally offset tongue open up to give plenty of space. The tongue and innersole have just enough give in them to provide plenty of comfort and I haven’t experienced any areas of the shoes that have felt unduly firm against my foot or caused any hotspots. 

Northwave’s dial adjusters cinch up easily and the release catch makes toggling them tighter or looser really easy, even on the fly. I know some users aren’t so keen on needing to hold the catch open to fully release but I get on well with them and find the mechanism really intuitive.

Before you start riding, the stiffness of the shoe isn’t hugely noticeable - certainly it’s not to the detriment of fit or comfort or even the ability to walk to your bike. But once on the pedals, the support and direct feel of the shoe is incredible; the pedal, crank and bike just immediately responds. I’ve been wearing fairly high end shoes up to now, but the difference in sensation and reactivity is akin to spinning on my commuter compared to jumping on a stiff race bike.

But what’s impressed me most about the Veloce is that its incredible stiffness doesn’t seem to come at the cost of comfort; if it wasn’t for the bike feel I wouldn’t think I was wearing really stiff shoes. In fact, they’re probably the most comfortable shoes I’ve ridden in recently. It’s with this comfort in mind that Northwave’s claimed reduction in effort makes sense.

The value and conclusion

The price tag of the Veloces is hard to ignore, $429.00 / £359.99 is a lot of money. But they’re not the only shoes at this price point, Bont Vaypor S ($415.00 / £325.00), Specialized S-Works Ares ($484.00 / £390.00) and Sidi Wire 2 shoes ($499.99 / £390.00) are all similarly priced.  

If you’ve got this kind of money to spend on shoes, it would be well spent on the Veloces. They seamlessly combine understated style with performance and comfort. Despite their stiffness, they are incredibly comfortable and ones you can happily wear for all day social rides and crit races too.

Specification

• EU 36 - 48 with half sizes in 39 - 46 range
• Available in black or white
• Weight - 576g as tested (size 40)