Cafe du Cycliste Road Shoes review - stylish and stiff, but really quite narrow

Cafe du Cycliste is a French company conceived on the Cote d'Azur in 2009. Their brand is centered around exploration by bike, be that on road or off-road. 

They have a wide range of on-bike and off-bike products -including items such as cycling specific button shirts to combine style and function - and this year they’ve stepped into producing cycling footwear. How does their first foray stack up against the best cycling shoes on the market? We slipped on a pair to find out...

Cafe du Cycliste Road Shoes: construction

The Cafe du Cycliste Road Shoes are built upon a lightweight unidirectional carbon sole to provide maximal stiffness and power transfer. The sole has rubber lugs on the front and rear to provide traction while walking and also protect that carbon sole. 

There are two vents integrated into the shoes, providing a degree of airflow underneath your feet. The cleats fit to the standard 3-bolt pattern on most road cycling shoes, but there is no fore-aft adjustment - although there is some medial and lateral adjustment for the bolts.

The upper starts from the sole with an abrasion protective surface to prevent any damage to the shoe in the event of scuffing them. Next up, is the microfibre upper which is easy to clean and includes perforations at the front and along the side of the shoes for heat dissipation. 

A 'fishgrid technology' heel is used to reduce your ankle slipping out of the shoe even during maximal efforts. Retention is done via lacing with 14 holes while an elastic loop that holds the laces in place to prevent them failing around when riding. Inside, there is a Solestar insole to provide full support for the feet and arch.

Cafe du Cycliste Road Shoes: the ride

One of the first things I noticed when putting these shoes on, was that unfortunately they are quite tight. Depsite the length matching up well to the size of my feet, the width around the front portion of the shoe is quite narrow and tapers uncomfortably for my toes. Beyond that, the upper itself is simply quite low volume, meaning the tops of my feet felt pinched as well.

I found when I removed the insole, they actually became a lot more comfortable in terms of initial fit. However, they then didn’t provide the arch support which I prefer, especially as the insole provided actually fits my foot very nicely for support. 

Lacing was super easy and I could adjust the tension quite easily to get an even pressure across my feet. I also appreciated the use of black laces. Although I love a white shoe - difficult though they are to keep them that way - white laces are just another level of fussy and discolour so much more quickly. Black laces, on the other hand, look a lot smarter for much longer.

In terms of the ride, I tried them out both with the insoles removed and with them in place. With the insoles removed, there was more room in the shoes for my feet - and after a bit of initial rubbing around the toes, the material seemed to loosen a bit and things became more comfortable. 

However, with no arch support, the inside of my ankle was being supported by the edge of the shoe, which became uncomfortable after 30 minutes or so. But with the insole back in place, there just wasn’t enough room for my feet.

Comparing them side by side with the Specialized S-Works Lace (my go-to shoe this year) they look a similar profile, albeit the S-Works are a tad wider at the toes and have got more volume up top. 

I think it’s likely down to the material on the Cafe du Cycliste shoes being a bit thicker than the S-Works, so internally there is less space. The laces are also closer together at the top, so there is less scope for widening the top volume of the shoe. As a result, most riding I did was without the insoles.

When it came to efforts, I was surprised how well the laces retained their tension, as they don’t appear to be non-stretch. In-the-saddle efforts and not super high or low cadence felt really good - as I often find with laces compared to BOAs. The sole was plenty stiff enough for all efforts. However for sprints, even the grippy heel texture wasn’t enough to stop my feet slipping around a bit.

I do think these are a good pair of shoes. They look great, the sole is really stiff, and the laces do their job very well. My only gripe is that they just don’t quite work for my feet, which is something I’ve had before with other high performance road shoes. If they were a bit wider and with more volume across the foot, they’d be a very good fitting pair of shoes for me. But if you have narrower feet with less volume, these will likely work well for you.

Cafe du Cycliste Road Shoes: value and conclusion

At $377.00 / £290.00 the Cafe du Cycliste Road Shoes sit right at the expected end for high end carbon road shoes that use laces rather than BOA dials. Similar competitors are the Specialized S-Works 7 Lace ($325.00 / £300.00 and 242g) and the Giro Empire SLX ($370.00 / £329.99 and 256g size 46). Both of these shoes are lighter and only marginally more expensive. I also know for a fact that the Specialized fit my feet better, and that Giro fit similarly to the Cafe du Cycliste. So there are, in value terms, fine. A little cheaper, but also a little heavier.

The Cafe du Cycliste Road Shoes are a solid first entry into cycling shoes for the brand. The performance of them is up there with other lace up shoes thanks to a super stuff sole and good lacing - plus they come in at a lower price point. However, the fit is certainly a narrow and lower volume one, so won’t suit wider feet. They are also not quite as lightweight as other top-end carbon lace up shoes.