Ultimate Lake Road Cycling Shoe Guide! WATCH BEFORE YOU BUY!

With so many different models and fit options available it can be difficult to work out which Lake shoes are right for you. In this video we are attempting to break down the Lake Cycling road shoe range and how to pick the ones that are right for you!

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so you’re looking at getting a pair of Lake shoes well here’s our guide on which shoe you should choose and [Music] why so Lake do a massive range of road shoes in different price points and with different features but the most important feature of a lake shoe is the fit and you have to think of Lake shoes a little bit differently from every other brand of shoe out there because Lake do different shapes of shoe which not all brands do so the first thing you’ve got to think of with lake shoes is which fit suits me best and that will narrow down your selection really quickly lake cycling shoes come in three main different shapes which we call lasts we’ve got the sport last competition last and race last um the lasts are denoted by the numbers of the shoe so we have a CX1 something we have CX2 something and we have CX3 something there is also a CX4 something which is a CX43 which is their custom moldable uh shoe which does fit in the race last category but it is out on its own because it is custom moldable let’s start by talking about the shape differences between the three lasts so starting at this end we’ve got our competition last shoes and these are the widest fitting shoes out of all of the the lake range they do come in two different widths regular and wide but bear in mind that not all regulars and not all wides will fit the same because you’ve got different shapes of shoe and this is where Lake sizing chart is really useful because it lays out all of the width measurements in millimeters so you can see exactly what the difference is between all three of these lasts so these are the widest fitting shoes they also have a much squarer toe box than the raceel last for example which is a lot narrower the sport last is very similar to the competition last in that it still has a slightly squarer toe box and it is still quite wide fitting just note that these are slightly narrower fitting than these but again they’re just very s very similar in terms of shape the race last are out on their own because they’ve got a a narrower fitting profile and a narrower toe box they do come in three different widths though they come in narrow regular and wide so again just remember that not all regular and wides are going to be the same regular and wides as these cuz they’re a different shape but you do have three different options with these shoes whereas with these you have two so if that’s just blown your mind already then this is kind of the good and the bad thing about Lake Shoes is that there is so much variation and so many differences between each models that it does sort of upset the apple cart in the way that other shoe brands are are made and created and marketed and sized but the really good thing about this is that you have so many different options for so many different shapes of feet that you can just find the perfect shoe that fits your foot shape exactly so it is quite hard to just without knowing much about lake shoes to just pick one off the shelf or pick one online and choose the perfect shoe so this is one of the reasons why it’s so much better to go and see someone about buying a Lake shoe to get this advice and get this clarification around the differences between all the shoes because without knowing this it’s really unlikely that you’ll pick the perfect shoe and again the differences between Lake and other brands is that not all models are the same not all the you know a more expensive shoe isn’t going to fit you better necessarily than a cheaper shoe it’s just the shape that fits you best so now you’ve chosen a shape of shoe it’s time to pick a model within that last so we’re going to start with the sport last shoes and there is only one main model of road shoe within the sport last these are a CX1 series shoe remember so these are a CX1 177 for example um so yeah these are the main road shoe unless you want a winter shoe or winter boot then these are the ones to choose it is important to note that these shoes only come in full EU sizes so they don’t do half sizes whereas with with every other shoe or model you can get a half size so if you need a half size shoe in terms of length then you’ll want to go for something in the competition last which we’ll talk about in a minute but if these do fit you in the full sizes then these are a good option to go with again they’re a nylon sole they only have one boa dial so it’s to try and keep it to the at a cheaper price point but the fit of the shoe is is like I say the most important bit if these shoes fit you in terms of shape and size and width then these are going to be a really good option and again these come in a regular and a wide fit so you’ve got two different options of of width to suit your foot another thing I quickly forgot to mention with these shoes is that this is one of the only Lake shoes that doesn’t have an adjustable cleat track so the cleat holes are actually screwed into fixed positions on the sole of the shoe rather than being slidable forward and back so a little bit less cleat adjustment with the [Music] CX177 next we’ll move on to the competition last um so this shape of shoe is the widest fitting shoe that lake do and again lake shoes are typically wider than every other model or brand of shoe so uh a wide fitting shoe in a lake is a very wide fitting shoe um in the bike studio these are a really popular shape these do seem to fit a lot of people really really well because again a lot of other brands and models don’t offer a shoe this wide so for people who are struggling to find a wide fitting shoe these are good options to go with so within this last or within this range we have three main road shoes and a fourth one which we’ll come to at the end um we’ve got the CX 219 so these are the CX2 series model cx 219 we’ve got a CX239 and we’ve got a CX242 so these are all carbon sold shoes so I think having a stiff carbon sold shoe is a really good benefit for spreading pressure from the pedal and from the cleat over a large surface area under your foot keeps things nice and comfortable under there rather than getting hot spots so I do think a carbon sole is a good upgrade from a nylon sold shoe there are a few other main differences between these shoes some of which are very obvious and some of which are a bit more subtle um the main difference between the CX 219 and the others is that you only get one bow dial with the 219 rather than having one on the toe box as well and it’s a slightly lower volume shoe um just with the way it closes compared to the others and the lack of a second B dial makes the volume a little bit less adjustable the CX239 is somewhat similar to the CX219 just with a few subtle differences um you’ve got two bar dials on here it’s a slightly lighter weight shoe you’ve got sort of thinner material around here rather than the squishier 219 um and the way that it closes means there’s there’s a lot more volume control in the shoe so if I just open this shoe right out you can see how the wrapound closure of this shoe means that the instep of the outsole of the shoe actually comes up and over the top of your foot and then closes down in that way rather than coming in from the two sides like it does with the 219 so it just means that it can suit the volume of your foot and be a bit more adjustable than the 219 the third shoe that we’ll talk about in the CX2 series range the competition last is the CX242 now these look a bit different to every other shoe but for very good reason and again these are really quite popular with people who have had problems with feet or trying to get their feet comfortable and finding a shoe to fit there’s a couple of main features that you don’t get with the other shoes in the CX2 series range we’ve got an elasticated mesh as the as the first layer of this shoe so whatever your foot shape the mesh will sort of stretch and mold to your foot almost and on top of that mesh you’ve got these panels so each of these panels can fit independently of each other so if you’ve got any bony bits or lumpy bits on the outsides of your feet then these panels will just sit nicely and accommodate those those lumpy bits so that they’re not causing pressure and rubbing on the sides of your feet and if you’ve not already guessed these shoes were originally designed for people with bunyions and again they work really really well with with people with bunions who’ve had massive problems trying to find cycling shoe that doesn’t irritate the bunion um because you can have that panel sitting wider than everything else and still close the rest of the shoe perfectly around your foot without compromising that bunion they can of course fit people without bunions you don’t have to have a bunion for this to be a really comfortable shoe um they are actually really useful for people who are cycle touring or doing massive endurance and things like that or cycling in hot weather because of the the elasticated mesh if your feet swell or change as you as you go along these ultra endurance rides then the shoe will just change with your foot which is such a cool feature and make sure that your feet are comfy for very long periods of time they’re also very well ventilated so again in hot weather um if you want to keep your feet cool these are a really good shoe one of the other features that you don’t get with these two shoes in the competition last range is the moldable heel cup so these can actually go in the oven and you can shape the heel to fit as snugly as possible around the heel of your foot so this helps with heel retention so that when you’re pedaling the sole of your foot and the heel is kept nicely in the shoe without having to lift up and down um and it’s again just another really nice feature that means that you can fully adapt this shoe to the shape of your foot finally it’s worth mentioning that in the competition last you also have a CX21C shoe which is a lace up model of shoe um so if you like the look of laces or just prefer laces to boa dials or want to save a bit of weight then these are a really nice option going to insert a little picture or video here so you can have a look at those um the shape of the shoe is exactly the same as with all competition last shoes it just has the lace up um fitting so that you can have that as an option as well next we’ll move on to the CX3 series shoes which is the race last so uh these are a CX302 and we’ve also got a CX 333 here now these shoes are like we said before a narrower fitting shape they also have a narrower toe box but they do come in three different widths they come in narrow regular and wide um and that is different to these other two lasts these two lasts don’t do a narrow so if you do have particularly narrow feet then these are a good option to look at again remember that Lakes range and Lakes sizing is generally a bit wider than every other shoe brand so a narrow fitting shoe in a in a lake is probably akin or similar to other brands regular fitting shoes so the main differences between these two shoes uh we’ve got the Boa dial positioning so these bow dials are slightly tighter together up the top of the foot and then these are much more spread out much wider um positioning that might may or may not be a good thing for you um it kind of depends where the bony bits on the top of your feet are and where they sit um sometimes you might have a bony bit on the top of exactly where this bow sits in which case you might want to go for this um or vice versa so there’s no right or wrong there they’re just different options um the CX302 is a much lighter weight shoe it’s much more of a climbing shoe which you know if you’re a weight weenie watching this then that’s something that you might want to consider um they’re both carbon sold another difference is the material and the ventilation used within these shoes again because this is a lighter shoe than the 333 there’s a bit more venting going on which again is great for hot weather and the material itself is a bit lighter whereas this is a full leather shoe which we’ll talk about more later the other big difference between the 302 and the 333 is volume now volume if you don’t know volume is the the sort of height of the shoe really so the space that you’ve got between the sole and the top of the closure um the 302 is a much smaller volume shoe than the 333 again going back to what we said earlier about the closure these do close from the left and the right whereas the 333 does have this closure that goes up and over the foot from the instep so that helps give the 333 a lot more of a bigger volume so if you do have quite tall feet or high volume feet then you’ll probably want to choose the 333 over the 302 from a fit point of view so going back to the material of the shoe as I said the 333 is a full kangaroo leather shoe and this leather does soften with time so it does become really really supple which is such a nice feature because they almost just become like a pair of slippers the way that the leather softens around your foot so if there are any areas where that need to soften then it naturally will pretty quickly just with some um some riding time um so the leather is a really nice feature and then the other extra feature you’ve got on this shoe versus the 302 is a moldable heel cup again just to help with that heel retention the 302 on the other hand if you are looking for something a bit more ventilated a bit cooler a bit lighter weight then this is a really good option and as you can see this is my cycling shoe of choice so there are the differences between all of the main lake road shoes they all come in different color options and some of them even have different material options such as the 238 which is available in leather or chlorino microfiber they call it which is a bit of a lighter weight thinner material so there are loads of different customization options with these you can also get split sizing you can also get custom colors so there’s some really really nice options with these you can sort of design and color to your heart’s content with c certain models so if you do have any other questions about some of the shoes or if there’s anything I’ve missed that you want to know leave us a comment down below or drop us a message at ukikefit.com and if you want to come and see us to get sized up for a set of Lake Shoes we do a free sizing appointment where you can come in we’ll have a look at your feet we’ll measure you up we’ll talk through the options and talk through the range and make sure we get you the perfect fitting shoe