Having been the last to get a major update since its introduction for 2015, Suplest’s trail oriented Off Road lineup has a new top level mountain biking shoe on the way for next season. It builds on some of the tech they’ve developed on their road and XC racing shoes, but does so keeping the price affordable enough for the regular trail rider.
On the road side they’ve also added more value, with a new carbon soled Edge3 Road – Performance shoe the drops back to a single Boa dial closure but trims more than a quarter of the price off of the to top Road-Pro shoe. Rounding out the rest of the 2017 line-up, Suplest reworks their naming scheme for more clarity, and updates colors on everything from track to trail….
The Off Road family of shoes from Suplest is supposed to transition more smoothly off the bike, and one of it hallmarks is surely that they are more walkable than the other ranges. While that had meant a bit of a loss in performance clipped into the pedals, the new Off Road-Pro aims to remedy that. The new shoe still has a design that should look good off the bike, but it gets an improved, and stiffened sole to better balance riding and the occasional hike-a-bike.
The new Off Road-Pro was designed to satisfy all-mountain trail riding demands that face most real-world mountain bikers. Built for durability, the shoe is constructed on top of a reinforced nylon shank so that it pedals like an XC shoe, but then wrapped in a fully lugged SUPtraction rubber outsole to deliver grip on wet and loose surfaces off the bike. The shoe’s fit is secured with a single Boa L6 dial and one velcro strap atop a conventional tongue layout.
The Off Road-Pro gets a water-resistant, thermowelded polyurethane Microfiber upper with a laser-perforated toe box and mesh sides for ventilation. It gets wrap-around toe and instep reinforcement to protect itself from trail and pedal impacts. The new top trail riding shoe will be available in an all black version, and this walnut brown/neon yellow for 200€.
The new Road-Performance shoes use the same Microfiber upper as the Pro shoe, and even the same premium IP-1 Boa closure, but to keep costs lower one Boa dial secures the mid foot, while a simple single velcro strap secures the forefoot. This provides a pretty solid fit with the wide overlapping Anatomic Wrap tongue, but does make the shoe a bit more difficult to take off. Due to the absence of a standard separate tongue, combined with the reinforced Carbon-Shield under the Boa wires, the Edge3 shoes need to be loosened almost all the way to get your foot out. With this Boa+strap layout, you actually have to completely open the velcro strap, as it provides solid closure of the shoe even mid way up the foot. It isn’t actually a problem with the setup, but more of an indication of how secure the fit of the shoe is.
The Road-performance shoe also includes a Ergo360 Carbon Comp carbon outsole, and the premium high-arch Solestar Footbed insole. While Suplest doesn’t elaborate on how it differs from the Pro shoe’s non-Comp version, it appears to use the same mold, get the same replaceable heel tread block, and the same ventilation. Presumably it uses lower tech carbon for either slightly heavier weight or slightly reduced stiffness. In any case the new shoe will sell for 250€ in either all white or all black, a 100€ less than the Pro version.
Seeing the two new shoes highlights the renaming that Suplest is doing across all disciplines vs. the previous and more ambiguous number designations. Now each riding discipline gets a Pro, Performance, and Sport series from top down, with the road adding in the premium Aero name for their recently development for track and time trial racing.
That 330€ Road-Aero shoe, officially premiered on the track at the Olympics for the Swiss team, will now com in white, black, or red options
A new hi-vis yellow/light gray version of the otherwise unchanged top 350€ Edge3 Road Pro shoe will also be available next year. The top 350€ Cross Country Pro shoes get a similar new high vis yellow color (while dropping the slightly more subtle gloss red & black 2016 version) that mixes in a dark gray for a more durable look.
All shoes will be available through select shops and online direct from Suplest starting in early spring 2017.
