Specialized

S-Works Recon Lace Shoe

Super lightweight and comfortable shoe

Familiarity:

I've used it once or twice and have initial impressions

I was riding Fiziks with the boa for a few years and needed a new shoe. I read the reviews on these shoes calling them anklebiters. After my first ride I did not experience this issue. I'm 6'1 and have high arches but for me, the fit was perfect. For roughly half price, pretty solid to get an S works shoe with laces and carbon soles. I like a stiffer shoe like this and they are still walkable for the occasional hike a bike. Great shoe. Would recommend.

Specialized Recon S-Works Lace Shoe

Size Bought:

44

I purchased the Specialized Recon S-Works Lace shoe in size 44. This shoe has a big toe box is lightweight and has a stiff sole! I am very pleased with this shoe!

Do not buy these shoes

I love Specialized MTB shoes for the body geometry fit. My current ones feel great and are good for walking off the bike for the flex toe feature, but are a pain in the a$s to get on and off because the boa closure do not open wide enough, so I bought these shoes because they had laces at a decent price point. Now I know why the price is discounted. The shoes are stiff and the uppers are too high at the ankles causing extreme discomfort even after putting 2 heel lifts in each side to relieve the discomfort. Never rode them and they are probably going into the trash. I don't know why these shoes are being sold.

Stiff sole, good for wider feet

Familiarity:

I've used it several times

Size Bought:

44

Really happy with these shoes! stiffness of the sole is great for putting power down, but there's juuuust enough flex for limited off the bike!

Great shoe betrayed by a design flaw…

Familiarity:

I returned this product before using it

A potentially great shoe betrayed by the same issue others are reporting regarding the inside height of the shoe being too tall and rigid around the ankle for these to be wearable. I’ve owned many other Specialized shoes for road & mountain in the past and have never experienced this problem before. I wanted to believe the problem was unique to individual users, but alas I have to agree with others that there is an unfortunate design flaw that ruins an otherwise great shoe. Returned…

Ankle killer for me, too

Familiarity:

I returned this product before using it

Size Bought:

41

Height:

5' 8"

I thought "Maybe my ankles are different - after all, most of these reviews seem like they are from men. Maybe, since I'm female, these shoes won't hurt my ankle." I should have listened to all of the other reviewers. The left shoe hits me too high on the outside of my left ankle bone. The shoe hurt the moment I tried it on. I'm returning it. Otherwise, the shoes fit me very well and are so light. I really wanted them to work for me.

Ankle killer

Familiarity:

I returned this product before using it

Size Bought:

48

LIke many others have reported, the outside of the shoe dig into my ankle. If you have ever experienced this with other shoes, just save yourself the trouble and don't order them. Seem nice. Super stiff. Very light. But, they're not going to work for me. I will say, the insole included in these is garbage. It looks like molded styrofoam. Factor in throwing those away and buying something more substantial into your costs. Maybe a little much volume in the toebox for me, but the heelcup (if it hadn't been too tall) is very grippy, so I suspect that would have been fine, maybe even pleasant for colder days and thicker socks.

Great shoe. . . but

Familiarity:

I've used it several times

Size Bought:

40

Height:

5' 6"

Weight:

141

I love lace shoes and was excited for the Recon. They definitely met all of my expectations and I was truly happy with them until I tried to switch out the toe studs for cyclocross. That's when my trouble began. I struggled to remove the studs that came with the shoes and when I tried to install toe spikes I found that the fixing bolt in the sole that's supposed to keep the threads in place would not hold the threads. The more I tried the worse it got until I simply had to give up on ever using these shoes for the challenging conditions of cyclocross. So, buy them if you never need toe spikes.

S-Works Recon Lace Shoe - Gray/Black

Familiarity:

I've used it several times

Size Bought:

38

Weight:

141

I recently built my gravel bike, and I love it more than my road bike. However, I was using Speedplay clips, and dirty got into my clips. It was so hard to unclip, and one time it got to the point that I could not unclip and fell. Anyways, I decided that I would buy some gravel shoes and mtn Look clips. So I installed them, and the shoes are fantastic. I feel as I'm riding S-Works road shoes. I only use S-Works, and the laces are excellent. I thought the shoes would feel loose due to having laces. But the material S-works use is stiff and does not feel cheap like other shoes. I have been using these shoes, and I love how it's easy to clean after a gravel ride and feel great on the feet during gravel climbs. I would not buy any different kinds of brand shoes besides S-Works. I love the white gravel shoes. I wish they would make that design in road shoes because it would look unique.

Had to return them

Familiarity:

I returned this product before using it

I wear a 43-44 in various cycling shoes and the 43 felt great regarding length. The width in the toe box was more generous than Shimano but as not generous as Giro. I consider my foot to be wide and these shoes felt fine. My biggest complaint and the reason I had to return them was that they dug into my ankle on the outside of the shoe in a really bad way. I watched a review on YouTube of these shoes and the guy named this same issue as the only fault with the shoe but it's a big fault in my opinion since the shoe is not cut low enough around the outside of the ankle. The shoe material in this area is very stiff with little padding. I compared them to my Shimano XC7 which don't have this issue as well as Giro Ventana which don't either. I liked everything about this shoe but couldn't keep it.