Archive for February, 2008

Final Review: Sette Elite Carbon road shoe

Review by Jeff Rossini from www.bikecommuters.com

A while back, Maggally over at pricepoint.com sent me a pair of Sette Elite Carbon road shoes. I have had a couple of months to test these shoes out in a day-to-day commuting environment, and some recreational road riding, and here is my verdict:

the Fit
The Sette Elite is a very comfortable shoe. The fit runs narrow like many road shoes, but the neoprene-esque tongue and “molded-heel cup” offer a snug, but not oppressive fit. The two velcro straps and upper ratcheting strap allow you to get a really customized fit to your foot without compromising the performance of the shoe. This is only the second pair of road bike shoes I have worn, the first being a simple 3-velcro strap shoe, and I must say that the ratchet strap is a really cool feature. I was a tad bit clumsy with it the first few times, but I got used to the ratchet very quickly. The Sette Elite ratchet strap has easy one-hand access which makes tightening or loosening the shoe a breeze.

the Durability
I used this shoe as my every day commuter for two months. While I was working on my commuter bike, I rode my Trek road bike to and from work every day – not the ideal commuting set-up to me, but it was the best I could do. Anyway, my road bike is set-up with Look style pedals so I needed a shoe that could accommodate Look cleats. Not only does the Sette Elite work with Look pedals, but it can also use SPD cleats. That’s pretty cool I think.

Anyway, these shoes were put through frequent starts and stops, walking across concrete parking lots and hallways. As you can see in the picture above, the wear placed on the bottom of the shoes was quite minimal – a sign of good durability to me. I was concerned about slipping on the carpet or smooth concrete I had to walk across between the door to my building and the locker rooms, but there are some neat padded tabs on the toe and heel of the shoe. These prevent the slick carbon surface from making direct contact with the shoe.

One drawback of these tabs is that the one in the front can end up being quite close to the front of the cleat, making it a bit difficult to position the cleat into the pedal. This tended to be a hassle with the number of stop lights I encounter on my commute, but gets easier with practice.

The straps still feel as sturdy as the day I first put the shoes on, so I am confident that the closure system will stand the test of time quite well – a nice perk given the fate of my first pair of road shoes.

the Performance
A lot of roadies swear by carbon. Maybe it’s because I haven’t made my fortune yet and cannot normally afford lots of carbon for my bikes and gear, but I have never understood the need for a material that is exponentially more expensive compared to the performance advantages it provides. For a bike commuter, carbon-soled shoes are by no means necessary. In my daily riding, I did not feel that the stiffer shoe sole provided any greater efficiency in my pedal stroke. I used this shoe on a few recreational rides too, and still did not feel that I noticed any performance gains over my old shoes.

However, if you are in the market to buy a new pair of road shoes because the most important velcro strap broke off of your old pair, then I would consider the Sette Elite. For $110 at pricepoint.com, this shoe is not too much more expensive than a regular non-carbon-soled shoe, which makes it a potentially practical buy for the weekend warriors out there. The perceived durability of this shoe seems that it would be worth the extra cash – especially if you don’t have to worry about being stranded with an impotent shoe as you leave to ride home. Ok, yes, I had a bad experience with my old shoes and I am still bitter…oh well.

Again, all-in-all I was impressed and pleased with the Sette Elite Carbon shoe. It won’t get you to the Alp d’Huez next summer, but it certainly gives you a great fit and solid durability, and a decent entry-level price for a higher-performance shoe.

If you are curious about Sette as a product-line, check out their website at www.setteusa.com. They seem to have a solid understanding of recreational cycling, with a mission of bringing high-quality products to the consumer for the lowest cost possible. As with most smaller companies, you don’t end up paying extra money for a label or expensive marketing in Bicycling magazine.

2008 City of Angels Ride

Picture from the COAFunride website, yes, that’s me on the left hand side.

The City of Angels ride is one of my favorite rides. I get to ride through the streets of Los Angeles with a motorcade! Last year I joined the slow group, it was a little too slow for me, this year I’m planning on joining the ‘advanced’ group. It looks like KHS bicycles will be sponsoring the ride again, they gave away 2 or 3 bikes last year. I highly recommend this ride for intermediate riders, advanced riders will find it a little boring and beginner riders will find it harder than the LA Marathon.

Click here for more information on the City of Angels Ride.