Light, stiff, fit, made in Italy

Race day only

Excellent shoe for racing and less technical trails. If you need to walk a lot then this is not a shoe for you. I have previously had similar racing shoes from Shimano and Specialiced and Sidi's are definetly better. I use these also with my road bike and they work well also there.

Similar Products Used:

Racing shoes from Shimano

~ Board stiff, for direct power transfer
~ Replaceable sole lugs
~ Achilles brace(HSS) keeps heel inside shoes
~ SIDI pioneered wire retention, long before BOA existed
~ Easy to clean Lorica Vernice material breathes well
~ Excellent foot coverage and protection
~ Rubber toe cap simply works

~ No insole arch support
~ Car payment entry price
~ Lacks anti-slip midsole feature
~ Dutch clog feel, while walking

I'm coming from 2009 SIDI Dominator 5s which were comfy - but I did not like the minimalist, Ballerina slipper fit and weeds mucking-up the exposed Velcro. The worst part about buying new MTB shoes....is the shopping around/demo part. After all said and done, the Drako(Latin for Dragon) was the clear winner. It fit the best and shiny Vernice(Italian for Varnish) looks as sexy as patent leather tap shoes....lol.

Three inherent weaknesses was addressed by: a) Switched insole to Specialized BG black insole, as the paper-thin Comfort footbed lacked a good arch support; b) Installed 11mm short Cyclocross stainless toe spike, to counter the premature toe lug wear, under dry, rocky desert conditions I ride in; c) Had shoe cobbler glue a 1.8mm thin Vibram rubber sole pad to cover the exposed carbon midsole, so clipless pedal doesn't slip like it's on greased ice. These changes made ALL the difference in the world, as the shoe now performs and lasts close to the old Dominators now. I simply transformed a purpose-built XC race shoe into a lightweight Trail shoe. It was worth the extra $60 expense!

Similar Products Used:

~ Specialized S-Works XC
~ Giro Code VR70 Easton
~ Shimano SH-XC90
~ Bont Vaypor
~ Scott MTB Premium
~ Bontrager Rhythm
~ SIDI Dragon 4 SRS
~ Lake MX237
~ Northwave Discover Extreme XC
~ Gaerne Carbon G Kobra
~ Vittoria Ikon Offroad
~ Mavic Fury

Sidi quality
Carbon sole
Adjustability of shoe with ratchets

The price is a little hard to swallow, but.....
Would not want to hike too far in them due to stiffness, but realized that when I bought them.

Before I bought these shoes, I read numerous reviews about them and think the other two reviews on this site are a little harsh. I have a set of carbon Sidi road shoes and realized that the Sidi Drako shoes would be very stiff!
I will always buy Sidi shoes due to the quality of the shoe and also, I have a narrow foot and they always fit my foot well.
As I stated before, these shoes are really stiff and transfer the power to the pedal in a very efficient manner. I have noticed with the carbon sole that I have can feel what the bike is doing more (please do not think I am crazy) versus the older plastic soled Sidi shoes that I had.
I also enjoy the ratcheting mechanism to loosen or tighten the shoe-- trust me when I say that you can cut the blood off to your feel by making them too tight. And yes, I ride in all condition such as mud, fine dirt etc. and have not had any problems.
One thing that is a downer about these shoes is the overall price, but I got them at near cost and know that I will be riding them for the next 4 plus years, so can live with what I paid for them.
I would definitely recommend to others if they would swallow the cost...

Very stiff, comfortable, carbon sole dampens vibrations much better than plastic. Hand made, not in china. Very good looking.

Extremely fragile (this is a mountain shoe!?), very stupid design decisions left and right. Sometimes I wonder if and how they even tested this shoe.

I'm torn when it comes to the Drako. Its very stiff and transfers power well giving a connected feeling with the bike. Its also comfortable if you are lucky enough to guess your size right. But since the shoe only exists on the internet I don't really know how good of a fit I could have got. I am very disappointed with this shoe overall, but how much of that is my own fault is the question. It is very fragile, if you regularly ride trails with loose rocks and boulders, forget about it, get something else. The material is already wearing away on the outside toe on both shoes. I've used them for about 15 rides, hiking with them about 100 feet total, and clipped out maybe 6 times total. But hey, its a race shoe meant for stiffness and light weight, I guess its not supposed to be durable. If you ride in an area with any dust, do not buy the Drako. Both ratcheting mechanisms get contaminated with dirt after one ride, and after three or four rides you can barely get the mechanism to release. You have to fight with the stupid things just to get the shoe off. How they missed that one during testing is beyond me. The shoes interfere with something on both my bikes, I have average sized feet; 10.5 U.S. On one bike the plastic inner tail of the upper strap hits the crank arm on every revolution. On my other bike the bulky plastic adjuster on the back hits my derailuer cable and chain stay on most revolutions. This bike is an Epic which would likely be the target type of rider for a shoe like this. So maybe if you ride just hard pack with no dust, never clip out, and happen to have a bike that fits this shoe, you could perhaps enjoy it quite a bit. However, you cant find the Drako anywhere to try it on or look at it, and its fits differently than the Dominator, so don't bother trying that model to decipher how the Drako will fit you. I want to love them, being that I'm the sucker who payed big bucks for shoes that have become my winter/backup shoes. I can accept the fact that I am maybe not the right rider for a all out race design, so I don't fault them for being fragile. But the poor design of the ratcheting mechanisms and all the other crap hanging off these $450 shoes earns them a solid 2 stars.

Similar Products Used:

Shimano, Specialized mtb comp, Giro privateer