Comfortable, walkable, diverse applications (endurance road riding, mtn biking)

No outstanding weakness

I've put about 3,000 miles of road and mtn biking on these shoes, and they're very comfortable in hot weather (90 - 100 degrees F) with room for several socks in cold weather (minus 20 degrees F). I've done 5 centuries and a 150 mile ride in them, and never had hot foot, just a little numbness at the end of the 150 mile day. These are good shoes! They've taken a beating and there's no question... I've got years of riding left in them. Strongly recommend!!

Good fit. Low price

Sole tends to breakdown. Chunks of rubber are taken away Even though with simole walking.

At first i was satisfied avoit the fitting. It was snug and comfortable in right places. but then when i fitted the cleats. The channel where the cleats go have different depths so it was hard to unclip on one side. The solution i came up with is to put DIY spacers using tin can. Second downside was the rubber was too soft that chunks of it gets taken off mostly when walking on gravel which sometimes cannot be avoided. I was very disappointed thinking that i would get only a few rides with it.

Price, comfortable, excellent fit for the old version, good quality except the sole

Terrible quality of the sole (old version had a crack making the shoe unusable after usually 2 seasons), new version's sole gets weak and bends to the side causing me pain after a few months, also has a poor design

To be fair with Specialized I had 3 of the old sport shoes and despite the crack through the middle that appeared after every 2 seasons I've been very satisfied. The shoes were cheap, efficient and very comfortable on my feet; even that crack was OK as they were sold for a fair price and I would have given 4-5 chilies for that.
BUT:
The new model I bought 2014 is just as people have described it in the last 3 reviews. It deserves nothing more than a 1 chili. I'm consternated how after 15 years selling a good product Specialized could drop from almost perfect to such a disappointing item. The engineers must review the new MTB sport shoe or better just return to the old model reinforcing the sole: excellent reviews and a good reputation will be the consequence.
I provide 3 chilis in overall because of the good after sales. The manager of the shop near central Auckland where I bought the item had a very professional after sales attitude. Means that after sales unlike in the previous reviews is working now.

Similar Products Used:

Shimano & Nothwave MTB shoes, Diadora road race shoes

Good fit, comfortable feeling, looks nice.

Quality control, water retention, terrible bottom material, bad customer service on the warranty.

These shoes absolutely fell apart after 3 months of light riding. The bottoms of the front and middle of the shoe were worn down to the base, due to the fact that Specialized chose to make the bottom out of a soft rubber material that literally chips away chunks at a time. Even walking short distances, like 30 feet from a car to a trailhead, there was additional visible damage every time.

I contacted the Specialized warranty department and they responded that they "can only assume the damage is a result of the shoes being used outside of what they were intended for. The scratching and scuffs clearly indicate that the shoes have been excessively walked in or dragged along the ground while riding. This, unfortunately, would not qualify as a manufacturer defect and would not qualify as a warranty."

Not only is this completely false, but they use the words "assume" and "clearly indicate" to say that I lied and that I did not use the shoes normally. In addition, the warranty was supposed to cover a full year of normal riding. If the shoes couldn't even handle three months of biweekly riding, could they handle light riding for a year?

My friend bought Shimano XC30s the same week I bought my MTB Sport, and we used to ride together every time back when our shoes were still new. To this day (5 months after my shoes were starting to lose chunks of the bottom), his shoes are still fine.

Terrible quality control by Specialized, and equally disrespectful customer service on the warranty. Forget Specialized, I'm switching to Shimano. Hopefully someone can back me up on these shoes, as I'd hate to be making judgement on the quality control if it simply was this batch of shoes.

Cheap and fit well

The shoes didn't last a couple rides before outer covering started tearing and separating. Less than a year old now and unwearable.

I was hoping the brand name would reflect a good value for the dollar, didn't happen. These would probably last a long time if never used on mountain trails that required hike a biking.

Relatively light, fit really well. Contrary to below- good for walking up hills in.

I've owned four pairs of these for many years. The first pair lasted well over 3 yrs the rest all started seperating at the heal. I noticed the design changed subtly and if you look at a pair in the shop you can see a slightly gluey-gap line between the sole and the heal of the upper. This is the part that starts to fail.

After two failures within a year and specializing refusing to warranty the product (2yr warranty) I wont touch Specialized products again.

Do they realise that some of their customers might actually use their footwear actually in mountain-type environments?

Maybe they should call them 'trail centre' shoes.

Similar Products Used:

Shimano DX - just bought.

Reasonable price, good construction, comfortable

Can't think of any

I've had these shoes now for about two years, and they've been great. I bought them to replace my original Specialized MTB shoes that I had for 13 years until I noticed a crack in the sole. These are good, strong shoes that can take abuse! No reason to spend more money when these will give you everything you need! You can never go wrong with the big red S!

Cheap and comfy !!!

It would be nice to have a stronger rubber protection in front of finger section or made an interchangeable part...

Good shoe for wider feet !!! In my expirience specialized,diadora and northwave can be comfortable for my wider feet.It is a cheap comfy shoe with good value.Dont forget to wear a shoe cover or at least a gore tex shock in winter !!!!

Similar Products Used:

six six one(dont remember the model)

Long lasting, stiff, velcro lasted 12 years!

none

I suppose it's possible there are still 'Sport MTB' shoes being made by Specialized, so please note that this review is for the 1999/2000 model year.
Here it is 2011 and I'm writing a review/goodbye for shoes that are 12 years old. That's right - these lasted 12 years! I have put thousands of miles on these and they are only now being retired due to the heal of the left shoe tearing after I poked a hole through the side of them about a year ago. In spite of the hole, they continued to hold up and didn't fall apart as I would have expected.
I'm bitterly disappointed. I cannot find any other shoes that fit quite as well as these (snug without being uncomfortable, firm and relatively light).
I haven't ever washed these in the 12 years I've worn them. The occasional rain ride would cleanse them well enough of the mud that was often caked around them.
The velcro is still sticky enough that I could get away without the laces if I had to.
The cleats never slipped and the soles held up well in numerous rocky hikes.
I ride a lot of cross-country. I assume that was the intention of these shoes as they are low around the ankles. The velcro helped keep them snug with thin socks, yet they fit well enough to accommodate thicker socks on cold rides.
These shoes were with me when longer than my children and will be missed. RIP old friends.