With the cross-country race season about to start, we thought it would be a good opportunity to put Shimano’s XC7 shoes to the test. They’re slightly more attainable than the stratospherically priced S-Phyre XC9s. Thankfully, the XC7s have benefited from a lot of trickle-down tech from the XC9s, so I was looking for some seriously good performance from (hopefully) one of the best clipless mountain bike shoes.
Design and specification
Shimano differentiates its MTB shoes into two distinct groups, ‘Cross Country’ and ‘Gravity Enduro’, and the XC7s sit one wrung below the range-topping XC9 on the cross-country side of things. The design is unapologetically racy, with a svelte-looking synthetic leather upper that neatly wraps around your foot. Two L6 Boa Dials are employed for tightening duties, with the upper Boa positioned on the flap that wraps over the top section of your foot and a lower dial to cinch things down over your toes and forefoot.
The all-important sole is a carbon-reinforced nylon affair, which Shimano rates as 9 out of 12 on its in-house stiffness scale and the whole sole is covered in Shimano’s in-house developed Ultread XC rubber. The sole has four large studs under the heel to aid traction. If you’re likely to be running in muddy and slippery conditions, you can also fit two spikes under the toes to further improve traction and grip, however, no toe spikes are provided. The cleat area has been reinforced with a carbon plate and offers the standard fore and aft adjustment around the ball of the foot. The XC7s are available in the Red, White and the Black I have on test. The Black version fades to a silver color over the toes that looks very tasteful in my opinion.
Performance
The size 43 fitted me well and I would say are true to size; for comparison, I’m also comfortable in a size 43 Fizik and Sidi. I found the uppers super comfortable, with the wrap-around design doing a great job of securing my feet without causing any bunching of material. The upper Boa dial is fitted to the flap that wraps over the top of your foot, as opposed to being attached on the side of the shoe which is normally the case. This appears slightly odd to begin with and the flap with the additional weight of the Boa needs to be held up and out of the way when slipping the XC7s on. I still can’t work out why Shimano have done this, but for whatever reason, the result is that the wrap-around design concept provides a very comfortable and secure fit. The L6 Boas don’t offer the two-way micro-adjustment, but this wasn’t a problem for me.
I’ve been testing the XC7s on my XC bike using Shimano PD-M8100 cageless SPD pedals, as well as a few hundred miles on the gravel bike which in my area inevitably means protracted road sections. I’ve found the sole stiffness to be more than adequate in all applications, though I do tend to spin my gears rather than mash my way up the hills. There’s enough flex in the toe section to make walking a not too comical affair, and the sticky rubber outsoles do a good job of finding grip. I haven’t had the need to screw in some additional toe spikes yet, but on the muddy rides I have been doing, the aggressive tread pattern does a great job at finding traction and keeping me upright.
Being an XC-focused shoe, the main goal is pedaling efficiency and comfort, and from the first ride the XC7s felt quite race-focused with minimal flex being detectable under hard sprint efforts. The downside of this search for efficiency is that you lose the ability to articulate at your ankle. This is very noticeable when compared to the Shimano GE9s I recently reviewed, which have a Torbial sole design that allows the GE9s to flex with your ankle movement. In a race environment this isn’t an issue, but for general trail riding, especially on steep and challenging terrain, the locked-in feel starts to be a bit restrictive. In Shimano’s defense, that isn’t the intended purpose for the XC7s, and their gravity shoe range caters for that scenario, so this is worth considering if your riding is more trail-orientated than race-focused.
I’ve found the XC7s very comfortable and noticeably stiffer than the Fizik Terra X5s I’ve also been using recently. I’ve not experienced any heel lift when climbing and have not developed any discomfort or hot spots even on very long XC rides. Testing has been carried out through a UK winter and early spring, so I can’t vouch for performance in hot weather. The ventilation is limited to small perforations in the synthetic upper material around the toe area that soon became clogged with mud, so this may be a consideration if you’re lucky to be riding in a hotter climate.
Verdict
For me, the key performance indicators for a good cross-country shoe are comfort and stiffness, and on both fronts the XC7s have performed very well. Yes, there are stiffer soles out there, but unless you’re putting out Mathieu Van Der Pole-type watts then the XC7s should be more than adequate. I found the wrap-around uppers super comfortable even on hard four to five-hour cross-country rides with stupid amounts of climbing. The XC7s offer great versatility; they would make a great gravel shoe, would be at home at a cyclocross race and they’re also not averse to a bit of asphalt.
Tech specs: Shimano XC7 shoes
- Price: $225.00 / £189.99 / €219.95
- Weight: 700g per pair (size 43 tested)
- Sizes: Standard and Wide fits available: EU 38 (US 6, UK 5) to EU 50 (US 15.5, UK 14.5)
- Colors: Black (Tested), Red, or White
