92 - AMB
SCOTT MTB COMP LACE SHOES
TESTED
Laces have, and always will be, an excellent way
to make a shoe fit. With Giro championing the
return of laces to high-end road and mountain
bike footwear, other brands have followed suit.
And it’s not just a gimmick for those looking for
a traditional or hipster appearance. Laces allow
even pressure, are easy to replace wherever you
end up, are light, and very resistant to mud or
crash damage.Scott have a huge range of shoes and, having
owned a pair of their high-end XC shoes in the
past, I’m familiar with their fit and durability. The
Scott MTB Comp Lace is their second tier lace-up
shoe, with a top level RC shoe in the range that
has a full-carbon sole, adjustable footbed for arch
support and a feathery weight of 350g. If you have
the innersoles you need (or feet that aren’t fussy)- and don’t need pedal bending shoe stiffness -
you get a very similar shoe with the Comp Lace,
albeit at 380g and with a performance fit, not race
fit. I have a wide foot and they were comfortable
from day one. Laces help with this as it’s easy to
get the volume of the shoe spot-on.
The upper is cut in an offset manner, so theWORDS: MIKE BLEWITT IMAGES: MATT STAGGSHITS
- Very comfortable
- Light weight
- Excellent grip off the bike
MISSES- Not the stiffest shoe
- Slightly slow to put on
and remove
RRP:$144.95
FROM:SheppardsCycleslaces don’t run right over the top of your foot, but
slightly to the outside. This is really comfortable,
and means there isn’t any direct pressure from
the laces through the tongue and onto the top of
your foot. The foot bed felt fine for my foot, and
the long cleat pocket with replaceable threaded
insert allows for a variety of cleat mounting
positions.The mid-sole is nylon reinforced and the toes
have flex for walking. Scott use ‘Sticki’ rubber for
the outersole and while at a glance it all looks
pretty simple, they stayed stuck to anything I
was walking on. There are two ports for studs
if you opted to use these shoes for some XC or
cyclocross racing. This would also be useful if you
just have to hike up steep muddy hills a lot. The
upper is synthetic with a reinforced toe, plenty
of venting and a loop at the back to help pull
them on. This is good as the laces don’t loosen
off as easily as something like Shimano’s XC5
which has a central pull tab to drop the tension.
Because of this, it does take a little longer to put
the Comp Lace on, and take them off. But if you’re
not racing offroad triathlons, does an extra 30
seconds matter?The bike industry is going crazy with
adventure-style items and the Comp
Lace shoes fall into that. I pulled
them on and straight away went into
a week of riding that included an XC
race, trail riding, stomping through
snow, long downhill runs and
basically messing around on bikes
for most of the day. The shoes got
wet, they got dirty, they clipped in
and out reliably, and ensured I was
sure-footed on or off the bike.They aren’t a big and burly all-
mountain shoe, but they handle
hike a bike pretty well. They’re not
a full-stiffness race shoe, but they
didn’t hold me back in the point-
to-point race I did. I was really
impressed with how comfortable
they were all day, and how well
they dried once wet. Given the
appearance of the shoes it is likely
they will be bought on aesthetics,
but beyond that the Comp Lace is a
very versatile mountain bike shoe
that is comfortable, easy to look
after or customise with new laces,
and very well-priced. These are
highly recommended as a suave
trail shoe or for just about anything
else between elite XCO and intense
gravity riding.