Quoc Night Black Leather shoes

Quoc's Night Black Leather road shoes aren't the lightest or the stiffest out there, but they're very well made, comfortable and come with heaps of style.

Quoc is best known for its city cycling shoes, with the Night its first venture into the performance market. The upper is made from leather (a microfibre version is available in three different colours) that's lined so the seams aren't even vaguely feelable when you have the shoes on. The tongue is lightly padded and there's quite a bit more padding around the opening to keep everything comfortable there.

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The leather is durable stuff, judging by its performance so far. Several weeks in and the shoes look used – you know how you get those little creases in leather as time goes on? – but free from any damage.

Laced cycling shoes have had a resurgence over recent years. As well as looking cool, laces are lightweight, provide multiple points of adjustment, and they're likely to survive a crash. But mostly they look cool.

The downside of using laces is that they're impossible to adjust one-handed on the fly, so you need to make sure you get the tension right before you saddle up or accept that you might occasionally have to stop to fine-tune them.

Quoc's lacing layout is unusual in that you get double holes in the middle and at the top (two eyelets alongside one another; check out the pictures and you'll see what I mean). These lock the laces at those points, allowing tension adjustment for people with different foot shapes, and ensure that the laces can't come loose in any section across the ridge of your foot. It works well to allow a degree of customisation to the fit while adding security. If your forefoot is especially wide, for example, you can loosen off the laces at the bottom without affecting the fit of the shoes at the top. This design does its job really well.

As with Giro's Empire shoes, once you've tied the laces you push the bow and the loose ends behind an elasticated band on the tongue. I've used these shoes loads over the past few weeks and the laces have never come loose or threatened to interfere with the drivetrain. In my experience, that's not something you need to worry about.

The uppers are supple and comfortable, gradually moulding to your feet, although some people might find them hot when the temperature's high. There are a lot of perforations towards the front and in the tongue, and there are ventilation holes in the outsole, but these shoes can still get warm when you're working hard, especially if you're used to mesh panels right, left and centre.

As mentioned above, the Nights are also available with microfibre uppers (£219), and this brings the weight down (Quoc says 554g per pair in a size 43). The microfibre Nights come in black, white and pink versions, while the leather version is available in black only. Black leather does have a traditional cycling shoe look to it, although I swapped to the white laces that come in the box because I was getting a football boot-eque vibe in certain lights. All models have a 3M reflective heel stripe that's eye-catching at night.

The soles are made from carbon composite. They're stiff but they're not absolutely rigid. I didn't get any hint of movement when I was seated but I could feel some when I got out of the saddle and hit the pedals hard. That might bother you or it might not.

The footbed doesn't usually get much attention but this one is pretty comfortable, coming with a metatarsal pad (a slightly raised area in the forefoot but not as far forward as the toes), and it has anti-odour properties, apparently. I just did a sniff test and the shoes still smell quite leathery several weeks in, not at all pongy. I don't think they're going to start whiffing any time soon.

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At 728g for the pair (size 46), the Nights do weigh a little more than many other performance-focused shoes of a similar price and size. The FLR F-XX Strawweight Road Race Full Carbon Sole shoes (£179.99) that I reviewed last year were 617g, for example, and the Giro Factor Techlace shoes (£289.99) were just 576g. Neither of those models is leather. I can't say that the weight was really noticeable in use.

Overall, the Nights have a high-quality feel and I've found them to be very comfortable in most circumstances. They can feel hotter than shoes with mesh panels and they're not as lightweight or stiff as some, so in my opinion they wouldn't be the best choice for racing, say, but if you want stylish, classic-looking shoes for rides out on the open road, these could be for you.

Verdict

High-quality leather road shoes that aren't especially light but do come with plenty of style