Gaerne Carbon G.Chrono Road shoes

At 552g/pair (size 43), Gaerne G.Chrono Road shoes are among the lighter road shoes around. They're also tough, comfortable and extremely stiff.

Unless you have your own mechanic-cum-bike cleaner or far too much time on your hands, then some things in bike life should be black. Handlebar tape, tyre rubber, saddles and shoes are all easier to look after if they're black, and it's definitely part of the reason why the Gaerne Carbon G.Chrono Road shoes have been my favourite shoes for many months now.

Of course, it's far from being the only or the most important reason, and there are other colours available if you don't have the good sense to stick with sensible black.

Stiff & comfy

Where the Gaerne G.Chrono Road shoes really score is their combination of rigidity and comfort. That they don't trouble the scales much is just the icing on the cake.

The comfort comes from the carbon fiber sole mentioned in the name, and that's a mandatory component of any road cycling shoe at this price. It's perfectly shaped – for my fairly average size 43s anyway – with spot-on support from toe to heel.

Just as a saddle's comfort depends crucially on the shape of the base, so it it with shoes and soles, and Gaerne have got it dialled here.

Speaking of dials, a shiny microfibre upper wraps round the top of your foot and is closed by a pair of BOA ratchets, an adjustment system to which I've become totally and sadly addicted.

Dialling in

It's a dirty secret of the bike shoe world that if you want really precise adjustment of the pressure across the top of your foot, then you use laces to fasten your shoes. Problems is, laces are hard to adjust on the fly and likely to get caught in your chainrings.

With six flexible steel wires spreading the load across your foot, and a padded and reinforced tongue, the dual BOA closure on the Gaerne G.Chrono Road shoes really cossets your feet, even if you reef the dials up really tight. It provides very fine adjustment of the pressure on the top of your feet. Loosening them off is a trivial matter of popping them out; you're free in a second, or held less tightly because your feet have gotten warm and swollen a bit.

Narrow fit?

The Gaerne Carbon G.Chrono Road shoes are handmade in Italy, which can indicate a very narrow fit. In fact they're a shade wider than many Italian shoes, but you wouldn't call them broad. Hobbits should look elsewhere.

Copious ventilation also helps with comfort. There are vents in the sole and plenty of mesh in the upper that's making it very hard to resist a bad gag about letting the flavour flood out. Don't expect to wear them much past September unless you have penguins' feet.

The other details are as high-quality as you'd expect for the price. A rigid heel cup keeps your foot in place at the back of the shoe, and a replaceable rubber block on the heel reduces slipperiness on the way to the cafe counter.

If there's a feature missing, it's that there's no customisation on offer. Shoes in this price bracket from manufacturers like Shimano, Lake, fi'zi:k and Bont are mouldable in some way to fine tune the fit. If Gaerne Carbon G.Chrono Road shoes don't fit you quite right, your only option is moulded insoles at extra cost.

Available in black or black/white in sizes 39 to 48 and in white with blue, white with red and white/red in sizes 41 to 46.

Verdict

Stiff, light and comfortable shoes, but for the price it would be nice to be able to mould them.