Gear We Like: Mavic Fury Mountain Bike Shoes
When I was asked to write about my favorite pieces of gear, I leapt at the chance to shout out my unbiased love for Mavic’s electric lemon disco slippers. I’ve owned the first generation (2010) for about two years now, and one thing’s for sure: no one is on the fence about the color. Love it or hate it, the yellow color (they’re also available in black) is not for the attention-shy.
But, enough about the paint, what’s under the hood?
The sole is super stiff and light carbon fiber from toe to heel, allowing for full power transfer and reduction in hot spots. Replaceable toe spikes are provided, and I feel they help reduce wear on the sole. The rubber lugs are coined Contagrip and are a nice balance between grippy and durable, though without any lugs in the midfoot area a fumbled clip in attempt can be a slippery affair.
The uppers are airy and well ventilated, with large mesh panels throughout and a molded TPU “Energy Frame” lateral panel serving to provide lightweight support around the anchor point for the ratcheting buckle. And a fine buckle it is, holding tight but still allowing for one-handed release. In fact, I sheared off a buckle in a pavement crash and had a new one from Mavic in a week. The two forward closures, called Ergo Straps, use an adjustable cord system with Velcro pull tabs rather than a simple Velcro strap, and herein lies my only gripe: while the Ergo Straps work fine, I feel they may be a bit over-engineered. It’s as though the Mavic designers know that competing shoes in the Fury price range are using Boa cable closures so they had better have some gadgets as well. It’s a small complaint, though, given that the straps have worked perfectly for two years.
The final two features of the uppers are my favorite; the deep carbon fiber reinforced heel cup (no heel slippage even on cyclocross run-ups), and the one piece wrap around tongue which provides a nice cushy surface to pull up on during hard efforts.
Fit is medium to narrow, typical of most race oriented shoes I’ve owned (Shimano and Sidi being the most recent).
The 2012 version of the shoe promises some subtle refinements, shaving the weight for a pair of 8.5 UK down to 335g from 350g. I’ll have to take them on their word, though, because my pair has at least two more seasons left in them, and I look forward to every mile.
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Tags: cycling, cycling shoes, footwear, fury, mavic, mountain biking
Author: Joe Dodd
