Diadora’s SpeedRacer 2 carbon shoes offered enough customization of fit to work with my Fred Flinstone feet, and that’s saying a lot. Add in a load of features from shoes that cost considerably more, and they’re a winner.
Yes kids, my feet look like Fred Flintstone’s: short, wide and thick. Add in a nice dose of plantar fasciitis and bursitis that is easy to flare up and hard to calm down, I take my shoes very seriously. When I find a brand or a pair that work for me, I tend to hold on to them. That’s why I’ve held onto my beat down Nike cycling shoes for a good number of years. They’re ugly, they’re heavy, but when I get off of the bike, I can still walk.
When Diadora came to me about the SpeedRacer 2 Carbon, I was open to trying something new, but almost sure that I’d have to send them back. I can’t give a fair review to a pair of shoes that hurt my foot right out of the box.
As it was, I was pleasantly surprised that I was easily able to slip my foot into these shoes. The fit wasn’t perfect, but the SpeedRacer 2 sports their Double Ring Speed Lace adjustment system. This allows you to run each Velcro closure strap through 1 of 2 rings to customize the fit. Furthermore, their Performance Closure system with an aluminum, micrometric buckle and large release button offered 4 different adjustment positions for maximum comfort.
One niggling point. Getting a screwdriver into the buckle to change its position was a bit of a challenge. I struggled with the left shoe for about half an hour trying to get the screw in the right position to grab the threads. Once I had the screwdriver juju down, the right shoe was much easier to do.
The V-Fit Adjust strap definitely allowed for a high performance feeling fit without putting too much pressure on my instep.
One thing I forgot to mention about my foot. My heel is relatively narrow when you compare it to the big block that is my forefoot. This can be a problem with wide shoes as, if they’re wide enough to accommodate the forefoot, my heel is slipping out. Not in this case. The Shape Race last offers plenty of heel retention. While the overall shoe structure is quite light, the pre-molded thermoplastic polyurethane heel cup uses a firm composite around the back, with softer and more flexible plastics along the sides.
Moving on, the sole included the standard 3 hole cleat fitting system. I popped on a new set of Look cleats and I was ready to ride.
On the bike, the shoes had a good solid feel to the pedals and they held my feet in place without any shifting or slippage. Their weight, quite a bit less than my Nike’s made me feel like I had Mercury’s wings on my feet.
Summer 2013 was not as hot as year’s past at BWN HQ, but it was hot enough to get some serious heat rising up off the road. The ventilated carbon outsole of the SpeedRacer 2 kept my feet plenty comfortable. As a matter of fact, there was enough ventilation that I have to wonder if they’ll be too cold as fall comes on. Still the use of carbon in the sole allows the overall construction to be quite thin, resulting in a low stack height to the pedal.
I definitely appreciated the inclusion of a significant sized rubber heel pad. After a serious tendon tear in my early days of cycling that can be directly attributed to slippery shoes, I like to feel a little more connected to the ground when I’m at stop lights.
The Diadora Speed Racer 2 Carbon Shoes are available in odd and even sizes ranging from 37.0 to 47.0 and in the color Anthracite/white.
Oh, and did I mention that these shoes are light? Yeah, they’re light. They made my Nikes feel like bricks.
The Lowdown:
As the title says: pro features at a Moe price. These retail for close to $200 (though you can often find them for less) and pack features that you’d find in road shoes costing $300 or above.
I especially liked the wide range of adjustability. Where other brands might push you into a wide model that offers a limited feature set, the Diadora SpeedRacer Carbon 2’s will fit 90% of the feet out there in the same feature packed package.
Ron Callahan is the chief cook and bottlewasher at Bike World News, doing everything from website design to bike reviews.
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