Sadly my Carnac Grit shoes bit the dust yesterday. They’ve been squeaking and squelching under pressure recently and an innocuous deconstruction of the foot plate and stud holes to clean them and resolve it lead to a cross threaded screw hanging out of a stud hole which was a scratch and slip hazard. No matter what I did I couldn’t remove it so they had to go. I’d never removed the stud screws before so I think it was probably done when they were made. They weren’t very old either, a couple of years, but like everything, buy cheap you get cheap. They were only £60 and took a bit of a battering from me, so in my mind they served their purpose plus in hindsight, despite being quite comfortable, they were a bit heavy and hot in warm weather too. Time for a new pair.
I’ve been debating whether I ride my road shoes or take my MTB shoes on Wed to Torquay. MTB are much more convenient if I stop which I will be doing a lot more than normal, so once I’d binned my Carnac’s I was straight onto the internet seeking a new pair.
If you buy cycling shoes, you’ll know how sizing can vary so I decided to stick to what I know. Northwave as I already own a pair and Shimano as I know they size up the same.
Within five minutes I found a pair, on sale, available in my size so I just bought them on impulse. A pair of Northwave Xtreme XCM 3
Not too dissimilar to my Carnac’s at first glance with the Olive green colour but feature a double Boa, a nice scuff cover for the toes, lighter and a stiffer sole. Half price too down to £115.
They arrive today, can’t wait to try them tonight for the first time.
Adios
Those old ones are battered 🤣