Giro announces 300-gram Prolight Techlace shoes
Giro unveils new super-light shoe. The Prolight Techlace features three velcro straps attached to old-fashioned shoe laces.
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Just in time for the Tour de France’s mountain stages, Giro unveiled a new, super-light cycling shoe. A pair of its Prolight Techlaces weighs 300 grams (size 42.5). It features Giro’s unique closure system, a blend of laces and velcro.
Giro came out with the Factor Techlace last fall. That shoe combines a Boa lacing system with two velcro straps that cinch the shoe laces. The new Prolight Techlace does away with the Boa dial. Instead, it has three velcro closures, affixed to lacing loops.
The new shoes also feature an extremely lightweight upper. Mesh panels are bonded to Giro’s Teijin synthetic material — ventilation looks to be excellent.
All of that sits atop Giro’s Textreme carbon fiber sole. The California company says this carbon reduces weight by 22 percent without sacrificing stiffness. Giro went to great lengths to shed grams, even employing titanium hardware. All of these features seem to add up. While the Factor Techlace weighs 420 grams, the new Prolight Techlace comes in 120 grams lighter.
Naturally, such feathery shoes come at a price. The Prolight Techlace is priced at $400, $50 more than the Factor Techlace.
Taylor Phinney (Cannondale-Drapac) was spotted wearing these new shoes on stage 2. In that stage, he rode in the breakaway all day to win the race’s first king of the mountains polka-dot jersey.
