I recently bought a pair of Fizik Terra Ergo Lace shoes to ride the Devon Coast to Coast ride, see the video here and found them really comfortable for long distance riding. when i saw the Atlas shoe and that Fizik had described them as “Designed for gravel tracks, MTB trails, all-day adventures and extended bike packing escapes, for the rider who knows no borders” I really wanted to try them. Luckily after chatting to the guys at EXTRA UK the fizik UK importer at a trade show they very kindly sent me a pair to try out. They only had the pink and purple version in my size, but I’ll be honest I’d have been tempted by that colour anyway so I was happy, they do go with the pink bar tape on my bike too!
In the past I’ve had super stiff carbon soled shoes and really haven’t got on with them, I’m not a pro racer, I don’t want to sacrifice comfort for full power delivery. I want the shoe to be stiff enough so I don’t want to suffer hot spots and foot ache but i also want to be able to walk into cafes and shops ( ok pubs!) with out walking like a duck and looking too much like a “cyclist” so i really hoped these shoes would fit that ideal.
So, lets talk about fit. Cycling shoe manufacturers, especially Italian in my experience tend to be quite narrow in their fit. On the advice of Extra I went with my standard size 44 (happily Fizik offer half sizes too) hoping that the claimed more generous fit would be proven correct. I needn’t have worried, the fist try on and walk about in the house showed that they fitted just as nicely as my lace up terra’s. The boa adjuster allows quite micro adjustments and although doesn’t have as much “give” and movement as a lace they can be dialled in (yes intended!) easily and adjustments can be made while riding too to cope with feet getting hot or cold, something not possible to do with laces unless you are a lot more skilled than me! There is plenty of room in the toe area to wiggle and no heel lift even when walking about. there was no break in period either, the synthetic upper is supportive without being restrictive and there’s no ankle protection which I hate on other MTB focused shoes, they fit like normal shoes.
The cleat fitment is the standard two slots but has a longer slot than some shoes I’ve had before, this is great as you can site the cleat exactly where you want it, in the past I’ve had to modify shoes to get the cleat back far enough. Also there’s plent of side room for the cleat too. I run Shimano trail MTB pedals and they can catch on the rubber of some shoes with a really annoying squeak, no such issues here.
The sole is of nylon construction under the cleat and this gives great power transfer without being too stiff. I’ve done 100k length rides and not felt the cleat through the sole. As you probably know my rides always involve cafe stops and the shoes have proved just as good walking to the cake display too. I’ve also pushed the bike up some steep muddy stuff and the rubber on the bottom is grippy on wet roots and off camber mud. Even the space between the cleat pocket and the heel has a rubber coating so has grip there too. the rubber coating extends up the sides of the shoe and over the toe and this has taken all the knocks I’ve subjected it to. I have noticed that one of the blanking plates screwed into the toe where the studs fit has gone AWOL at some point. The upper is vented but not overly so, I suffer from cold feet so hate shoes that have mesh all over them but I don’t think your feet will over heat in hot weather. A quick brush to remove dried on mud and then a wipe with a damp cloth is all that’s needed to get them back to looking good
The Fizik Terra Atlas shoe in my opinion is a good looking shoe and from the feedback from the channels Instagram followers this view is shared. the lloks were what attracted me to them in the first place and thankfully the performance has proved just as good.
The Fizik Terra Atlas shoe manages to bridge the gap between a race shoe and a recreational shoe. Racy looks but all day comfort. Great fitting, good power transfer but you could walk up a mountain carrying your bike in them If you wanted and they manage to still look good after abuse.
The current RRP is £155 and although that’s at the very top of my budget, after trying them I think they’re worth it. I’d thread lock the stud covers in though.
They are available in green, black and grey too if you think pink and purple isn’t for you (are you mad??)
More details from EXTRA UK or Fi’zi:k themselves
UK GRAVEL COLLECTIVE 