Bont sent Bunch Ride Finder the companies top two A1′s and A2 cycling shoes. Bont have been in the performance sports shoe game for over 30years now and the A1′s are the top of the line cycling shoe from Bont as worn by Michael Rogers. The white ones are the A1′s and the A2′s the black.

When you get these shoes in your hand the first thing you notice is their weight, or lack of. They are light! they come in at around 250grams. The next thing is the carbon sole, the one piece hand laid carbon fiber construction doesn’t just stop at the base, it actually wraps up the sides of the shoe and heel. Not only does this give extra stiffness, it’s where the advantage of heat moulding really comes to play with Bont shoes.

Time to get baking:

Following the advice from Bont, I placed the shoe with the oven pre-heated to 60-70degrees celcius and then heated the shoes for 15-20minutes. Checking every now and then its around the 17minute mark you could feel the Carbon start to soften. Wearing my hot shoes, you strap them up, place your body weight forward over the ball of your foot (this shapes the main area of the foot bed), squeeze the heel box together to get a snug fit, wait a bit – done! The shoes are ready. Simple.

Once moulded, the carbon that wraps up and around your feet now kind of ‘locks’ your foot into place, awesome when putting the power down. It also stops the toe box area from stretching over time, which gives these shoes longer life.

Getting the cleats on:

When placing cleats on BONT shoes you’ll need the short screws that come with your pedals. My new Speedplay cleats came with them so I guess nearly all cleats would. Why the short screws? BONT shoes have a super skinny stack height – that’s the amount of space between your pedal and the ball of your foot. If you use long screws, you’ll find them poking through to the inside of your shoe.

If you look at the picture below, you’ll see the same Speedplay cleats on a Shimano shoe and the BONT A1 shoe – look at the gap difference – that’s stack height, less the better.

BONT A1 Shoes have a stack height of just 3.6mm. It’s the way that Bont lay their carbon fiber and the technique they use to expel the bonding resin which gives the low stack height – unique to Bont, its a company secret. I found that with these shoes on, I had to adjust my seat height slightly to accommodate the difference that’s how little stack height there is! .More on the stack height later…

The little things:

A little detail I like a lot about these shoes is that the heel and toe pads on the Bont shoes are replaceable. I’ve found in the past that these areas often wear really fast.  Not only are these replaceable but the buckle and the buckle strap is too. Great for when you have a crash as often the first thing to get road rash and stuffed is the buckle. Good to know you can replace it with the Bonts.

Furthermore buckles have a ‘half’ release click – while riding you can adjust the tension by clicking one side of the buckle, and to full release – press both sides, simple and effective.

What about the A2′s?

The A2′s are the have nearly all the same features as the A1′s yet at quite a cheaper price point. The A2′s only come in Black and Silver as shown, or Black and White, colours that will stay in fashion for years to come. The A2′s are super stiff, use the same buckle system yet have a slightly higher stack height (4.4mm). These offer excellent value. The price difference between the A1′s and A2′s is in the Sole, the A2′s are a Carbon Composite sole, where the A1′s are 100% Carbon Fiber. They feel just as stiff, just slightly more stack height.

On the Street:

The A1′s compared to my old Shimano’s? these are crazy stiff!! If you want high performance shoes the BONT A1s are for you. I found that adding another padded sole give you super comfort which make these shoes the best of both worlds, Stiff and Comfortable. I was really amazed at the difference – it felt like I had an extra leg!

With less stack height than my old Shimano’s, my feet felt more ‘connected’ to the pedal, a kind of more direct feel. Combine this with a 100% Carbon Sole and torsion bar, it feels like you have more power.

The shoes have around 40 air holes and there was enough air flow to keep my feet cool without getting cold.

The Local Bunch:

Nearly 70% of the local bunch thought that Bonts were only custom made shoes – wrong, you can get these off the shelf from most bike shops.  Yep, Bont also do and can make custom shoes, but these A1′s and A2′s are off the shelf Cycling shoes.

Everyone loved the look of the white A1′s and also thought the A2s’ were also very cool and understated – most could not see the difference between the two. Everyone loved how light they were and when i told them that they were hand made, at first people did’nt believe it! thought it was a marketing hype – but no it’s true.

Verdict:
The A1′s are for riders who want the best and demand a shoe that performs. I liked them because not only are they a shoe that actually makes you ride better through the power transfer – but they also are made to last. Having all the replaceable bits, you’ve got a shoe that’s going to last you a long time, this is where I really see the added value.

The A2′s offer exceptional value being a bit cheaper and having a lot of the features of the A1 including all the replaceable bits.

Oh, if you are after something a bit cheaper again, Bont have just launched  a new shoe “The JET or A3′s” that will retail for about $199AUD!, it wont have the buckle but but is super light, has a heat mouldable composite sole and looks fantastic! Not a bad from the Aussie company.

A1 BONT Shoes
Leather Colours: White & Black , Black & Silver
MicroFiber Colours: White, Black, Pink, Red, Green, Yellow, Orange and Blue
Price: $549.00 AUD RRP

A2 BONT Shoes
MicroFiber Colours: White & Black, Black & Silver
Price: $399.00 AUD RRP

NEW A3 BONT JET Shoes
Colours: White, Black
Price: $199.00 AUD RRP

• For a online size chart click here and all the details on the shoes, check out: www.bont.com.au