GIRO EMPIRE - Review (mini)

[Nefarious86]

Ebay

[bananasbrah]

Can anyone recommend a size for me in AACs?

47 Wide in Shimano, 47 in Northwave - both fit perfectly.
Just tried 47 in Bont Riots and they fit like 49s - wayyy too long.

I'm tempted to try 46.5 in AACs? Feet are wideish.

[stuka666]

Just have one ride with a pair of empire slx, superb.

I have two pairs of mavic mtb shoes, size 42, went for a 42.5 on the giro.

The "leather" on them is very soft, one bump on the front tire and bam, not new anymore

[KH]

I am considering buying a pair of Giro Empire SLX 2015 shoes.

I have ridden various pairs of Giro Factor shoes for the past four years, they fit me perfectly and I have always found it tricky to find cycling shoes that fit properly, must have oddly shaped feet!

I wonder whether anyone can advise me whether the claimed lower stack height for the Empires translates to having to lower the saddle by a couple of mm?

This was suggested in the Bike Radar review by James Huang.

That would definitely be an issue for me as I tend to wear different shoes depending on weather etc and do not want to have to mess around with saddle height before every other ride!

Thanks.

[TMz]

You could always shim your cleats on the empire if it worked out to be an issue?

[KH]

That's a pretty decent idea, thanks!

[KWalker]

I would advise against that. Steve Hogg has written about that, but if the stack height differs by even 3mm you have to actually move the cleat fore/aft to compensate. Its not just a matter of vertical distance, but as the pedal rotates and your ankle applies force at different angles the effective foot to spindle distance increases depending on where in the arc the pedal is.

Your best bet is to have a set of shoes within ~2mm and not change anything. Set the seat height for the lower stack set. I asked a number of fitters about this and they agreed with Hogg. I use Specialized primarily, but for a while had some Sidis that I didn't care about wrecking that I used and always had issues with. Turns out the stack height was 4.5mm taller so I ended up having to roll the Speci all the time.

[Climb35]

Hey all, I'm getting to the end of the run with my bontrager RL, carbon soles, ratchet and two velcro, they were a great first "higher end" shoe for me, I loved them, and still do, but I have found with extended use,that they have become quite wide, lots of forefoot, toe area sliding around, I believe i'm in a 44 in those.
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This brings me to the Empire. I tried on the SLX today in a 44, and mostly loved them, they seemed to fit pretty well, but as one poster previously mentioned, they seemed to have a little heel slip in the 44, they did not have the 43.5 but I tried on a 43.5 in the pro light slx, felt snug but mostly good, as did a lot of the 43.5 from other brands, sidi excepted-needed 44 in those... I am a long time competitive skier so I am used to cramming my feet into small, small boots, and I tend to think/want my cycling )shoes to fit snug (though not as snug as my ski boots of course, i just don't tolerate slop that well--( don't get me started on ski boot sizing, IMO most people are sized into boots that are way to big, is this true of cycling shoes as well?,) and this thought has been enhanced by the packout on the bontragers,

so i guess the sum of all this rambling is: will these pack out a bit? if they do even a touch or more, i think i'd stuff myself into a 43.5,

Furthermore, and i know this is a loaded question on WW, but is the extra 75 bucks really worth it to go from the ACC to the SLX, who has had both can care to comment, I imagine both will be lighter than my bontragers, but i'm trying to determine if 175 g vs 210 really is a big deal.

[Krackor]

I have a pair of the original Empires (before the ACC) and a pair of the SLX. The upper on the SLX is nicer - better ventilation, thinner padding that conforms to the foot better. It looks like the ACC has the same upper as the original Empire, so I'd say it's worth the extra money for SLX just because of the upper material.

How tightly did you tie the laces when you tried on the shoes? The shoe should grab the arch of your foot to hold it in place, not the forefoot. If you plant your heel in the back of the shoe then tie the laces snug across the arch, you should have a little wiggle room in the forefoot but your foot as a whole should be held stable. The heel cup on the Empire doesn't have the cat's tongue like Northwaves have, nor the screw adjustment like Sidis have. I wouldn't expect the heel cup to hold your heel in place; that's the upper's and the laces' job.

The shoes do break in some, more so laterally than front to back. Find the smallest size that still leaves a gap between the tips of your toes and the front of the shoe.

[Climb35]

Ok I have to ask a couple of the world's dumbest questions now that I have gotten my pair of white eu44 empire SLX...

I just want to make sure my shoes from giro came with all the right bits and pieces before I go on out there and get em broken in...
So in most of the reviews of the "super natural fit system" it shows a black sole with the three different color arch supports...

however my SLX came with a reddish foot bed with all black inserts labeled "S", "M", "L", no colors to speak of.... now the only thing I can make sense of is that the EMPIRE ACC, comes with "supernatural fit system" but on the giro site, the EMPIRE SLX comes with the "ULTRALIGHT supernatural fit system" -- so is this right, is this red footbed with the pure black inserts the ones that come with the SLX series?

Secondly, and perhaps dumbest of all, the aforementioned adjustable footbeds came outside of the shoe, in the shoe--out of the box, was a different reddish footbed with a black bottom with many little holes in the bottom, kind of a waffle board pattern, they too are the x-static fiber-- but are thinner and have no arch adjustment, just a simple footbed, --- so the big question, are the adjustable ones meant to go on top of these "stock" beds, or replace them....derrr

thanks for entertaining the stupidity.

Hopefully what I said made sense.

[pagey]

I can't find spare laces anywhere. Has anyone sourced some?

[dudemanppl]

For FREE laces, just email Giro customer support. They have sent me many pairs over the years.

[mdeth1313]

I tried on the empire slx - size 41.5. I was wearing shimano r320's in a size 41 and they fit perfectly. The empire was too small. My foot measures 26 cm, which giro says is a size 41. I don't get it.

[Kichan]

hmm... good information~!

[NilesCrane]

Anyone found a store in EU selling the new red Empire ACC?