by nothingman on Thu Feb 03, 2011 9:32 pm
I've given up on Bont.
I have the A3, 2010 A2, and CTT1 at my house, and they all suck in their own way.
The A3's top velcro strap is pointless. It's doesn't give good compression, and it's inoperable with one hand, which means adjustments are impossible once you're on the bike.
The A2 is better is this regard, but the other things wrong with Bont are still there. The toe box just isn't right. It looks anatomically correct, but my 2009 Sworks is much better. Also, the carbon shell is unforgiving. I heated at 160F, nothing. Then 170F. Then 185F. Still nothing. The arch hasn't budged and toes are still not comfortable.
The CTT1's buckle system is awful. The more I tighten, the more the ratchet presses down on the top of my foot. The 2010 A2/A1 system seems way better. If it's any indication of the Vaypor, no thanks.
Bont really can't say that I didn't give them a shot. I have tried three models, and emailed them about my concerns. I spent about 30mins on the phone with Nestor Rodriguez, their USA director (I believe). Props to him for giving me a call, but it came about a week or more after my email. I don't think he handled my problem well at all. He kept telling me all the reasons Bont were awesome and I was wrong, instead of just accepting I didn't like the shoe. When I complained about the velcro system, he said two contradictory things. The first was to give it pro credibility: "well, Rashaan Bahati rides those straps." Good for Bahati, but that's not a reason for me to like a shoe I bought and am really unhappy with. The second was that they were "entry level." Listen, I know within a range of shoes some might not perform as well as others, but when you've made a cycling shoe that cannot be operated while clipped into pedals, whether on the road or trainer, without two hands, then you've got a full on design flaw. There's a reason the CTT3 has a ratchet and the A3 doesn't (because their velcro system sucks), and his claim of cost concerns doesn't stand up against the $10 difference between those two shoes.
Another example is when I said I like my shoes really tight, he told me to stop doing that because he himself wears them loose, again, I don't care what other people are doing. And he started telling me to go out and buy aftermarket insoles before asking whether I had tried any (I had bought two, and tried multiple others in the store), etc. No listening skills. It's like Bont thinks it knows better than it's customers about what they should want. I'm all for innovation and winning people over with new designs, but they've got some work to do and I think they could show a little more humility.
In summary, I think the molding is a gimmick, the last is no good, and the overall design is unrefined. For every pro they'll point to who's riding Bont, there's 10 others on so-called soft shoes like Sworks, Sidi, and Mavic who are winning major races without the need for a bathtub and endless molding.
Just my $.02. If you love 'em, God bless ya. But I'm back to my beat up old Specialized's with the upper pulling away from the chipped-away carbon sole that I was setting personal power records on back in November and December.